Stressing for Finals_Short Story
Stressing For Finals
By Javier Dominguez-Trejo
“Hey Luis! LU-EEES!” I could hear John yelling at me across the quad, but I kept going. I just did not have the time to spare. Not today. I have always been a hardworking student. You could say I am my parent’s favorite that way, putting in the long hours doing chemistry homework or reviewing history flashcards, striving for academic perfection. Even when I was a kid, I earned top grades. I remember back in first grade, the first report card I brought home. My parents’ faces lit up with excitement when my report card was full of 4’s (4’s being equivalent to an A).
But this year has been different. It is my junior year and the class that has tormented and stressed me is Chemistry. No matter how hard I try, the material just never seems to click for me, not the way it does for John and Joshua, my two friends in the class. And while I have managed to maintain a B so far, it always seems like if I make one wrong move on a lab or a quiz, my grade will plummet to the ground.
As the end of the semester approached, I found myself increasingly anxious about the upcoming final exam. When I walk into room 102 during 1st period, the unique smells of gas and chemicals greet me. I can feel my shoulders getting tight. It felt like a massive amount of weight was just thrown onto my shoulders. I knew that the test was worth a significant portion of the overall grade, and one wrong move would get me a D or worse and jeopardize his entire academic standing or get me to an A. I know the Final Exam is worth 25 percent of my grade in the class, dropping my B- down to a D if I fail. The thought of failing the exam filled me with a sense of panic that I had never experienced before. Whenever I thought of the final exam my palms would get sweaty, I would get a headache and the torturing thought of failing would come
The week leading up to the test was pure torture for me. I spent every hour possible going over my chemistry notes, desperately trying to memorize everything. I asked countless questions in class and even formed a study group with some of my peers and friends. I would ask questions on how to do things or just to get something more explained.
But no matter how much time and effort I put into my preparation; I could not stop feeling that I was going to fail. All the nights became long for me as the nights were eternal. The night before the exam, I found myself staring at the clock, watching the minutes pass by as I grew more and more restless. Since I could not sleep, I found myself reviewing my notes countless times, but the information just would not stick in my brain. As I lay in bed, tossing and turning, I could not help but think that I was going to fail. And now, it was the day for my final exam. As the sun began to rise the next morning, I finally dragged myself out of bed, feeling exhausted and defeated. I knew that I had to push through the fear and anxiety if I wanted to have any chance of passing the exam. With a deep breath, I gathered myself and headed to the exam room, with my heart pounding in my chest.
As I walked into the exam room, I felt a strong tension in the room, and I could easily tell that I was not the only one nervous and anxious. I saw several people sweating with frowning and trembling faces and could hear the tapping noises of people playing with their pencils already. Slowly I took a seat at one of the desks, my hands trembling as I received my exam. To my surprise, the exam was 80 questions! Panic was setting into me again. I felt overwhelmed by the 80 questions. The first few questions were challenging, and I found myself second-guessing every answer I wrote down. But then, something unexpected happened.
As I kept working through the exam, I started to remember the concepts I had learned over time of the semester. The formulas and equations that had once seemed so foreign and confusing began to make sense. With each passing minute, I felt my confidence growing. I was no longer the anxious, self-doubting student I had been just moments ago. Instead, I was a focused, determined individual who was determined to prove to myself that I could conquer my fears and succeed. All of that changed when my teacher yelled out “15 minutes remaining” I was starting to panic as he had a big portion of the test left. I felt my palms sweaty and my shoulders getting heavy. I started to chew my pencil with anxiety and failure through my mind. Then I started to remember all my years in school. I have never failed a test and have always managed to push through the toughest times. As I recalled this, I felt my confidence coming back to me and I managed to finish the test. That was a time of stress for me but luckily, I finished with 5 minutes to spare. With a sigh of relief, I turned in my exam. I was feeling surprisingly calm and collected.
While it had undoubtedly been one of the most stressful experiences of my academic career, I realized that all of my hard work and preparation had paid off. I may have been scared going into the final, but in the end, I was able to demonstrate my chemistry knowledge and skills, and I felt a sense of pride and accomplishment that I had never experienced before. As I walked out of the exam room, I could not help but reflect on the journey that had led me to this moment. I had faced his fears head-on, and in doing so, I had proven to myself that I was capable of overcoming even the most daunting of challenges. With a newfound sense of confidence, I knew that I was ready to take on whatever the future had in store for me.