That moment when you’re only halfway through a test with only twenty minutes left, scribbling furiously at the page and gasping in air to stop yourself from fainting while your thoughts whirl into a tornado of chaos that causes you to forget everything you studied all night and doubt all the learning capacity and self-worth you’d gathered throughout your life?
At this particular moment, I must tell you, just DON’T PANIC (A Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy would be handy here). Stop for a couple of seconds and get yourself out of the downward spiral into the pits of darkness – fast! And at the end of writing in scrambled focus, you probably feel absolutely awful. I know that it is even more painful when you have prepared and studied, and can come up with most of the answers in the few minutes after the paper has been handed in. I know failure sucks. But I can assure you, you didn’t fail. It may not be the perfection you always aim for, but it was your best on this day at that hour.
Don’t go over it again and again in your head, torturing yourself by reliving this tragedy, there’s nothing you can do, it’s over. Move on because there will always be something else you need to focus on. And know that these negative feelings will pass, I promise. Just think of other past assignments that made you feel this way, but that you’ve forgotten as they’re completely insignificant (like that A- Grade 3 math test that created floodworks). Keep moving forward. A bad test will not destroy your life. There is much more to explore and an entire future to experience.
“Success is stumbling from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm.”
– Winston Churchill
Well, this happened today. And yesterday. Two giant science tests two days in a row is not exactly the best thing to return to after a break, but what can you do. Sorry for the completely unconventional post, just needed to vent about this for my emotional health before I explode.
thebookybunhead
thebookybunhead 
Great shout out to The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, it’s one of my favorites!
Yes, such a fun ‘trilogy’!
I know, the feelings you get after messing up on a test can ruin your whole day; but the spur of determination afterwards to succeed can make up the difference. Remember that the true test of anyone’s character is shown by their failures, not their triumphs. Looks like you turned that negativity into a positive. Wishing you happy days!
Fromkirovwithlove.wordpress.com
Thank you so much for the encouraging words. I always try to see the bigger picture but it’s not always easy. Best wishes to you as well!
I really liked this bit, “Keep moving forward. A bad test will not destroy your life. There is much more to explore and an entire future to experience.” <– Very very true! And yes, any Hitchhiker references are great. 🙂
I needed to write it down so I don’t forget XD
Hopefully, you will get better results than expected when you get your test grades back. I remember this spiraling feeling all too well — from college and from graduate school, too. Sometimes, when life is too stressful, I have dreams about it. Yikes!
It gives me some comfort in knowing I’m not just crazy or incapacitated. Stress is just a part of life that we all experience and have to learn to deal with I guess. Dreams about unmet deadlines are the worst.
A ballet dancer, diligent and exceptional writer, and apparently a science student at a presumably advanced level of schooling. Sounds like you have a lot on your plate. Vent away.
Oh, you’re too kind. But thank you, it had been a very long week.
If we think wew have problems just remeber what Arthur would have thought on reading….So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish….Life is betetr than we think
Yes! That is a positive thought that I will remember, haha. Poor Earth, destroyed for a freeway.