As the time for my placement test draws closer (no official deadline, but I've got to do it sometime very soon now), I've started to panic again. It's a bit odd, since I've never been a habitual worrier over tests. I suppose it's a mixture of a: not having taken any tests in a long time now, b: being a fairly important test in progressing my personal plans, and c: me having not done particularly well on my last tests in law school.
Panic is bad.
The worst part is that it stops me from studying. I pick up my books, my heart starts jumping around, and I can't focus to save my life. I imagine that'd be equally bad on the actual test. It's also a state of mind that feeds itself. The more you panic, the more you think about what can go wrong and what's at stake (Not even objectively... what's at stake is big, but it's not life-ending if I can't place. I could probably take gen chem first, and try to place into calculus this fall instead). The more you think about these things though, the more you panic.
I finally managed to beat back the panic late today, and went back to some trig stuff that had been totally baffling me in the morning. I didn't get it 100% the second time round, but I got most of it. It's just a state of mind I have to affirmatively avoid if I want to have a shot at doing this.
My pool opened now, which gives me a decent (and pleasant) study space away from most of my distractions as long as the weather holds. I'll be spending a lot of time there in the next few days, and trying to make every hour count.
