Stress Relief (revisited)

DAILY

• SLEEP WELL!

• Skim through notes whenever you get a chance and briefly before entering the Pearson Vue site. Even just “rereading” something passively can help you with recall.

• Try to focus on taking slow and deep breaths throughout your studying and exam

• Mentally block everything else out. They typically give you ear plugs and/or headphones to help you focus.

• If you are the type of person who needs to do some “physical” activity to calm down, such as using a stress ball, try using your shirt (since you can’t bring anything into the exam room)! Just grab a portion of the hem of your shirt and squeeze it into your palm like a stress ball! Typically, the rate of the “squeezing” should be at least 2-4 times the rate of your breathing for best effectiveness of this technique. You may want to practice doing this while studying or taking quizzes/practice exams so you are comfortable with it.

• Pearson Vue Exam Software Demo → This is a demo of the program that Pearson Vue uses for the exam. I highly encourage you to play around with the buttons to get familiar with the exam software’s functions/capabilities. It has the EXACT calculator you will be using on the exam, so also recommend you practice using this calculator with all your calculations questions so you are used to it by the time you take your exam. Due note that I don’t think that “scratch pad” was there when I took the Naplex: https://www.pearsonvue.com/athena/athena.asp

Prepping for Exam Day + Exam Day:

• SLEEP WELL THE NIGHT BEFORE!

• Eat a balanced meal (no fatty foods)/Drink well at least 2 hours prior to your exam and make sure you use the restroom right before entering the exam room. You don’t want to suddenly feel the urge to use the bathroom in the middle of your exam.

• Skim through notes briefly before entering the Pearson Vue site

• Try to focus on taking slow and deep breaths throughout your exam

• Mentally block everything else out. They typically give you ear plugs and/or headphones to help you focus if requested.

• Calculations - I highly recommend you request for a basic calculator in addition to the scientific calculator provided by the exam software.

• Scratch Paper + Pens - You will be given a number of long laminated pieces of paper + Vis-a-Vis (wet-erase) pens. Make sure you ask them to test the pen(s) out first before heading into the exam room so that you don't get a dry pen.

• If you are the type of person who needs to do some “physical” activity to calm down, such as using a stress ball, try using your shirt (since you can’t bring anything into the exam room)! Just grab a portion of the hem of your shirt and squeeze it into your palm like a stress ball! Typically, the rate of the “squeezing” should be at least 2-4 times the rate of your breathing for best effectiveness of this technique.

YouTube Guides:

• • Exam Stress: How to plan ahead to be Stress Free → https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E2fInfmYmSQ 

  • Conquering exam stress: lessons from our bodies → https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-RZ86OB9hw4 

  • Exam Stress Releasing Tips and Techniques → https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VZTGBj7Zyvk