How To Stop Crying During and Over Exams

As a former lecturer, I always see some of my students cry during and after an exam. As a former student, I can feel their frustrations that they feel that they’re going to fail or they don’t feel ready. But over the years of my experience both as a student and a lecturer, I was able to see some things we can do to help ourselves to stop crying during exams.

So, how do we stop crying during exams? As a general rule, the way to stop crying during exams is to try to learn how to enjoy the process. This means that instead of thinking that you will already fail, try thinking about the effort you did to study for your exams. Another is to know what worries you and have ways to prevent cramming that causes a lot of stress.

There are numerous ways for us to prevent crying during exams. In this article, I have provided 10 tips for you to stop thinking about a bad exam, and calm your nerves before a test since controlling emotions during exams is hard especially in times of stress. Furthermore, I am going to explain at the end of the article why it is also ok to cry.

1. Take a Break on Challenging Yourself and Enjoy the Process

If there is one thing that separated me before from my classmates is that I know how to enjoy the process of learning.

This means that I am studying in order to learn and not just to pass the exams.

Sometimes, we just study for the sake of passing which is not enough for us to enjoy the process.

Because I find reasons to enjoy what I’m studying, passing the exams is not my main goal. My goal is to actually enjoy the process of studying which lifted a lot of stress.

This doesn’t mean that I’m not studying for an exam anymore. What I mean is that I have a deeper reason why I study other than to pass my exams.

And that didn’t stop me from graduating with honors. I graduated Cum Laude from my University never worrying about my tests.

If you learn how to enjoy the process, you will be able to lift a lot of stress and anxiety as a student which would prevent you from crying because of exam results.

Don’t get me wrong, I know the importance of passing the exams, it is just I would learn faster if I’m happily studying.

For more tips on how to stop yourself from crying while studying, feel free to check this article: How to stop yourself from crying during studying.

Want to know my secrets in studying effectively? Here is my video on YouTube explaining how I did it.

Furthermore, for more tips on how to be an effective student, I have prepared an article for you to read if you’re more of a reading type of person. Here is the link: How to be a hardworking student

Of course, I also know that not everyone can like what they’re studying. Don’t worry because if you can’t follow this tip, then I have more for you.

2. Reflect To Find the Thoughts That Leads to Bad Emotions

A lot of people miss the importance of reflecting upon themselves to see why they’re crying over exams.

I see students or even my classmates worry a lot about their exams because they feel like they’re already failing and it’s over.

The truth is if you think about it, these are just thoughts. They are not real.

However, if you will always believe that you will now fail, then chances are it can happen.

If only you persevered through the end, then the story might be different.

Instead of worrying about your grades, use your energy to study more. These bad emotions that cause us to worry more and do less are dangerous for our grades.

Most likely, you have these thoughts and it is important to identify them and since you already found them, it’s time to try not to mind them.

In here, I have an article you might like. It is all about how to get addicted and love studying. I think it is a good article to read after this one. Here is the link: How to get addicted and love studying

3. Manage Your Time and Prevent Cramming

The number 1 cause of students crying over exams is no other than stress. When people get stressed out, they start acting on their emotional side which leads to actions such as crying.

The truth is, while it is hard, you can actually stop being stressed out over exams and projects by simply managing your time and preventing cramming.

This can be done as easily as scheduling specific times during the day to study whether you have an exam or not.

Cramming is when we try to fit everything in a short amount of time. This is also true when I was a student and preparing to submit projects a night before submission.

Guess what, those are the days where I am most stressed out. Those are the days where my classmates are crying over their projects because of regret.

We regret not doing the projects or studying earlier. What happens is we get extremely stressed out because of procrastination.

You might be checking this article because you’re near a deadline. You may be pulling an all-nighter now to squeeze your work just to submit on time. Well, I have an article for you to read that would teach you if studying all night is a good idea. Here is the link: Is It Okay to Study all Night?

If you really want to be better at stress management, you need to learn about time management. Gladly, I have a video for that. Feel free to also check my YouTube Channel.

4. Know That Worrying Won’t Help You

Here’s another reason why students cry over their exams. It is that they worry a lot.

I mentioned earlier that instead of worrying, it would be better to start doing.

The reason is simple, worrying doesn’t make your projects done. Worrying doesn’t make you pass your exams.

Worrying would just add stress which will lead to some breakdown.

Instead, I suggest you stop worrying and start doing. I learned this because there are also times where I am worrying a lot.

I have a lot of what-ifs in life and what helped me is to start working on those what-ifs.

For example, instead of asking myself what if I started to make my youtube channel, I made my channel. What if I make my own blog, I started my blog.

On studying, what if you start using your time to study instead of worrying.

Here’s the point. Worrying would help not help you solve the problem but doing would.

Reading this blog post is a sign that you are now starting to take things into your own hands and do things. Because of that, I am proud of you.

5. Your Self Thinking Matters a Lot

Sometimes, I see students acing their exams and still crying over the results.

Did you know what others who didn’t pass their exams feel about that? They feel really bad and would wish they could’ve passed.

Sometimes, crying over exams is in our mindset. As humans, there are just times where we cry because of shallow reasons.

And I don’t blame you for that because we are emotional beings.

However, we need to be logical sometimes. We might be crying for no apparent reason because if our goal is to pass, and we actually pass, then there is no reason for us to cry over our test results.

Furthermore, mindset is really important. Instead of saying “I studied so, I will pass.”, you might say that “I will surely fail.”

What you think of yourself matters a lot especially for our ego. While I know that ego can be harmful at times, we don’t need to be too harsh on ourselves.

When you deserve something good, treat yourself from time to time.

In short, start thinking positively rather than negatively. This might be small but it has a big impact on our personality and how we interact with others.

6. Know That You Can Do Better Next Time

Sometimes, the exams are now over and it’s time to see the results.

There are just times where we fail and that makes us human. We all make mistakes.

I remember having my 17/60 exam in microbiology which shocked me since I really did my best.

I also have a lot of my classmates get sad about the issue and maybe cried over it alone.

But here is the thing.

I learned that we all make mistakes but that doesn’t mean that we can’t do something about it.

Have the mentality of you can do better next time. The exam is already over so you can’t do something about that.

But what you can do is to study better next time. The semester is not over so try to score better next time.

That’s what I actually did, I studied more, and eventually, I passed the subject.

As you can see, I took the matters into my own hands. I know that I can do better next time and sometimes, you just have to believe in yourself.

7. Resting Is Important To Prevent Being Burned Out

When I have a classmate who always pulls an all-nighter, gets frustrated because of his low grades, then pulls another all-nighter.

Here’s the thing. Pulling an all-nighter is not a good idea when talking about learning.

In fact, I researched the topic and learned that we learn 42% better if we have enough sleep.

Just imagine the stress of pulling an all-nighter all the time and not getting results. That’s so hard to accept and can lead to a lot of stress.

Furthermore, lack of sleep can cause our emotions to get unstable causing others to cry.

Remember that you can justify crying more if you are burned out and tired. Thus, it is important to know that it is also important to rest.

As I said multiple times, do not be too hard on yourself. We are all human beings so we need sleep.

8. Treat Yourself for Doing a Good Job

When I was a student, one way to cope up with the stress of studying is to treat myself once in a while.

It has been my routine to go buy some waffles or a refreshing beverage when I finish my exam week or telling myself I have a good job.

This is especially true even now. When I accomplish a lot for today, I often treat myself to something to make me more motivated.

Sometimes, we are just too hard on ourselves. That’s why we feel extremely sad about our life as students.

Thus, treating yourself badly can cause you to start getting hard on yourself causing you to cry over exams.

9. Prevent the Thinking Loop

I call this the thinking loop and it is very dangerous.

To explain what a thinking loop is, let me show you an example.

Let’s say you failed your quiz, then you’ll start thinking that you’ll surely also fail the exam, then think that your future would be destroyed causing you to lose everything. Plus, your parents might get bad at you for failing their expectations.

Well, that’s a thinking loop. It is an unending loop of negatives that happens when just 1 negative thing in our life happens.

If you check the story, the only real failed portion is a quiz, which you can easily get back up.

This loop of negative thinking is unending and would cause too much stress which can lead to crying.

If you have a tendency to do this, then it is advisable to be aware of your tendency and control that form of deep thinking in the future.

It causes only 1 thing and that’s stress.

10. Know That Crying Is Not All Bad

Lastly, I want you to know that crying is not inherently bad.

While this article is talking about reasons why students cry over and during exams, it doesn’t necessarily mean that it is wrong to cry.

In fact, I know one of the reasons why students cry over exams is that they show intense determination to pass because of some deep reasons.

Furthermore, it prepares them mentally since their brain will know how important the exam is to them.

So, it is perfectly fine to cry sometimes. I know being a student can be frustrating especially on exam week. But remember that crying would not solve anything. It is doing something that will solve your problems.