Stressed about exams?
Originally appeared online in the teen series Trending - April 22, 2025.
At my school in Sweden, where I live, I was enrolled in a two-year program in the International Baccalaureate curriculum, a program that helps students prepare for university. It’s extremely rigorous, with demanding classwork, many assessments, mock exams, and final exams at the end of the two years. The mock exams at the end of the first year determined whether we would be required to redo that year.
During most of my first year, I handled the work quite well. It was challenging but enjoyable. I was able to meet all of my deadlines for school and extracurriculars. The closer the mock exams got, though, the more I started to hear comments from my classmates like “I can’t do this,” “I’m going to fail,” “I don’t have time,” and, “This is impossible”—and I started to believe the same things for myself.
As the exams got even closer, I had more to do and less time to do it. The more I did, the less I remembered and understood and the more stressed I felt.
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