Monique Munoz

Professor Knott-Silva

HED 044

6/4/2019

Project #3: Case Study Analysis

Katya is a freshman in college who has a 3.0 grade point average. Like most college students, she

finds herself suffering from anxiety even though she studies hard. I can relate to her because no matter how

hard I study, there's always that possibility that you won't do your best and that gives me anxiety. Many college

students stress out more and go through more anxiety when they are going to school on a scholarship. When

you’re on a scholarship, you must perform well in school to keep it. I could see where she is stressing because

she needs to do good on her chemistry class and she has a 3.0 grade point average. The test anxiety is really

weighing her down so much that she had a panic attack while studying for her test.

Self-esteem is very important in college students and academic performance. Self-

efficacy is also important for academic performance, you need to believe in your ability to reach

your goals and complete things. If Katya and other people don’t believe in themselves, they

aren’t going to perform well. I could relate to this because if I put myself down and think I can't

do something; I don’t try hard enough because I think that I am going to fail either way. In

college and in life really, you need to believe you could achieve things. I could relate to Katya

when it comes to having test anxiety and stressing all the time in school. I deal with anxiety as it

is and testing amplifies it. I can’t even count how many times I’ve gotten sick before an exam.

Something I do is listen to music that calms me down before my exam as well as review my

notes. I try to tell myself that I am prepared and that I am going to do fine. Even though so many

things are on the line, you can't allow yourself to get in your head.
 I could help build Katya’s sense of self-efficacy both in and out of the classroom by

advising her to have a good support system. By having a good support system, you always know

you can go and talk to someone about the anxiety's you’re having. Talking about things makes

you feel a lot better. Another way I could help her is by advising her to form study groups. Study

groups seem very beneficial and her group could also be her support system. By forming the

study group, she will notice that she isn’t the only one who suffers from test anxiety and that will

make her feel a lot better. Katya can prevent this from happening next term by making a study

plan and getting help from others. She should also go to her professor's office hours and that

might give her a little bit more confidence. In the article Emotional Intelligence, Test Anxiety and

Academic Stress among University Students by Gordana Stankovska, the author states that

“Researchers have shown that academic achievement depends on certain psychological factors

such as emotional intelligence, motivation, anxiety, depression, and stress” (Stankovsa). Your

academic achievements aren’t going to happen if you’re constantly stressed and aren’t

motivated. The article also states that you must have good emotional intelligence in order to

succeed in school. I would recommend that Katya learn to be in control of her emotions and not

let them get the best of her next term. The author also states that “Students who experience test

anxiety tend to be easily distracted during a test, experience difficulty with simple instructions,

and have trouble organizing or recalling relevant information” (Stankovska). The best approach

for Katya so she will do better next semester is to do whatever possible to lower her stress like

going for hikes.

I think it wouldn’t hurt to seek professional help if someone was in Katya’s situation. I

would personally recommend that people do so they can get the doctors recommendations. You

never know, the doctor might be really helpful. You could also do your own research on how to
decrease stress and test anxiety. From a health perspective, an action that Katya and others could

take to decrease anxiety and learn optimism is learning how to think positive. You can tell

yourself nice things daily and encourage yourself until you believe you could achieve something.

A good way of forming realistic expectations before beginning each semester is knowing that

you’re going to struggle and accepting it. You are going to struggle but you need to have that

desire to want to do good. Planning your semester and your weeks with homework and studying

could be a huge help and always seems to help me. One last way of forming realistic

expectations is setting small achievable goals throughout the semester.

 Work Cited Page

Stankovska, G., Dimitrovski, D., Angelkoska, S., Ibraimi, Z., & Uka, V. (2018). Emotional

Intelligence, Test Anxiety and Academic Stress among University Students. Bulgarian

Comparative Education Society. Retrieved from https://search-ebscohost-

com.ezp.pasadena.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eric&AN=ED586176&site=ehost-live