Anna, I'm sorry you are feeling so overwhelmed!

Now, let's think about this situation. You can recall, I'm sure, how much anxiety-ridden finals can be in the first place. Now your situation adds finishing and obtaining a job too! Of course you're feeling the stress.

But.... let's further think. It's the end of these courses. You have 4 years of study habits behind you, and the entire course work also. If you have paid attention, attended class, done the work all along, even though right now you are unable to focus, if you work on handling the stress, you'll probably do fine.

Stress causes you to not be able to focus, to feel overwhelmed and even distraught. The chemical changes in your body may cause you to not even be able to read at times...the words might not make sense. For these reasons I would suggest that you take this time before the exam week to work on yourself, and not the material that could be presented on exams.

I always prayed that God would reward me (and others) for the amount of time put into learning whatever knowledge the test was testing, to bring it to mind. Whether you pray or not, you can still rely upon this attitude. What you have studied IS there, it's the stress that causes you to not be able to access it.

Monitor your breathing. Are you breathing slowly and deeply, giving your body good oxygenated blood? That's important, you do know, that the brain receives this. Realize what thoughts you are thinking, what you are saying to yourself. Check those against the 10 Common Cognitive Distortions listing sticky posted at the top of the Psychotherapy Forum. " I get stuck in the thinking that I'm useless and won't ever pass anyway" And "I'm so screwed." are examples of two of them: black and white thinking, and catastrophizing.

If I may, let me give a brief thought. In the first you are telling yourself that no matter what all you have learned, the entire 4 years, means nothing "just because" you are stressed right now. The second means you have no other options but to fail or pass.

Neither of those are really rational thought; they are not accurate.

See if you can watch what you are telling yourself, and replace the negatives with reworded positives. (Such as, I've been taking exams for 4 years and here I am, there's no reason to think I won't do well this time. Yes, I'm more stressed because I think I have to have that job, but even if I pass I might not take that job, I have options. I'm not screwed if I happen to not quite pass all these exams. I didn't take the option offered because I felt I didn't need it, and I probably don't, but if I should have a poor day, it's not the end of my world.)

Let me know if you wish more help... you can visit MLPHolmes' chat tonight on Live the Life you Imagine for more support too!