I am one of those people. The kind of person that tells themselves they aren’t smart enough to do well in that class, or don’t know enough to pass that exam. But, I wish I wasn’t. I wish I could wake up the morning of a big exam, and tell myself “You are so smart, and you are so prepared. You can do this!” Unfortunately, no matter how prepared I am, I usually wake up extremely early the morning of a big exam, try to cram as much of the material into my brain as possible, and then end up rushing to get to there on time. I doubt myself until the moment I finish the test. Even then, I’m still not confident until I see my grade. I wish I didn’t, but I let exams get the best of me.

I’m the first to admit that I should work on this. I should try to stop putting myself down constantly, especially when it comes to school. I put all of my effort into my schoolwork, so I should try to be confident in my work. However, I often let exams get the best of me, and I let grades define me. If there’s any advice I could give you, though, I would tell you that you shouldn’t doubt yourself. If you put all of your hard work and effort into studying for an exam, you shouldn’t let it intimidate you. Afterwards, you also should not let your grade define you. Your very best is all you can do. If you truly believe that you did the very best that you could, then you have succeeded.

We are not our grades. There is a person behind that test score. If you are confident that you are going into a test with your very best foot forward, then you should be confident. Putting yourself down is not going to improve your test score, or your self-worth. If the grade you got on that test wasn’t what you had hoped, then you can at least be confident that you tried your hardest, and you will learn from it. Don’t let exams get the best of you. School can put immense amounts of pressure on us, and if we aren’t careful, we’ll waste this precious time. Don’t let your college years slip away, because you’re too busy letting school get the best of you. That test is important, but not worth the stress, worry, and negativity that we give it. Relax, and try your hardest.