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Steady on the stress: Tips for fighting exam anxiety

29 June 2020 | Story Valentino Ndaba | Photo Pixabay

article exam anxiety_read more — Should the anxiety burden be too heavy to bear, contact the Student Counselling and Development office.

Do you need help with sharpening your coping skills to alleviate exam anxiety? Look no further; Dr Neo Pule, counselling psychologist at the UFS Student Counselling and Development Office, has tips for you on how to manage stress.

Stress comes with the territory of exam preparation. “The quality of a person’s performance is hampered when the level of stress is either too low or two high,” says Dr Pule. In order to strike a balance between the two states, you need to treat your emotions as information and apply coping skills when necessary.

How you think can have a profound effect on your emotional and physical well-being. Some social strategies of coping with stress include social support, humour, self-nurturing, and healthy distractions. Take care of your mental health this exam period by following these simple tips from Dr Pule:

Before the examination:

1. Allow yourself enough time to study

2. Ask your lecturer what the format of the exam will be

3. List the chapters you need to prepare for

4. Write down key facts

5. Make flash cards, drawings or notes

Important: Focus on areas your lecturer spent a lot of time on.

During the examination:

1. Pace yourself and budget your time accordingly

2. If you blank on a question, skip it, and move on

3. Don’t panic if others are handing in their papers

4. Apply yourself and try your best

5. Breathe!

After the examination:

1. Let go!

2. Don’t compare your answers with peers

3. Reflect on the good and the bad in a healthy manner

4. Relax

5. Treat yourself

Bloemfontein Campus and South Campus

Student Counselling and Development: +27 51 401 2853 or herbstp@ufs.ac.za

Qwaqwa Campus

Student Counselling and Development: +27 58 718 5033 or +27 58 718 5033 or +27 58 718 5032

News Archive

Pres Steyn turns pink in anticipation of Vryfees

2014-06-06

Video clip
Live streaming

Australian artist Cigdem Aydemir vacuum packed the Pres Steyn monument on the Bloemfontein Campus’s Red Plain – in pink. Aydemir’s project, ‘Plastic Histories’, forms part of a public art project that encourages us to evaluate public monuments in their historical context.

By vacuum packing monuments, Aydemir alludes to their significance and preservation. At the same time, though, it reveals the nature of their contentious and gendered historical function. This is because most monuments in post-colonial countries typically celebrate men’s achievements in serving their nations.

In response, this project acknowledges the contribution of women from all races, communities and sexual orientations to the grand narrative of a post-apartheid South Africa.

Aydemir is also developing an app in collaboration with Australian artist Warren Armstrong. This will be used for augmented reality viewing of three city monuments – those of President Brand, General De Wet and General Hertzog. This means that visitors will be able to hold a smart phone or iPad in front of the monuments and view the monuments as if vacuum packed in pink plastic.

In conjunction with the public art project there will be an exhibition of digitally manipulated photographs of nineteen-century and contemporary male monuments in Bloemfontein. These photos will be exhibited at the Johannes Stegmann Gallery at the UFS Sasol Library from 15 July – 1 August 2014.

Public tours on the Bloemfontein Campus and into the city will take place on:

• Tuesday 15 July at 11:00,
• Wednesday 16 July at 14:00, and
• Saturday 19 July at 11:00.

Aydemir’s ‘Plastic Histories’ public art project is part of the UFS Programme for Innovation in Artform Development (PIAD) and the Vryfees arts festival’s partnership with the Australian-based SituateArt in Festivals initiative. This partnership is managed by the Salamanca Arts Centre in Tasmania.