I'm a big believer in confidence in an exam and I was just wondering if anyone had any tips on how I can both walk in confident tomorrow knowing I've done all I can and also what can I do if I start to lose confidence while I'm in the exam due to not understanding the unseen texts or whatever because losing confidence early will be a detriment to the other sections as well.
Also, I don't in the whole 'I haven't studied at all; I'm so screwed.' but if I do see someone that isn't coping well, how should I deal with them. Like I don't want them to make me stressed but I also don't want to ignore them because I know I would really appreciate someone helping me to calm down before I walk in.
How to walk in with confidence? Like you said that
Knowing you did all you can and making sure you
don't forget that.
How to not lose it and break down in the exam.
Couple of methods
-Breathe and calm down. Focus on what is in front of you and what you need to do.
Eg: I need to make a plan, so write the prompt, write "intro", write a dot point on it, repeat again, now write "para 1", write some dot pts on that, etc.
Do that until you calm down. This helps because you are sure what to do and helps you not panic
-Close the paper and imagine relaxation/positive self-talk/breathing exercises
:Sometimes you need to get away from it all for a bit. So close the thing freaking you out and breathe
:Tell your self you can do this, that everything is alright, don't panic, relax, make a plan.
:Imagine in your relaxation place and stay there till you feel relaxed and ready to do the exam
:Focus on your breath via taking deep breathes for 10 times or so. To calm your self and not get emotional.
As for helping others, I
wouldn't recommend helping yourself. I was a person that would get stressed over it. Either refer them to a teacher or their friends. If they are your friend, talk about something not about the exam and calm them down.
Don't answer content questions because this really shakes confidence, if they start doubting your answer and question it. Make them realise that this doesn't define them and just do the best on the exam. You could also say that if you don't do well, i'll be there for you after the exam.
This may seem harsh, but sometimes you
can't save them all, no matter what you do.
I wish you all the best and it sucks that HSC is starting soon. As I'm in the process of drafting a post on this topic tied in with stress, anxiety, negativity.