Final Preparations for Success

Joe Dennis

Reporter

College officials say students should be prepared and stress free if they are to be successful while taking their finals.

But test anxiety is common among college students. According to national statistics, 40 million adults 18 years and older—18 percent of the U.S. population—are affected by anxiety.

One way to fight anxiety is to identify what makes you anxious and then make a mental list of your thoughts. Evaluate these situations and prioritize what to do next. Relax by tensing and releasing muscles as well as taking deep breaths.

A full evaluation of the situation will help calm anxieties.

Poor study habits are a common problem that leads to anxiety.

There are numerous study habits in which students can prepare themselves before an upcoming exam or quiz such as creating a study group.

Repeating information aloud, posing difficult questions to one another and putting key concepts in your own words are successful study tips.

Studying for about 20 minutes and then taking periodic short breaks will help you process information. Avoid cramming information the night before an exam or final; it will help develop short-term memory but will severely damage long-term memory.

Many of staff members and instructors at Pierce College Puyallup agree with the method of studying in groups as an effective way of handling test anxiety.

“Organizing into study groups and challenging each other on the types of questions that students are likely to be asked on the final,” math instructor Frank Wright said.

Memorization of information is another important factor in helping to ward off the stress of finals and finals weeks. If students aren’t interested in what they are studying then information will be stored in their short-term memory.

A period of memory that has only a limited amount of storage and time holding capacity.

Make sure not to overload on information is key to memorization. The human mind at the most can memorize only seven items at once.

Selecting the most important points while studying will help identify what a student needs to work on.

“The best way to prepare for finals is to write out your questions and answers to those questions,” Pierce College student Danny Jenson said. “Students should study for at least two hours on each subject so you’re able to

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