Activity 7.2: Exploring my own self-efficacy

I often doubt my abilities, and I don't have great self-efficacy in a lot of areas, math and relationships being prime examples.  My story, however is not about math, or about relationships, and is quite funny now that I look back upon it.  My senior year of college, I had to take the GRE in order to get into graduate school.  I also happen to have (sometimes intense) test anxiety (because, as Pajares says, I lack confidence in my abilities as a test taker).  For about a week before I took the test, I was so anxious I was having heartburn; I would find myself starting to panic at least twice a day.  The day of, I left my apartment three hours early- and I lived 25 minutes away from the testing center.  Not only that, but I also drive 45 mph (on the interstate!) because I was afraid I would wreck my car and miss my test.  Needless to say, I obviously had to take the GRE over at a later date, because I did not do as well as I needed to.  So, when Pajares talked about the self-fulfilling prophecy, this story is the first thing that popped into my mind.  I was not confident in my abilities that day, and my anxiety and lack of confidence affected my scores.  As for the root cause of my belief, I'm certain it was due to the pressure Kentucky schools put on students during high-stakes testing (such as CATS, which is no longer in use), and also my own personal issues with success, the need to control everything, and not knowing what to expect.