BBC-Drinking water improves exam grades

Article reading:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-17741653

When I see the topic “Drinking water improves exam grades”, I just feel “wow! It’s amazing.” It will be the dream of every student that we only have to drink water during the exam, and then we can get a better result in exams. Yet, we have to be aware that drinking water does not equal to good scores, which means if we do not prepare for our exam, we will still fail to pass it. Though older students are more likely to bring in water to the examination hall, the younger students (less of them bring water into the examination hall) show a higher percentage of improvement than the older students do. We still do not the reason why the importance of staying hydrated during exams target at younger students in particular. Maybe it is because of that younger students tend to be good at memorizing things.

In the article, Dr. Chris Pawson of the University of East London said that consuming water may have a physiological effect on thinking functions that lead to improved exam performance. I think this statement is quite reasonable. In my case, I always feel dizzy when thinking about how to organize and answer essay questions. Then, if I take a small rest and drink some water, it seems to help a lot in clarifying my thought, which really leads to improve my exam performance. However, I feel confused about these words Dr. Pawson mentioned in the article that water consumption may also alleviate anxiety, which is known to have a “negative” effect on exam performance. Isn’t reducing anxiety during exams a good thing for students? Once we feel peace when answering the exam sheet, we can think more clear-headedly. I think this should be beneficial to improving our performance. But maybe when people feel anxiety, they will also be alert. So, perhaps staying anxiety is another way to perform well during exams.

No matter if water really helps enhancing your grades or not, drinking water will not do you harm.