Exams are part of the daily life of the students I work with, however, the meaning they have and the coping strategies each one of them uses are very different and varied. It is necessary to understand how they experience the process of being evaluated, with a very standardized protocol that is very difficult to modify. Especially in the non-compulsory educational stages where they no longer have support.
One of my older students who has completed 2nd year of science in high school this year has perfectly conveyed what this experience means to him. He thought it was a great idea to share his explanation on this blog, so here is his testimony:
For me, taking an exam is like being on a roller coaster. Even before the descent begins, I think about what’s going to happen to me. Once I start falling, I have a very intense negative feeling, and then, after I finish falling, even though I’m calmer than before, I still have some of the accumulated stress. The days leading up to the exam are like waiting in line for the roller coaster.
Armando Duque Montilla
