If someone has ever felt their temporal lobes pulsating nonstop while studying a textbook, that will mean nothing to them in the next month and a half, then they have experienced something called midterm-stress.
“Midterms are a big part of your grade and considering they’re cumulative there can be a slim chance of passing,” freshman finance major Mitchell Farrell said.
The body owns certain stressors that are stimulated and cause people to act and think in certain ways. Midterms can almost be related to several different stressors such as: chronic, life changing, job and/or frustrating stressors.
“The words, midterm and final, are associated with fear,” Farrell said.
According to Ashland Torres, writer for The Current Online, “with half of the semester nearly over, midterms are the looming darkness over every students head.”
Although students may prepare for the looming darkness of midterms, even the prepared student experiences the worries and stress when faced with the pressure that comes along with midterms. If pondered on, the idea of being well prepared isn’t that easy to come by for college students. Most college students not only have to worry about midterms, but also worry about other factors such as: their futures, their money, maintaining certain GPAs, holding onto a part-time job, etc.
According to US News, 20 percent of students report anxiety so stressful that it affects their grades on the actual test. With this many tasks it also easy for students to forget important things, simply because their minds are off somewhere else. Due to distractions, students may also find themselves realizing at the last minute they must take a midterm, causing an alarming reaction.
As the body reacts to alarming news, the heart has a reaction. The sudden stop of heart is the body’s GAS (generalized adaptation syndrome) system being activated. The way this system works is that generally when someone is initially told something alarming they experience 3 phases; they are: the alarm, resistance and exhaustion stages. For example, when a student suddenly remembers a big test he/she is startled triggering their stressors. The second stage, resistance, is when the student will shake it off and say that they have enough time to cram the night before. Then the final stage, exhaustion, is when the body literally gives up, they call it quits because the body can no longer take what is being thrown at it. The information being read is not being synthesized and people will go to sleep because they are literally exhausted.
Stress is literally a bodily reminder. Some ways to deal with midterm stress are simple such as: getting good sleep, exercise so the body remains in tip-top shape, study a week or two ahead, etc. The next time the syllabus reads midterm make sure to plan ahead because with that single step they are avoiding stressing themselves out. Remember, stress is what one makes it.