Oluwatosin, 17, will be pursuing his A-levels at Leeds Sixth Form College at this time next year.
And he is aware that he will experience the same recurrent nightmare when that time draws near.
Oluwatosin finds himself in an exam room with his math paper in front of him. However, he has misplaced his statistics and mechanics review materials, and the test is chock-full of questions that he is not prepared for.
Relieved to discover that it was all a dream, he wakes up sweating and suffering from a headache.
Since not everyone remembers their test dreams, it is virtually impossible to determine how prevalent they are.
However, what causes them to occur, and is there anything we can do to prevent them?
According to Colin Espie, a professor of sleep medicine at the University of Oxford, even while we are asleep, our brains are active. They are occupied with solidifying our knowledge, preserving our memories, and managing our feelings.
However, they also generate what are known as dreams, or “output.”
“We tend to get little insights into the fact that our brain is working on material,” according to him.
Exam-related dreams should therefore “reassure” us that learning is happening, even if we aren’t aware of it.
“What’s going on at night may be your brain alerting you to the fact that there is work to be done and that I know this is bothering you. He says, “I’m working on it.”
