Munirudeen Maymunah

I felt so traumatized when everything was overwhelming and beyond my control. Series of tests, assignments, and exams so closely and ironically, I didn’t understand three-quarters of all the courses despite spending many hours in the library. I was tired, frustrated, and depressed, and I had to resort to crying and lamenting. I regretted ever gaining admission. Sometimes I questioned myself; “was I the one who did the entrance exam and “aced” it excellently?” To the extent that I was among the first five people to be given admission into my department. I used the method I employed while preparing for the previous exams I had had before my admission but it didn’t work out. I changed my method of reading, but all in futility.
There was a day I went to a library I had never been to and sat there reading for almost two hours but couldn’t pinpoint three words, not to talk of a statement. I left angrily and didn’t bother ever going there to read.
Academic pressure is an artificial twin of mental health. The moment the semester reaches the middle or the exam is a few weeks again; students are seen taking all steps that would make them ace their exams as no one is willing to stay. They started doing Till Day Break (TDB) reading sleeping for less than two hours or not sleeping at all. They engage in taking drinks like coffee that prevent sleeping. They turned to nocturnal suddenly, which could affect their mental health as they were not getting enough sleep. Imagine! Indulging in a thing you are not used to suddenly and not taking it lightly.

I remembered I did a test and the result was extremely bad. I did my best to pass. I don’t think I slept overnight because of the test. Only for the result to be so poor. When the exam was approaching, I had to leave my comfort zone to read vigorously. I read to the extent that my brain almost went blank for the other courses, as that one already took away almost all the strength I had in me. I would just read whatever I could, sometimes even absentmindedly, as I have lost hope in myself to be that student that once she reads and prepares, she will definitely get the result.
Students’ mental health is usually at stake when pressure starts setting in. Students are usually unhappy and worried, having sudden and unexpected headaches, which are not caused by malaria but by overthinking how to tackle academic challenges before them. The pseudo-headache affects the students to the extent that all they have to think about is academics. Once they are being questioned about other aspects of life, the response doesn’t usually align with the question asked. Not that they are not brilliant or intelligent, but their mental thinking has been snatched by academic pressure for the main time.

I once did an external exam, but the result was far below my expectations, although I passed and qualified for the second stage of it. I started preparation early and gave it all it took to pass excellently, and the people I was close to already trusted that I would pass. Life happens. I felt worried about where the problem could lie but could not fathom it. It made me lose interest in preparing hard for the next stage as I did for the first one. I passed the second exam excellently, more than the first one, despite not giving it all as I had done for the first one. One thing I noticed which aided my second exam was ‘the all’ I had given to the first one. The second was just like the continuation of the first although it was a bit more technical than the first one. The opportunities I had to prepare fully in the first, I did not have for the second. The time frame for preparation and the access to the necessary materials were limited for the second. Had it been I not prepared early and energetically for the first one, I would not have passed the second one, and then I would have lost. I remember that I was sick for a month out of three months I had to prepare for the second one.
The reason mental health usually takes a great toll on students is a lack of early preparation. Imagine if I didn’t prepare well for the first one and make great use of the opportunity I had then which I did not know I would not have for the second will most likely affect my overall result leading to failure. One way to reduce mental health affecting students through academic pressure is avoidance and shunning of procrastination by all possible means. An opportunity today will likely not come the next day.
Patience is required a long way to reduce academic pressure. A student should be calm enough to get to the root of where it gets wrong. What are the expectations to meet and don’ts to be avoided in academics to reduce its pressure. Once it is getting out of hand, rest; cool your head before continuing. I was preparing for a particular test and I could not comprehend anything I was reading. When I felt it was getting out of hand I had become so worried. I closed my reading material and went to sleep to restrategize and to avoid battling with a blank brain during the exam which might discourage me from preparing well for the main exam.
Mental health and Academic Pressure are both interconnected. They cannot be separated from each other. Putting things in order before academics become overwhelming will go a long way in reducing the negative impact of mental health on students. Mental health challenges are unavoidable but they should not be things that would hold down the students to the extent that it would yield poor results and distrust in oneself that achieving academic feats is impossible.