School Me Saturday 2/10/23-Fear of failure

The fear of failure is very real for students.

What if I fail a test? Does mean I fail the class? What if I get an F on a paper? Does this mean I fail the class?

What if my alarm(s) fails to go off?

What if I fail to get into the homework study group that I really want into? What if I fail my parents, my significant other, myself?

What if I fail the class? What if I fail myself? What if I fail the class? What if I fail the test? What happens if I fail? Will I have to leave the program?

Calm down. Take a deep breath. Breathe in, breathe out.

Calm.

You can work yourself into a big tizzy thinking about all the things that could happen if you fail. Your mind can go faster, faster in circles. Like a dog chasing its tail.

Failure happens. I am quite certain that all of academia has seen every iteration of failure. All the ways that people fail.

Some people will tell you that failure is not an option. Obviously, it is or we would not be so scared of it. But what to do about it?

Reams and reams of articles have been written on the subject. All I can tell you, with any certainty, is how I deal with academic fear. Because I’ve been afraid as a student. Many times. it is how to meet the fear head-on that allows you to gain the courage to go on. And go to the next class.

I sit with the fear and play the what-if game. What if I fail this class? What if I fail this paper? There are conversations you can have with your instructors about make-ups, or extra credits, or even if the grades will be on the bell curve.

The movie Dune tells us, through Paul Atreides (the main character, AKA Paul Muad’Dib) that fear is the mind killer. This is very true. Fear can be a paralytic.

My very first ACLS (advanced cardiac life support) told us on the very first class, on the very first day that the first thing you do in a code is take your own pulse. This shocked many of us into laughter because my pulse in a code is the least of my concerns. It is the patient who is dead. What she meant is that you have to check in with yourself, and take a split second to calm yourself. This is taking your own pulse.

When you get the test booklet, the first thing to do is to answer the very first question. It will be your name. And you certainly know your name. First question down. On to the next.

When you get your first F, the first thing to do is take a deep breath and calm down. After your panic has subsided, look at the answers that were missed and read the questions. Square in your head why the question was missed. In the days of the scantron answer sheets, I accidentally skipped a page, which made all the questions after that wrong. Plead your case.

Find your study group, talk to your instructor, talk to your classmates.

Take your own pulse. And breathe.