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BennyJiang
HealthEducation
CaseStudy
Katya,afreshmanincollege,isstrugglingtopassherchemistryexambecauseif
shedoesnotdowell,shewillloseherscholarship.Havinga3.0GPAhasputher
scholarshiponthelinebecausethisexamwilldetermineifshewillgetit.Sheisagood
studentandstudiesbutheranxietyhascausedhertolosefaithinthinkingthatshewilldo
wellonthetest.Shehassomuchpressureinmindthatshesufferedfromapanicattack.
Beingacollegestudentmyselfandtakingmultipleonlineclasses,Ihavethesame
problemsasKatya.Beforeexamsorbigprojectduedates,Istarttopanicandstressouta
lot.Manytimes,IhavetriedtostudybeforetestsbutIcouldneverfocusandtheresults
frommypastexamsmademethinkthatallmyeffortswillgotowasteintheendbecause
Icannotdowellonexams.Also,Itrymybesttodoworkontimebuttherearesome
assignmentsthatIjustdonotunderstand.Whenthishappens,Iwouldaskmyteacheror
classmatesforhelp.ThisiswhatIthinkKatyashoulddo.Herfirstapproachshouldbe
askingforhelparoundher.
FromthearticleStructuredLearningandSelfReflection,authorsGanzerand
Zauderersuggestthatstudentscouldbenefitfromselfreflection.Thereasonbehindthis
issothattheycouldunderstandthemselvesbetterandcontrollingtheiremotionsmore.
ThisisbeneficialtoKatyabecauseshewillnothavepanicattacksthateasilyandinstead,
focusonwhatcouldhelpherdobetteronthechemistryexam.Theyalsostatethat,
stressinthelearningenvironmenthasbeenshowntocontributetoanxietyandleadto

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thedevelopmentofpoorcopingskills,thusinterferingwithstudentsacademic
performance(NursingEducationPerspectives).ThiscouldapplytoKatyabecauseshe
hadapanicattackduetostress.Whatsheneedstoknowisthatstressingcannothelpher
dobetterontheexam,butpreparationcan.Ifheranxietybecomesworse,itwillonly
weakenherskills,whichwillshowonhertestscore.Sheshouldfirstbeabletoreflecton
herselfsothatsheknowswhatsheneedstodonowandinthefuturesothatshedoesnot
havetodependeverythingonherexam.Ifshehadgoodpreparations,shewouldnotbe
sostressedoutintheend.TheselfreflectivelearningexercisecouldhelpKatyaimprove
herproblemsolvingskills,whichwillhelpheronhertestandtheprepwork.OntheSt.
LawrenceUniversitywebsite,Ifoundapagethatprovidesacademicsupporttohelp
studentspreparefortests.Thebottomlineistoformgoodstudyhabitsandreachoutfor
helpwhenneeded.ItdoesnothavetobeprofessionalhelpbecauseIunderstandhow
harditistohavethecouragetoaskforhelpinregardstoonesownemotionsandstress.
However,Idoaskforhelpfromprofessorsandmostofthetimes,theyaregladtohelp
becausetheywantstudentstodowell.Incollege,IfindthatTAsandotherclassmates
arealsowillingtohelpbecausetheyhavebeenthroughthesameproblems.Katyashould
findagroupoffriendsorclassmatestostudywithbecausebeingalonecouldcontribute
tomorestressandcreateanxiety.
Fromahealthperspective,Katyashoulddoexercisesorthingsthatcouldcalm
herlikemeditateoryoga.Also,sleepingregularlyandeatingattherighttimescouldhelp
her.Havingpanicattacksregularlyhasanegativeeffectonherhealthandbody.
AssociateEditorMargaritaTartakovskyfromPsychCentralstatesthatAnxietycanfeel

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overwhelmingbutbytakingsmallsteps,youcanminimizeyouranxietyandcope
effectively.Katyashouldlearntoacceptthatevenifshefailsherchemistrytest,itisnot
theendoftheworld;shecouldstillapplyforanotheroneorshecouldstrivetodobetter
nextsemester.Butbecausesheonlyhastwodaysleftuntiltheexamday,sheshould
quicklyaskforclassmateshelpbecausetheycouldprobablygivehersomeinsightonthe
testorasktheprofessorwhatarethemainideasthatsheneedstostudy.Inorderto
preventasimilarsituation,sheshouldpreparebeforehandsothathergradeishigh
enoughtonothavetodependeverythingonthelastexam.Forexample,shecouldtake
noteofimportantlessonsthatherprofessorcoversinclassandvisittheprofessorduring
officehoursandsetuptimestomeetwiththeTAifneeded.

References
Ganzer,C.A.,&Zauderer,C.(2013).StructuredLearningandSelfReflection:
StrategiestoDecreaseAnxietyinthePsychiatricMentalHealthClinicalNursing
Experience.NursingEducationPerspectives,34(4),244247.
McCluskey,M.(n.d.).HowShouldIPrepareforTestsandFinalExams?RetrievedMay
01,2016,fromhttp://www.stlawu.edu/academicsupport/howshouldiprepare
testsandfinalexams
Tartakovsky,M.(2015).15SmallStepsYouCanTakeTodaytoImproveAnxiety
Symptoms.PsychCentral.RetrievedonMay1,2016,from
http://psychcentral.com/lib/15smallstepsyoucantaketodaytoimprove
anxietysymptoms/