It’s May, and for a lot of people that means one thing, exams. Eurgh. Even saying the word makes my skin crawl. I was never good with exams. In fact once, I got so stressed in high school that my tongue swelled and I couldn’t eat properly for days.

Yep. I know.

But the thing is, I didn’t stress about the actual exam. I stressed about everything and I mean EVERYTHING else regarding the exam.

I stressed about who would be the person in the exam room with me and would I have to explain why I needed rest breaks in between. I stressed about getting there on time and if I could get in the room ok. I stressed about whether I could type for a solid two hours and if my arm would break during or after. I stressed about having to leave later because I took the extra time, having to meet my friends later on and missing the initial debrief chats. I know ridiculous.

It’s a shame really because I think if I didn’t stress about the other stuff I could have concentrated more on my actual exam and performed better. I never really was the brightest student, but I think sometimes I had so much going on that it took extra effort just to keep up with everyone else. But that’s cool, I got there in the end.

So this is a short one really. If you know someone or support someone who is a disabled student, just be there and offer to listen to any anxieties they may have. It will probably really help. I know my family did with me. And if you’re a disabled student doing exams at the moment, it’s ok to worry about the other stuff – you got this.

Gem as a teenager

Little Gem

Gem with Laptop

Oh and here’s some really cringe old pictures of younger me…