It’s that time of year again. End of course exams are official upon us. With testing season beginning in April and ending in May this usually means that students stress levels go up significantly.

It is important to know how to look after yourself during testing season not just for your mental health but also to do better on the tests. A study was done not too long ago on how the amount of sleep a student gets in a day affects the score they get while testing.

Researchers from Ghent and KU Leuven had surveyed some college students. The results showed that students who had slept more than 7 hours the night before an exam, got around a 10 percent higher score than those who slept less than 7 hours.

This only proves that students should get a good night’s sleep to increase the well-being of their mental health while also increasing their scores.

Same goes for food, food fuels the mind.

It is widely known that you should start your morning with a good balanced breakfast. This is more encouraged now since for the next few days, students will be working very hard and for long periods of time.

Freshman Keihza Aguilar feels testing affects her mental health and causes her to experience stress.

“It is very stressful,” Aguilar said. “There is a lot of pressure on students when testing and the thought of having to answer so many questions under a limited time is mentally exhausting.”

Aguilar isn’t the only student sharing this sentiment. Across the board, students felt stressed about testing, but some offered solutions for success.

“I sleep more to focus,” freshman Assim Aljaafari said. “I eat enough so I won’t be hungry during the test. Academically speaking, I go over notes and assignments from before.”