Dealing with Stress

 

In a reoccurring theme on this blog, we will be discussing the upcoming exams and how best to deal with the accompanying stress that is sure to follow. Obviously this is a time of the year where many people will be feeling the pressure to perform well, given the potential impact that the next two weeks could have upon your university career, but for everyone in the management cohort it is important to remember that this ISNT do or die. Yes its good to do well and yes its important to get the best marks you can, but these exams ultimately only form a very small part of the assessed content over the course of the entire degree so its important you don’t stress over them.Additionally, the university has put in place many resources that can be used if you find yourself struggling through the exam season. One particularly exciting event that’s coming up soon is the University of Southampton Petting Zoo (find the facebook event here https://goo.gl/5CEqmv). According to science touching animals can relieve the stress of exams, so if you go along to the red brick area on 12/1/16 you can enjoy the animals and take a quick break from revision. Once you’re done with the animals and you’ve slunk back to the library, there is also the Hartley Treasure Hunt – where every single day of the exam season some kind folk will hide goodies around the library to get you through, where the lucky winner can get anything from brie to chocolate bourbons.

Looking online we can see there are loads and loads of resources designed to help students come with stress. One of my personal favourite resources is a list complied by BBC Radio One (found here: http://goo.gl/wIDPQU). Ill summarise what it says but I highly recommend taking a look, its really useful and certainly helped me out a lot! When preparing for your exams – or doing any work towards them at all one of the most important things to avoid is comparing yourself and how you’re doing to your friends. We’ve all got that one mate who’s learnt every book back to back – just do what you’re most comfortable with and revise your own way.

Another handy tip is to treat your body like a temple, as it deserves. Whilst you still have the hype from the new years resolution (new year new you) try and eat healthy; you’ll find you feel more alert and it will be easier to concentrate. Also try to get some sleep – cramming’s only going to make you feel worse the next morning when you realise you had 2 hours sleep. At the end of the day, just remember that exams aren’t the end of your life – we have another 2/3 years of uni left to go!