I don't think I can say anything better than BP did. With all you have accomplished this one test doesn't make you a failure. We all have bad days, sometimes a test can make us nervous, or we may preoccupied over one part of the course... one year in school i had a materials science course (i wonder if there is some school that offers a political materials course? ) and I got three high "A"s but on one test I got a 38 out of a hundred . I was just completely "zoned" or something during that whole quarter of the course. I still have that test, in retrospect my answers were so ridiculous that they are amusing, but I pulled it together for another high "A" on the last test.

But like BP said it is your right to be upset about this. Just don't let it destroy your confidence. You'll do what you have to do to improve next time! If you are having some trouble with the course you you'll know what things you have to work on and can get help if you need it. If there was a lot of memorization involved for this test maybe someone can help with quizzing you or making flashcards. If this was just an isolated bad day then just don't let it make you nervous next time.

Do you get nervous taking tests? That can really hurt you if you feel panicky at the beginning it can ruin your "flow" for the whole exam. In high school my chemistry teacher used to make us take a "minute of silence" every day before class, he would sometimes play classical music or sometimes we would just close our eyes and sit silent before he began any part of the day's lesson. He taught us to do that before tests as well. Although I did not pursue chemisty in college I used his "minute of silence" at the beginning of each and every exam... when the tests were passed out I wouldn't even open the exam book, just take a few moments with eyes closed and relax... then open the test and dig in. A lot of times when you are nervous that first question looks like it is in roman or greek or something and it just ruins your whole concentration. The "minute of silence" the the best thing I ever learned in any school class ever.

I don't know if this will help at all or not but the most important thing is to not lose confidence! I know this is something you can do and you know that you know this is something you can do. Take some time to vent and then go on with your eyes on success.

Good luck!

-- The world is what we make of it --
-- Dave
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