As the semester comes to a close, finals season approaches and so do the rising levels of stress and anxiety.
Students should study for finals with other people because it could be more entertaining and enjoyable than studying alone.
In a study published in psychological notes by the National Library of Medicine authors Carl Senior and Chris Howard mentioned, “The benefits of group work are such that it promotes ‘active’ learning, critical thinking skills, and student engagement.”
Personally, my grades have risen significantly while having a study group because I get to talk to my classmates about information that will be on the exam and learn from each other. For instance, history has always been a difficult subject for me, so I connected with some classmates to study and ended up getting an 87% on my final exam.
But study groups aren’t for everyone. Being alone has benefits for those who have social anxiety. According to a study by Sage Journals, authors Kristen Archbell and Robert Copland found that, “Classroom settings can make students anxiety level rise because of the amount of people that are in the class.”
However, challenging myself to meet new people helped reduce my anxiety and stress levels significantly.
Before going to college, I was shy and lonely because of the amount of bullying that occurred on a daily basis and my grades and confidence took a heavy tool.
Once I overcame my anxiety around people, my grades increased and I have been a happier person after surrounding myself with classmates encouraging me to be successful.
When I started coming to Palomar College, everyone was nice and welcoming, making it easy to feel comfortable being on campus. I remember walking into my first class feeling nervous and anxious because of how I was treated in high school and middle school. But within the first couple weeks, I slowly started introducing myself to people and made new friends in my classes. By my first semester, I noticed that my confidence in meeting new people increased, and remember crying to my family because I’ve never felt this comfortable being around other people.
During my second semester, I realized that I was doing better in my classes because of the amount of people that I was surrounding myself with those motivating me to be the person I am today.
For example, math has never been an easy subject for me so I started a group text with some of my classmates which helped me learn more and ended up getting a 90% in the class.
I will never forget the amount of memories I created with classmates and I’m grateful that they were there to support me.
Overall, I recommend students find people that will motivate them to be successful in their classes and learn more to get better grades on exams.
