Studio art sophomore Jonathan Barrera said his mind goes blank occasionally during exams.
“At first, my mind does go blank. Then I try to remember everything I studied and process everything and not take [the exam] as a big chunk,” Barrera said.
He also said the exams are practice for time management.
“[For] these exams, they should really prepare us to start managing our time wisely and they should take advantage of the opportunity and start to develop that, especially in our careers,” Barrera said.
The sophomore advises students to manage their time to study and ask their professors questions.
“Just take it one by one, make sure you study, make sure you make time to study, make sure you study the right [material] and talk to the professor, if they can,” he said.
With finals scheduled at UTRGV from May 4 to 10, the campus community offers services to help students who struggle with test anxiety.
Test anxiety is defined as “a type of performance anxiety,” according to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America (https://adaa.org/living-with-anxiety/children/test-anxiety).
“It’s really not so different than when we go for a job interview or a first date, where you get those jitters,” said Maria Alejandra Mazariegos, a clinical therapist at the Counseling Center in Brownsville.
The center provides free and confidential services to address mental health concerns and to promote personal growth, according to its webpage.
Mazariegos said anxiety differs from person to person.
“There is no cookie-cutter response because we’re all different,” she said. “Generally, there is circumstantial stressors and taking a test, definitely, can be one of them.”
Some symptoms, according to the ADAA, of feeling anxiety include:
–physical symptoms: headache, nausea, rapid heartbeat and, in some cases, a panic attack;
–emotional symptoms: feelings of anger, fear, helplessness and disappointment;
–and behavioral/cognitive symptoms: difficulty concentrating and thinking negatively.
Mazariegos said self-care is critical to combat the symptoms.
“If you haven’t done self-care throughout this semester, it’s not too late,” she said. “You can still engage in self-care for finals.”
A tip she said is to make sure to sleep six to nine hours.
“One thing is making sure you sleep, so this cramming up until one in the morning and not sleeping actually will work against you,” Mazariegos said. “It is important to get our six to nine hours of sleep.”
Another tip is to drink water.
“Hydration is also important,” she said. “You want to aim for at least three to four liters a day and that just helps our organs work and function.”
Mazariegos also said to take breaks between study sessions.
“[A] kind of a general rule is working or studying 50 minutes and then taking a 10-minute break,” she said. “A lot of times, we think, ‘OK, I’m taking a break. I’ll get my phone and I’m on social media.’ That’s not a break. By break, [I] mean, get up, get moving, go outside, get some sunlight, do jumping jacks, do pushups, get your heart pumping and that will, actually, help more blood flow. It will lighten our mood [when you get back to studying].”
Aromatherapy is another way to de-stress. Different essential oils are for “focusing and, also, relaxation,” according to Mazariegos.
She suggested trying eucalyptus, lavender and/or peppermint.
“[The oils] can be your best friend during finals week,” Mazariegos said.
The Counseling Center offers a 24-hour helpline, the Vaqueros Crisis Line, for students experiencing emotional crises, such as suicidal thinking, self-harm, confusion, panic or feeling distressed, according to its webpage.
To contact the helpline, call 665-5555.
The center also provides an online service called Therapy Assisted Online (TAO), a private library of behavioral health resources where users can learn stress management, mindfulness, problem-solving, relationship skills, strategies to avoid dwelling on concerns and develop helpful thinking patterns.
Students may sign up for TAO using their UTRGV credentials.
Services available to students include the Learning Center, which provides tutoring, and the University Library which has quiet spaces to study.
The Learning Center offers tutoring on the Brownsville campus in Cavalry Hall, Student Union 2.16, Casa Bella and on the Edinburg campus in Learning Academic Center 114, 130 and 106, as well as Unity Hall.
For a copy of the center’s tutoring session hours, visit www.utrgv.edu/tutoring/tutoring/schedules/index.htm. The center also offers online tutoring on Blackboard. For a copy of the session hours, visit http://www.utrgv.edu/tutoring/tutoring/online-tutoring/index.htm.
The university libraries will be open for 24 hours during the week of finals on both campuses. For a copy of the Spring 2018 Final Exams Schedule, go to http://www.utrgv.edu/ucentral/_files/documents/registrar/final-exams-schedule.pdf.
Students are able to reserve a library study room, with groups of up to four in Harlingen, eight in Brownsville and 16 in Edinburg. Groups over 16 will need to contact library administration at 882-7424, 665-2755 or 296-1900.
