Mental Blanks

Mental blanks, the bane of a student’s life. Recently I was taking a maths test which I had spent quite a while studying for so I presumed that I would ace it. This was not the case however. The instant that the paper was placed in front of me my mind became empty. So whats got my goat is why my mind/ body thought it would be a bright idea to forget everything the exact moment when i needed to know it?

I know some of you are probably reading this going, “that’s never happened to me” etc, so I’ll try to illustrate what happens using a simile and some symbolism. Imagine that your mind is a crowd at a comedy festival and that laughter is your brain working, now imagine a bad comedian (the test) steps onto the stage. He proceeds to tell his first joke (the first question) and instantly the crowd goes silent. This silence is representing the mind of someone in a mental blank.

Back to the goat though, at what point does the body think that giving you a mental blank is a good way to combat the stress of a test. However amazing the human body and mind is, it seems to just let you down at the most critical moments. And that is what has my goat.