Students who suffer from test anxiety received advice on dealing with the problems during a Feb. 16 workshop offered by a Trinity River Campus counselor.

Physical, emotional and cognitive feelings are things that students battle with in this situation, Lori Leach said. She provided the students with steps they can take before and during a test.

Leach took a head-on approach to this problem telling students they first need to recognize what gets in their way.

She said worrying about their performance, being preoccupied with what’s going on with them physically or thinking they are inadequate or not up to par can all become overwhelming when students have worked hard to prepare.

“If you aren’t prepared because you didn’t study, that’s not test anxiety,” she said.

Leach said that is a part of students recognizing what is wrong in their situation.

“Ruminating too long and fruitlessly over alternative answers or responses,” she said, clogs the mind during a test because it turns into the only thing being focused on.

Students often worry too much about what’s going on around them, such as, “being the last person taking the test,” she said. Through such examples, Leach said positive reinforcement is one of the best ways, if not the best, to tackle anxiety of this type.

“Don’t fear the fear,” she said.

Leach reminded students that it is only a test and that as long as they do what it takes to prepare and take one question at a time, everything will be OK.

— Ja Lessa Bonds