One Month Before the National Exam, I Was Honestly Extremely Anxious [Nursing National Exam]

One month before the national exam.

People around me would say,
"There's still a month left."
"You'll improve from here."
But honestly, in my mind,

I felt like,
"There's only one month left."
I couldn't focus even when I opened my workbook.

I was scared to look at my mock exam scores.
When I looked at social media, it seemed like everyone else was doing well.
Looking back now,

I think that month was the most mentally exhausting time.
This time, I'm going to write about those

"real feelings" from one month before the national exam,
and things I can only say now.

This is how I was one month before.

My life consisted of waking up at noon on weekdays and looking at social media.

My average study time was 3 to 4 hours. I couldn't focus because I'd end up playing games or checking social media in the middle of it.

There are many school mock exams during this period.

Of course, since I wasn't studying, I couldn't get good scores.

Hearing people around me say, "I got XX points. This is bad," was stressful. I was at a level where I couldn't even pass the threshold for the mandatory subjects.

Every day, teachers would urge me to study.

Everyone who isn't doing well understands in their head that they "need to study."

Most people are probably holding back the words, "If I could do that, I wouldn't be struggling now."

What is the scariest thing here?

"If I fail, I can't get a job."

That was it for me. In my case, I was at a vocational school and my job was already lined up in my second year. There was no trend of taking the associate nurse exam, so if I failed, I would be in a state where I couldn't work as a nurse.

I hated myself for not being able to turn "I have to study" into "I will study."

I would go out while thinking that everyone else was probably studying.

Sometimes I could focus for 1 to 2 hours. Then I would lose focus because I didn't understand the problems.

That's how I spent the month before the national exam. What did I do?

・Don't try to do everything perfectly; just look back at the problems you don't understand.
・Don't mess around with various study materials. Stick to QB only.
・Accept that the minimum passing line is enough.

It comes down to these three things. In the end, time is limited. There's no way I, who hadn't been doing it until this late stage, could beat people who had been studying continuously.

That is precisely why...

"Aim for a low goal, a score that I can actually reach."

With this, I passed, albeit by the skin of my teeth.

I am working in an acute care ward now, but
no one has ever asked me for my national exam score.

All that is needed is a 'pass'.

If you are struggling right now, you have already worked hard enough.

Even just one question a day is fine. Praise yourself for being great for studying.

Don't worry about what others think, just do what you can, even if it's a little bit.

I hope nursing students who are worried can feel a little more at ease.

Let's all do our best.