THE PUBLIC SHELF

Open when you're stressed about exams

Put the highlighter down for one minute. Just one. Read this first.

I've taught for nineteen years, and I can tell you exactly what's happening in your head right now. You're convinced you've forgotten everything. You read a page and it slides right off. You're doing math about what grade you need on the final to keep what grade you have, and none of the numbers feel safe.

Here is what's actually true. The information is in there. You've been sitting in my classroom since September asking the questions other kids were too scared to ask. You stayed after in November to redo the problem set you'd already passed, because you wanted to understand it. That kind of work doesn't disappear the night before. It just gets quiet when you're scared.

So tonight, close the books by ten. Sleep. Your brain files things away while you sleep, and you need the filing done.

Eat breakfast. Read every question twice. If you get stuck, skip it and come back. And breathe out longer than you breathe in.

Whatever the grade is, I need you to know I'm already proud of you. Not of the score. Of you.

Ms. Rivera

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