Stress

On October 5 I took the SAT. I had a huge weight on my shoulders because I am not a good test taker. I studied from the SAT test prep booklet, but I felt my confidence in doing well in the test decline as I was answering the practice questions. I was studying since August for the test, but as the test date was getting closer, I began to feel my stress level increasing. I ended up getting sick two weeks before the test and that prevented me from studying that whole week! Once I was better, I only had one more week to prep for the test and I started getting horrible stress headaches. I started to change my diet to junky types of food and sugary drinks to help me stay up longer to study, however, I ended up having crashes everyday when I would get home after school. I stopped sleeping at night and all of this added to my stress. How could I concentrate when I'm about to collapse into a slumber? I was not thinking about my health but rather about this stupid test. I am not a good test taker and standardized tests shows this opinion. I find myself concentrating on the time more than what is right in front of me. I get anxious due to the silence and I feel that the walls are closing in on me as the test drags on. My mother added to my stress last week when she talked to my best friend. She told her that she didn't want me to study the day before the test so that I could clear my head. My friend ended up telling me she wanted to go shopping and when I got home on Thursday my mom told me I was going out after school and that I would not do any studying what so ever. I could not even due homework!!! What mom does not want their child to do their academic work?! I was flabbergasted. I didn't know what to think, other than without this day to study, I was going to do worse on the SAT. On Saturday, I woke up and I felt good. I actually believed in myself, but as we got closer to Reed, I started having a panic attack. I became short tempered and I felt like crying. I did not want to take this dreadful exam. As the test went on however, I felt that I knew more than when I entered the classroom and I found a new feeling that I have never felt in a testing environment. I felt at ease the whole test. Now all I have to do is wait to see my scores.