The Impact of Health on Academic Performance

 WEEK 9 - Coping with Unexpected Challenges During Exams


The night before the exam I was struck by a migraine that did not allow me to review all the modules as deeply as I would have liked. Wanting to make progress and use the rest of my day in trying to mitigate the pain, I was only able to concentrate on lessons 1 and 2. This limited my ability to cover what I wanted, so I did not feel prepared.

The questions for the exam were mixed: there were several that seemed very familiar, probably because I had concentrated on preparation for my last quiz, and others that looked considerably more complicated and required some deeper analysis and critical thinking. This study had three questions with which I actually had trouble-they happened to catch me off guard-and even after repeated attempts to work through, I just could not find the proper answers. This was frustrating, and even with the help of repeatedly reading the material I did not come out with the feeling that I understood this material as much as I thought.

After the exam, I rushed home, feeling utterly drained mentally; thus, I lay in bed overwhelmed by a wave of disappointment and could not be more disappointed with myself for that. I knew that despite preparing totally for the exam, this migraine had impacted me severely, and I felt that I had flopped. The importance of health and wellness in academic success and the need for coping strategies when facing unexpected challenges was made manifest in this experience.



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