Be honest. No matter how long ago you’ve graduated from school, you probably still have nightmares about failing tests and missing exams.
Turns out Jade Rasif isn’t immune to school-induced anxiety either.
The DJ and online personality tells AsiaOne that she remembers one particular episode before an exam. She was outside her literature exam hall and she’d realised that she’d forgotten to bring a book she needed.
“I suffered an anxiety attack outside the exam hall, which triggered an asthma attack, which resulted in me vomiting all over my uniform,” Jade, 28, recounts. “I was sent home covered in tears and vomit.”
Sharing that she “used to” have anxiety attacks, Jade says that the root cause was because she “did not know how to deal with stress”.
When faced with overwhelming situations, her natural reaction is to cry, she says.
Her experience isn’t all that uncommon. In Singapore, about 10 per cent of people have some form of anxiety disorder.
And our students in particular are no stranger to this.
A 2017 study by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) revealed that students in Singapore had significantly higher levels of anxiety than their counterparts from other countries.
While Jade acknowledges that there’s no universal advice for those struggling with their mental health, she shares that what helped her was shifting her mindset.
“Instead of acting out of fear, I ask myself, ‘So what are the potential consequences?’
“If I can accept them, then there’s nothing to stress about. If I can’t accept the consequences, I ask myself, ‘So what am I going to change?'”
On a day-to-day basis, she also practices gratitude exercises and makes it a point to acknowledge positive comments from fans rather than fixating on the hate she gets.
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Her efforts to look on the positive side of things also extend to her academics, even for subjects she doesn’t particularly like.
She may be known for both her beauty and her brains — she graduated from the National University of Singapore with a degree in psychology in 2018 — but she once scored straight Fs for a year for maths!
She “hated” the subject so much that she even tried asking her mum to hypnotise her into liking it, she tells us.
“My mum laughed at first, but I had the last laugh when I got an A for my A-levels in mathematics.”
Hypnosis aside, Jade shares that her trick to motivate herself when it comes to things she doesn’t want to do is simply “try to make it fun so it doesn’t feel like a chore”.
And while it’s easy to assume that Jade leads a carefree life of luxury from her picture-perfect Instagram feed and brushes with stars like David Beckham, her mantra is one that is all too sensible and down-to-earth: “Work hard, stay humble.”
“Staying humble keeps you focused on your goals. I never want to get complacent.”
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This article was first published on AsiaOne and republished on theAsianparent with permission.
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