Powerful Student's Stories #1 - Curing Exam Anxiety - A Hidden Cheat Code

During my time as an IT trainer, I met a young woman who shared a powerful experience with me—one that completely changed how she saw learning and testing. She had always struggled with exam anxiety. The stress, the fear of failure, the looming pressure—it had led to a complete blackout during an important test. She blanked out, got overwhelmed, and failed.

But then something unexpected happened. Her teacher didn’t just mark her failure and move on. Instead, he gave her another chance. But not in the usual way.

He sat down with her and simply asked: “What have you already learned?” He wasn’t testing her in the traditional sense. He was genuinely curious. “Do you understand this part? How about that? What do you feel is still missing?” He kept asking, guiding her through what she knew, helping her reflect without pressure.

At some point, after this natural back-and-forth, he said: “You passed.”

She was stunned. It didn’t feel like a test at all. It felt like a conversation—a real, human exchange focused on understanding rather than judgment. But in the end, the effect was the same: he had assessed her knowledge. The difference? The way he approached it completely shifted her experience of learning and proving her abilities.

This story stuck with me because it’s such a powerful way to think about assessments. The traditional exam setting often creates fear, even when someone is actually capable. But when the focus is on curiosity and exploration instead of judgment, people open up, think more clearly, and show what they truly know.

It made me reflect a lot on how we, as trainers and educators, can approach learning in a way that removes the fear—so that people can grow, rather than just perform.