Post-exam disappoint, loss of esteem and motivation

[Jamzies]

There is no doubt that over the last few weeks that I've felt a flurry of emotions over the post-exam period. Having all my previous exams handed back, I could not find a moment where I felt satisfaction.

Such exams started about a month ago, just a week before I had my camp and the rest of the holidays. There is a possibility that I may not have studied well enough, but one issue that does stand out, again and again, is leaving questions unanswered. A tiny chunk of these were ones I didn't understand, but most were slightly easier to grasp the meaning of. Where slightly more were left unanswered, I felt worse when I looked at others' scores (and no, I didn't disclose my score).

While being marked down to C isn't something so major to worry about for the first exam, the problem is fixating on others' results. Unlike a normal grade marking scheme, they're based on the year-level cohort's results. After taking a look, this put me slightly below average, which has always been rare. I've had a little chat with parents, yet there's still something that stirs within me to be felt again as a flashback. Having one again today made me feel I couldn't turn a blind eye, hence the writing of this thread.

I've also had similar feelings from occasional tests before the exam. After repeating the process of disappointment over and over again by realising, yet no action done, I feel my motivation is slowly leeching off and my mood swinging a bit more.

Any suggestions?

[Betriouffift]

Hello, Jamzies.

I can relate to you on a level where I concern myself with worrying over countless issues regarding my school life, particularly tests and exams, and they are probably my weakest points in expressing my knowledge. If you are struggling with studying, a good way for me to grasp concepts is through sitting down with someone you can trust, who can help you understand certain things that you struggle to do in class or alone.

As with the self-esteem and motivation issues, I understand that viewing other's scores as superior and seeing your own as below average can be pretty debilitating, I've experienced this myself and it really does suck.

But it is important in life to sometimes ignore what other people are doing and fixated on yourself, after all, you are studying for your future, for yourself, and your education matters to you the most. It might be easier said than done as well. However, its also good to acknowledge that these exams don't lock in your future, maybe the exam was on something you're not interested in or something that wasn't taught too well, but you can ignore motivation and focus on discipline sometimes, which sticks longer, force yourself to take time to study for longer periods, challenge yourself by sticking to routines that help you in your studies and know that you can make a difference when you try hard enough.