A Timeline of My Mental Breakdown During the Exam Season

The two most terrifying words in one title: “breakdown” and “exam”. You're probably familiar with these terms if you’re one of those over-conscious, grade-obsessed types. I certainly am one of them, especially during exam season!

When the exams were getting closer, I decided I wasn’t going to stress myself at the last minute. So, I decided on covering the entire syllabus before the first exam. Turns out, I overestimated my consistency. Like every year, I ended up cramming all the stuff the night before the exam, even though it was the furthest from what I wanted.


I had a mental breakdown the night before every exam. SURPRISE! SURPRISE! Anyway, here’s a little story focused on the subject I dreaded—still dread the most: geography.

My experience with geography the previous session was traumatic, and I wanted to save myself from the trauma this session. There were three (detailed) chapters included. According to my preparation schedule, I had proper days to prepare at least one chapter of geography. Unfortunately, I didn’t have enough willpower to study geography by choice. I ended up procrastinating those days; I didn’t study geography AT ALL.


I didn’t worry about geography until after the exam I had before geo. That’s when the anxiety kicked in. Episode 1 of mental breakdown. Anyway, when I went back home, I took one look at the foreign geography syllabus, and almost puked. Episode 2 of mental breakdown. 


After regaining my composure, I decided to start doing the hardest chapter first. The process wasn't so glamorous—I was pacing back and forth, stressing about how much I had left to do. I somehow finished the first chapter by the afternoon. It was the weakest among all chapters too. By nighttime, I had done half of the second chapter. Episode 3 of mental breakdown. I had one and a half chapters left and it was already past my usual bedtime. 


Through tears, I crammed the rest of the chapter. It was probably midnight when I decided to start the third, and final chapter. Episode 4 of mental breakdown. I was tired, sleep-deprived, and sick of memorizing mountains and rivers. By the time I “finished” the last chapter, the entire world was asleep, and so was my brain. 


I lay in bed, and realized I forgot the material of chapter two. Episode 5 of mental breakdown. In a panic, I opened my textbook and skimmed through the words, wanting to jump off a cliff. 


Episode 6 of mental breakdown came when I got the question paper. Stuff I'd never even heard of, the crazy mineral questions, then something about profit and loss? Isn’t that math? It felt like I was reading another language. Time was up, and I was still not done. At the last minute, I scribbled all the fairytales of those geography rocks, and submitted the cursed sheet of paper.


After this tragic experience in school, I a hundred percent know the answer when someone asks, “Would you ever want to re-live your school days?” HELL NAH. I wouldn’t re-live these moments even if someone PAID me to. 


By the way, I scored 49/50 on the exam. Hehe.

– Hoor, Geography Survivor

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