The following sample essay on Stress a state of mental or emotional strain or tension resulting from adverse or demanding circumstances.
It’s something that each and every one of us face in our lifetimes, the feeling of intense pressure or tension that rushes through our brains and bodies is something that is uncontrollably going to happen if we are faced with perhaps a new obstacle in life or simply by facing everyday tasks which can lead to an immense amount of frustration and the feeling of being defeated before the real amount of pressure has even begun.
For me, this exhausting feeling occurred throughout the difficult times of my 4th- year exams. Exams are a part of life that every teenager will have to face during their later stages of school, so why is it that we feel so much stress towards something when really everyone we know must already or is going through the exact same process as you? I don’t understand, what is it about sitting in an exam hall with a pen in one hand that makes us young individuals like me so nervous? Qualifications.
That one word can send shivers down a student’s spine within seconds of hearing it. Although, having the qualifications opens many doors and gives us choices throughout life, do having the grades really define who we are as people?
Weeks leading up to my exams I could feel an uproar of pressure building up inside my head. My brain was becoming worn out with all the continuous questions I would ask myself throughout the several sleepless nights I endured.
I would spend hours upon end asking myself the same questions in which I never even knew the answers to. Looking back at the exhausting experience I now realise that with exams comes stress and that even though it felt like I was carrying the weight of the world on my shoulders, it was in fact not only me that felt like this during the exam process. At the time, though I repeatedly had the ongoing support from my friends and family assuring me that you’ll be ok, I still had no self-belief that I would manage to overcome my fear of figuring out the internal struggle of getting information in my brain onto paper in a specific amount of time. Perhaps the real stress was the fear of the unknown, not knowing what type of questions would appear as I opened the exam booklet made me spend which felt like an eternity sitting at my desk going over every single detail from each subject so that I could face any questions that would come my way. What frustrates me the most is the automatic pressure us young individuals feel as soon as we hear the words exam or test. What is it about these words that cause an emotional and mental strain inside our heads? Unfortunately, I am unable to provide an answer. It’s funny to think that looking back now I thought to revise for an upcoming class test was the highest amount of stress I would ever feel. Oh, how I wish I could turn back time.
When exams were soon approaching, the pressure really hit me, to say the least. Though during this overtiring experience I would definitely say I was acknowledged to two different types of thoughts on opposite sides of the scale; on one hand I had the continuous support from my teachers reassuring me that as long as I try my best I had nothing to worry about and on the other hand I received negative stories from individuals to whom my fears were their real-life experiences regarding exams. This leads me down a challenging path as although I was trying to remain optimistic (but at the meantime failing tremendously to do so) I still deep down had dreadful thoughts in the back of my mind. Throughout this daunting process knowing that my older brother and sisters have experienced the same process I was currently going through, it was a relief to know that even if they never managed to achieve the dream result’s they wished for, there is, and will always be several different pathways to reach and strive your way through certain goals in life. However, although having older siblings who have had exams put me at ease, it also set an expectation within the fact that I must share the same experiences that they did. This is not the case. What I have learned throughout the time of exams is that even though every single individual goes through the same process of studying, sitting exams, waiting and then receiving results, despite that, my experiences will not be the exact the same as everyone else’s. Also, as I begin to reflect on the situation I got myself into during exams, I now realise that even if things don’t exactly go to plan, the world is my oyster and I will be able to make those further decisions which will best benefit me in the long run as what I wish I knew before my exams is that nothing is set in stone.
Before I knew it, the day of my first exam crawled up upon me. All the endless weeks of revision had been leading up to this exact moment. I went over and over everything I had learned hoping that somehow it would remain stuck in my head for the next few dreadful hours to come. I sat on the chair while my leg was uncontrollably jittering, the invigilator was pacing up and down from one side of the exam hall to the other. I could hear the sound of other students including myself fidgeting with their pens, the loud sighs that would come from students and the overwhelming sound of exam booklets all opening at once as we then sat anxiously analysing the question booklet that was placed before us. Before I had the chance to look up, the exam was finished. That was it. Every time I completed each and every one of my exams, I came to the realisation that I now had no control. This pestered me as up until this point I was the one that sat in the driver’s seat, and now it was up to someone else as far as what was to happen next. Although a weight had been lifted off my shoulders, I then realised that I will now have to face the perhaps most stressful part of it all, waiting around three months to actually receive the hopefully successful results I am hoping for.
It seems strange to think that’s months ago all my stress and worry have resulted in a few bits of paper in a large, fancy envelope. Yet looking back now I realise that whatever is inside will not completely change my life in the worst possible way as I have learned that in life it’s certainly true that qualifications are key to get you into a successful job, and that they can have a massive impact on our lives. However, as we begin to grow older, we will soon realise that exams do not define you and that life is not about how much we make financially, it’s who we are as people and what we achieve spiritually and emotionally.
Stress a state of mental or emotional strain or tension. (2019, Nov 17). Retrieved from https://paperap.com/stress-a-state-of-mental-or-emotional-strain-or-tension-best-essay/