It’s that time of year again- the time when the sun is coming out, the birds are chirping and the flowers are blooming. It’s also the time when college bound juniors are closed off inside cold concrete buildings, hunched over desks and scribbling frantically with a No. 2 pencil on their endless bubble sheets in order to prepare for the one test that will determine the course of their entire future.

Don’t despair, juniors- many before you have tried and failed to keep their sanity during this stressful season, but as a survivor who successfully avoided any public mental meltdowns, I have some tips to help you keep calm while your friends progressively lose their minds.

• It’s not as bad as you think. After hearing the horror stories from the upperclassmen about everything from the last minute scramble to beat the clock in the testing room to the hours on hours of preparatory classes that steal any chance of sleep you have left, you’d think the SAT was a personal demon sent by colleges to send high school graduates to their ruin. But though many people struggle with the test, most of these rumors are extremely exaggerated. Yes, the test is stressful. Yes, you should definitely prepare beforehand. But if you put in a little bit of work, there won’t be anything on the test that will completely throw you for a loop. I promise the test is not out to make you fail.

• This test does NOT define you.  I’m aware that colleges look at test scores such as the SAT in order to decide admissions and scholarships, but that doesn’t mean scoring low on the SAT makes you a failure or should force you to reconsider pursuing a fast food career. Taking the SAT once is not a “do or die” scenario. Everyone has different sets of strengths and weaknesses, which means there are always some people who don’t click well with the SAT. Maybe you would be better suited for the ACT, a test which several colleges also take into consideration when looking at applications. And if you don’t decide to try the ACT, you have the experience of one SAT under your belt. Retesting almost always results in a higher score because you know better what to expects and how to tackle it. So if you score low, just take a breath and consider your options before giving up all your college plans.

• An apple a day keeps the bad scores away. As testing day dawns closer and closer, cramming begins to seem like a pretty good option. Most people hit the last minute freakout and spend the week of the test studying furiously, passing up sleep for more study time and grabbing fast meals instead of taking the time to eat properly. I know it sounds crazy and can be hard to believe when you’re in the middle of panic mode, but after studying a certain amount of time the best thing you can do for yourself is to just stop. Take a second and let go of your stress for a bit. If you invest a little of your time in eating right, exercising, and getting a decent amount of sleep. Your mind needs a break to process everything you’ve been cramming in there and your body could use a little extra TLC as well.

• Just keep calm and carry on. In the end, there’s nothing much you can do to guarantee success on the SAT beyond just keeping your cool and enduring to the end. Studying can definitely help you prepare, but there’s limits to how much it can benefit you before it starts doing more harm than good. My ultimate advice is- keep your balance. Don’t throw everything you have into studying or completely blow off the test, but instead walk that narrow tightrope of good health and effective study habits. It’s not an easy task, but this skill is going to be necessary for the rest of your life, so might as well start now. When the pressure is on and you need to perform, whether it be the SAT this weekend or some other major life event farther down the road, don’t let the stress get to you so much that you start leaning too far in one direction and losing your balance. Instead, take a moment to focus on where you’re going, breathe deeply, and just keep putting one foot in front of the other.