Karla Fernandez

Health Education 44
Instructor Moore
October 11, 2016
Project 3: Case Study Analysis
After reading Katyas experience I think many first time college students experience the
same thing. College comes with lots of stress and anxiety, so I see why Katya would feel
overwhelmed. I also think being a first time college student has a lot to do with stress and
anxiety because they dont know what to expect, especially since it is completely different from
high school. Kayla for instance felt lots of pressure to get good grades due to her scholarship.
Kayla needed to get good grade in order to keep her scholarship. With that large amount of
pressure, it has caused her to experience sever anxiety while studying and even before taking
exams. Experiencing anxiety makes Kayla doubt herself in succeeding, even though she studies
and gets overall good grades.
I remember my first semester of college I experienced a different situation from Katya. At
the moment I was taking 3 course, all of which made me really nervous, but besides that I was
working nearly full time. Work would take a lot of time and energy out of my day that it made
focusing on school very difficult. I always found myself studying last minute, so when it came to
taking exams I would panic. I would always try to set extra time aside for studying but many
times I was unable to, due to the fact that I would work nights, go to school all morning long and
sleep during the day. There were even times where I even doubted myself and wanted to drop out
of college because it was too much to deal with. I later then managed to work with both my
school and work time before starting my second semester in college. I cut down my work time to
no more than 25 hours and moved my work schedule to the mornings. This helped me set more
time aside for school and even time for myself. Overall, when I think about Katyas experience I

Karla Fernandez
Health Education 44
Instructor Moore
October 11, 2016
think the pressure she felt was because of her scholarship, while mine was out of not setting time
aside.
After doing some research on college students anxiety from academic
performances I found an article which really caught my attention. The article
called, Self-esteem, gender and academic achievement motivation for
undergraduate students, explains how self-esteem plays a big role in
college students and their daily lives. Self-esteem affects proficiency levels in
job success, school achievement and overall happiness. The article explains
a study that was done between 80 college students (40 girls, 40 boys) and
how they value themselves and the level of academic performances. They
found that students who feel confident achieve more, while those who lack
confidence are more likely to achieve less. So, when it comes to Katyas
situation I think she may have felt overwhelmed thinking about the need to
succeed. Katya should never doubt herself, I think that is one thing that is
lowering her self-esteem. Katya should think positive and tell herself that she
is going to succeed rather than tell herself that isnt going to do good.
Boosting your own self-esteem by telling yourself you will succeed, will
lower anxiety levels before and after exams.
If I were to experience what Katya is going though I wouldnt seek professional help.
Many times we just need to hear from ourselves and others that we can accomplish anything if
we try. After reading Katyas case I think her anxiety had a lot to do with low self-esteem. Kayla
needs to boost her self-esteem and to have confidence in herself. She can start by first not

Karla Fernandez
Health Education 44
Instructor Moore
October 11, 2016
doubting herself and secondly telling herself that she can succeed. I also think Kayla should not
overthink things, especially when it comes to school, because that can be one of the causes to
why she experiences anxiety.
References
Shekhar, Chandra, and Palak Malhotra. "Self-Esteem, Gender and Academic Achievement
Motivation for Undergraduate Students." Indian Journal of Health and Wellbeing, vol. 4,
no. 7, 2013, pp. 1427-1429. , https://login.ezp.pasadena.edu/login?
url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/1788197201?accountid=28371.