Fear, fear .. the CAT is here!!

Well the day has finally arrived and CAT '2009 is underway. All students no matter what their age have one thing in common - 'FEAR'. The very thought of an exam petrifies us. No matter what we do, its always there, lurking in the shadows waiting to rear its ugly head and wreck havoc. Its immaterial what we do, whether its to adopt a positive attitude or just build confidence in ones abilities 'FEAR' it seems is omnipresent. But why is that some of us let it get the better of us?

Just a week ago I wrote the IIFT exam, its pattern is similar to that of CAT. Even though the paper was doable, time was not on my side. Fear of losing egged me on but it also wrecked my train of thought. I got flustered and eventually messed up big time. What people don't seem to realize is there are very few who can force fear to take a backseat and just perform brilliantly and there are some of us who are not as gifted. The key i think is to adopt a 'there is nothing to lose' attitude, for only then was I able to push fear into a small corner. Exams are stressful and when an exam like CAT is being conducted in a computerized format it presents challenges of its own. This multiplies our fears by a 1000 times at least for we have to expect the unexpected, which is the worst thing for a student.

So i thought of some things that would help students cope with fear and prepare themselves for the inevitable

• I am a born pessimist. Call me a hypocrite, but i do belive that a few positive thoughts are better than a 1000 negative ones when your about to write an exam.
• Don't put yourself down because by doing so not only are you digging your own grave your ready to jump in willingly.
• Don't be alarmed about the number of people taking the test. If you see a lot of people and start to psych yourself out just tell your self "most of them are morons, they don't even know what 'The Katrina' is!!" ( its a hurricane that hit the U.S not just the name of an actress')
• If the night before the exam you have an anxiety attack there are only two surefire solution to it.

a) Cry your heart out and get it out of your system

b) This one has proved most effective : Call your closest friend swear till your mouth hurts. Trust me this actually works plus its a lot of fun.

Frankly I'm scared to death but like I said fear is just a feeling, push it back. Dont give up on yourself no matter what happens. Be determined to pierce through the clouds of oblivion , you know what they say ' Aim for the stars and you'll reach the sky'.

On that note I wish you all the very best!! May CAT '2009 be but a minor speed bump in an otherwise fear free life.

cheers!!!