Carlos Roybal

February 6, 2018

Health Education

Course Number: 10819

Project 3: Case Study Analysis Final Submission

The semester is starting to come to an end for the freshman year of Katya’s freshman

year of college but she is going through a stressful time in order to keep up her 3.0 GPA since

Katya’s scholarship will be striped from her if she doesn’t keep the 3.0 GPA by the end of the

semester. Her stake of her GPA will be all put on the shoulders of her performance in her

Chemistry exam which is coming up soon in two days. This test has the ability to greatly effect

the scholarship status of Katya by effecting her GPA in a good or bad way. Because of this,

Katya has to put all of her time and more into studying for this chemistry exam but she is going

through anxiety because of this test but mentally she doesn’t feel that she will be prepared for her

test even with all of her studying and time for this chemistry exam. Katya has begun to have a

panic attack because she has started to think that all of her hard work from studying is going to

be meaningless as she feels she is going to fail her test and lose her scholarship.

For me, if I was in this situation I would’ve probably acted the same way mentally. I’ve

had a tough Anatomy exam a few semesters ago which affected the way my grade will be in the

class to be able to pass it or not. The whole week before and the night before I would stay up late

memorizing and matching each term to its rightful place and as it got closer and closer to the

exam date I got more anxiety and more anxiety thinking that all of my studying is not going to

pay off but at the end of the day I passed the test. As I have been growing through my college

experiencing at PCC and getting closer to transferring out into a four-year university, I have to
maintain a high GPA as well as attain great test scores to get a better chance into getting in.

Recently, I took a Scientific method and critical thinking class which I need for my major and I

had an A throughout the whole semester but as it got towards the end we had to create a 10 page

research paper which will effect a whole letter grade and a half and I didn’t want to lose my A as

it is a key component to my major. The anxiety was coming as the turn in date was getting closer

and I was getting second thoughts on if I could do it or not from my anxiety and mentality I had.

I passed the class with an A but my mentality was beginning to be a pain. What I’m trying to say

is I have the same feelings as Katya for her scholarship but Katya and I both have to do is to

calm down and realize that it’s going to be okay. Putting in the hard work will always pay off

and that is something we both have to keep with us to help calm our mind with something huge

like her Chemistry exam comes along. Something that someone can do to help cope with the

anxiety is through music therapy. Something I like to do that was recommended from a friend is

listening to music while you do your homework or study for a test. Listening to my favorite

songs and type of music while studying relaxes my mind and helps reduce the anxiety I would

normally feel. Tempo, Rhythm, and dynamics are key aspects to consider for relaxation

purposes. There is a positive correlation between the complexity of the rhythm and blood

pressure, and respiration tends to synchronize to the musical rhythm (Foldes, Zsuzsa pg. 344). As

you can see, Music can be good therapy into helping reduce the amount of anxiety one would

feel. Something else that someone can do is with the help of others such as study groups.

Through my own experiences, it is tough to study a large amount of material for a class by

yourself and having a friend or group of friends to study with can help reduce stress. You can

break the studying down and give each group member a section to study and put it out all

together in the end. This is something that I have done with my Anatomy class. For our final
exam, it was cumulative and there was a lot of material to cover but my friends and I created a

study group which helped us feel better with the studying as we had nothing to worry about as

everyone is assigned the same amount of work to do. The era in which we live in is a test

conscious age in which the lives of many people are not only greatly influenced, but are also

determined by their test performance (Singh, Ajay Kumar 2015). As you can see, we live in a

world where we are being judged and graded through test scores which is why group study is a

great way to have a better performance. The third thing you can do to help with anxiety is to

have enough sleep. I know that in this society today we stay up late to study for test and exams

but in reality it doesn’t help if the next morning we are tired and out of it. Sleep is a key

important aspect to life and it is known to help with testing. Sleeping is a coping mechanism that

can help you feel more refreshed to do more studying through out the next day. Several studies

have shown that mental health is positive with sleep quality for university students from anxiety

and depression (Ehrampoush, Mohamad Hasan 2017).

The meaning of this paper is that doubting your abilities is very harmful for your health

and you need to believe in yourself more. Anxiety is a huge part in the everyday lives of

university students and there are many ways you can do to help cope with it. In reality, if you

have studied heavy for an exam no matter how big it is, have more faith in yourself as you did

what you can do and you will conquer whatever you go through.
 References

Földes, Z., Ala-Ruona, E., Burger, B., & Orsi, G. (2017). Anxiety Reduction With Music and

Tempo Synchronization on Magnetic Resonance Imaging Patients. Psychomusicology: Music,

Mind & Brain, 27(4), 343-349. doi:10.1037/pmu0000199

Ehrampoush Mohammad, H., Tabei Seyed, Z., Mazloomy Mahmoodabad Seyed, S., Hossein, F.,

Mohammad, N., Mehrnoosh, D., & Sedighe, F. (2017). Studying the Relationship between

University Students' Anxiety and Depression with Religious Orientation, Quality of Sleep and

Emotional Cognitive Adjustment. Neuroquantology, 15(4), 69-75.

doi:10.14704/nq.2017.15.4.1155

Singh, A. K., & Singh, P. (2015). A Study of Examination Anxiety of B.Ed. Students Studying

in Government and Private Teacher Training Colleges of Allahabad. International Journal of

Multidisciplinary Approach & Studies, 2(5), 148-155.