I still have nightmares about failing tests in high school

[Jonathan Lanza]

It's been god knows how long since I sat behind a desk and yet somehow I'll still jump out of bed from a nightmare about arriving to class and there's a test that I completely forgot about and didn't study for. And apparently I'm not the only one, I've heard similar anecdotes from people who have done well, average and poorly in school.

What exactly is it about schooling that seems to be so traumatic that it can lodge itself into your head and keep you up at night almost 20 years later? Is it by design?

 

[DongBeetle]

Yep I still have recurring high school dreams

 

[teruterubozu]

Teeth falling out, naked in public, running and going nowhere, failing in school. Dreams are good times.

 

[jwk94]

I graduated high school in 2012 and college in 2016. Those nightmares aren't regular anymore, but I still get em from time to time. I don't think they'll go away for a long time.

 

[cognizant]

I had those dreams for years after graduating. But it's probably been well over a decade since I had one, so I can confirm they do eventually subside.

One annoying dream I haven't been able to shake off my whole life is the one where I can't walk on the ground properly because I'm weightless like a balloon. I have to grip onto shit to prevent myself from floating into the sky. There's no fear involved, it's just unsettling and a huge hassle getting from one end of a street to another.

 

[Ottaro]

I have dreams about arriving to a class that I haven't been in all semester and trying to do mental math to see if there's still a way for me to pass the class before the semester ends. Doesn't stress me out though, I mostly enter "Well there's not much I can do about it at this point" mode lol.

 

[Doggg]

I occasionally have ones where I forgot about a crucial exam or assignment.

 

[RiZ IV]

Yea same here and I graduated in 2001 lol

 

[Fliesen]

School was a very formative time for our brains.

Many folks share the same dreams.

Teeth falling out, naked in public, running and going nowhere, failing in school. Dreams are good times.

Click to shrink...

Also these.
Also, add something like "my plane leaves in an hour and i haven't even packed" kind of situations.

 

[Cloud-Hidden]

The anxiety dreams / nightmares I have in school settings are where I suddenly realize I'm squatted and pooping, and people are starting to come into the class, and there's no way for me to wipe or pull my pants up without exposing myself or people seeing that I'm pooping. So I just have to sit there, vulnerable, with more people flooding into the room, knowing that at any second someone is going to see me and realize how embarrassing and gross the situation is.

The other recurring anxiety nightmare I have is from working in food service. Happens all the time. I'll dream that it's been like an hour and a half or longer, and I completely forgot about a table, and I have to go back to the table knowing they're going to be furious and need *everything.* Being in the weeds at a busy restaurant is one of the worst feelings in the world, and so many years later, that anxiety still has my subconscious in its grip.

 

[pants]

Last night I dreamt I was cast in a theatrical production no one gave me a script for. I only had a couple important scenes, but without a script I was left wondering whether I should stand nervously off stage or stand awkwardly on stage listening for an obvious cue.

When I would actually manage to catch one of my lines, or scenes, I'd have to choose between fumbling through one of the other actor's scripts, on a long delay, or simply improvise a line at my own speed. Either way it was clear from everyone's reaction I was doing it wrong, and people were annoyed by my inability to follow along with what was expected of me.

I haven't been on stage in like 10 years, since way back in college. Its weird what our formative years do to us, and how they can hit on a primal level.

 

[NCR Ranger]

Don't really dream about high school through I still get random moments of deep embarrassment from some of the dumb things I did in high school.

Once in a while I will wake up with a panic though thinking I forgot to turn in a major assignment or forgot an exam in college. Once it was so real that I got out of my bed and started walking towards my computer until I realized it was just a dream and i graduated. College is much more recent for me though.

 

[Damaniel]

Just about everybody has these types of dreams:

• Missing a class because you don't know where the classroom is
• Can't find an assignment or books because you can't find your locker or remember your locker combination
• Finding out an assignment is due but you didn't know about it/didn't start it/never went to class

I graduated from high school nearly 25 years ago and haven't stepped in a classroom of any kind in 7 years, but I still have that kind of dream a few times a year.

 

[sir_crocodile]

I still have the odd dream (though not as frequently now) 20 years on about forgetting I was enrolled in a university module and not going to any of the lectures for it and the exam being the next day. In real life I never missed a single lecture. Very odd.

 

[indask8]

I have these dreams as well, but for some reasons I always remember I got those diplomas so if I fail the exam I just shrug it off, it feels like I'm retrying to pass thoses exams just for the challenge, to improve myself.

I actually like these dreams.

 

[Tathanen]

When I think back to graduating college I kinda feel like there's a [scene missing] around how I managed to get the last credits or get my grades up to where they needed to be. I remember being in a dicey spot and I remember graduating but.... what happened in the middle there??? That doesn't bode well when I have these dreams.

 

[Skel1ingt0n]

I graduated college more than a decade ago and I still have this nightmare a few times a year :(

 

[tangeu]

I've been out of school for twenty-some odd years and I still get dreams about not knowing which class I need to go to/not being able to find my class. It's like our schooling system is designed to scar people for life.

 

[Septimus Prime]

Teeth falling out, naked in public, running and going nowhere, failing in school. Dreams are good times.

Click to shrink...

Or the combo, where it's all three.

 

[Ellyshia]

I always get the dream where I'm in school and I can't remember my schedule. Where's my next class and how do I get to it? I then realize I've been skipping this class the entire semester and it's likely I'll have to repeat the class again and won't graduate in time because of it.

 

[Duncan]

 

[Eugene's Axe]

I once read that most of the population have those dreams. Me included.

 

[mute]

Same but college. Never agreed with me but somehow made it out.

To this day I have dreams about being in this class, showing up for exam day without ever attending lectures or doing assignments, scared at how horrible I was doing. I don't know if those memories are of a real class I took or not, if I dropped it in time, or whatever it came from. I don't want to look at my transcript and find out lol.

 

[Conkerkid11]

I had piss poor attendance throughout my college courses, so even though something like this never happened, I have a recurring nightmare that I finally showed up to a class I hadn't attended all term, and found out I was failing the course because there'd been a bunch of tests and projects I'd missed.

Dunno why that happens. I graduated college and everything worked out fine.

I always get the dream where I'm in school and I can't remember my schedule. Where's my next class and how do I get to it? I then realize I've been skipping this class the entire semester and it's likely I'll have to repeat the class again and won't graduate in time because of it.

Click to shrink...

Yuuup

I graduated college more than a decade ago and I still have this nightmare a few times a year :(

Click to shrink...

Holy shit, this happens often enough for there to be a cartoon about it? Why is this a thing that happens to us.

 

[Deleted member 37928]

I've been trying to find the perfect recipe for bolognese. It has gone so far that I now dream about people who make bolognese. Last night I dreamt of an old bud from elementary school that made such a horrible bolognese that the sky was set on fire and demons crawled out of his stew. I actually laughed when I woke up from it and thought something along the lines of "Maybe it's time to try some other recipees for a change..."

 

[Teiresias]

I'm in my 40s and still occasionally have the dream about totally forgetting about a university class all semester until just before finals - it's usually a math class.

 

[lmcfigs]

yes i still get these dreams. usually its about me forgetting that i signed up for a class and i am showing up for the final exam

 

[∀∃:ETURNA]

I graduated college more than a decade ago and I still have this nightmare a few times a year :(

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That strip is 100% accurate. I have this dream at least once every two months or so.

 

[Maple]

I'm in my 40s and still occasionally have the dream about totally forgetting about a university class all semester until just before finals - it's usually a math class.

Click to shrink...

Yep, same exact thing for me. It's the same dream - I go all semester not knowing I actually had some class scheduled that I wasn't even aware of, and am scrambling before the final.

 

[Kyrios]

I still have dreams of missing classes in college or finding out at the end of the semester I never went to one class I forgot about lol

Funny thing is I never missed a class in college in reality.

 

[lmcfigs]

maybe we're all the same person

 

[Shadybiz]

I have dreams about arriving to a class that I haven't been in all semester and trying to do mental math to see if there's still a way for me to pass the class before the semester ends. Doesn't stress me out though, I mostly enter "Well there's not much I can do about it at this point" mode lol.

Click to shrink...

I occasionally have ones where I forgot about a crucial exam or assignment.

Click to shrink...

Yep, I still get these from time to time. ....Graduated with my Master's in 2011, lol.

 

[Wispmetas]

I have this but for driving exam.

 

[pompo]

I always get the dream where I'm in school and I can't remember my schedule. Where's my next class and how do I get to it? I then realize I've been skipping this class the entire semester and it's likely I'll have to repeat the class again and won't graduate in time because of it.

Click to shrink...

Exactly the same for me and I haven't set foot in a school in nearly 15 years.

 

[bionic77]

Am I crazy.

I wish I was back in college. The pressures of college seem much more desirable to those from adult life.

High school not so much. I might have a different opinion if there were more cool people in my high school.

 

[flyingorion]

This is nuts because I have same exact dream too. I forget about one class I missed the entire semester in college. Or some random dream about a high school classmate I didn't even talk to and thought about in years.

 

[Creamium]

I occasionally have ones where I forgot about a crucial exam or assignment.

Click to shrink...

Yeah these are still the most common. Then I wake up and I have this sinking feeling I forgot something important for school... and it takes me seconds to realize I'm not in school anymore. Like the dream is so strong in the moment that it takes a while for it to fade. Luckily the specifics of the dream fade quickly as well.

But jeez, I just turned 36 and I still frequently get these and my college years are so long ago. I was pretty nervous for exams though, it figures that stuff sticks. In the later years of my degree I had less stress, but in the first year in particular it was tense. Like in all my years of work I've had some stress, but nothing on that scale. Once I overslept for an important exam, I'm thinking that was the root for my many dreams.

 

[wollywinka]

I have the same exam dreams. Usually, it's the day before finals and I am completely unprepared. I graduated in 1990, so I know the dreams will be with me till the day I die (along with the dream that I failed to terminate the agreement on a rental property from 20 years ago, and I am liable for the arrears... lol). Anxiety dreams suck.

 

[Cogg]

I have these as well and i hate it. Like I'm aware of my age in these dreams as well and it makes the situation even weirder.

 

[SoleSurvivor]

I have a version of this dream where I've skipped A LOT of the class all semester to the point of failing, so I show up to class and try to blend in poorly. The worst feeling, and I've been out of college for close to 10 years.

 

[PIMPBYBLUD]

Yep I still have recurring high school dreams

Click to shrink...

Same here. Been out of HS since '97.

 

[FeenixRisen]

Teeth falling out, naked in public, running and going nowhere, failing in school. Dreams are good times.

Click to shrink...

Those used to be my top types of dreams but lately my dreams been way more vivid. Though i still do get the failing school dream.

 

[beelulzebub]

Graduated from college 12 years ago. These dreams are thankfully starting to subside but I do still get them. Mine usually take place in High School.

 

[Yoshimitsu126]

I had dreams where I wake up at my dorm from an out of state college i attended and that moving back in state was a dream all along.

 

[DarkLegion]

Mine mostly went away. Last month I had to take a License exam and the time I spent studying was basically the "forgot to study" nightmare. After the test and the time waiting for the results became "You failed, this is the question you fucked up" nightmares

 

[Bearwolf]

I get these from time to time but about college.

 

[T-800]

I sometimes dream that I'm way behind with my final year of schooling and wake up stressed. I'm 49.

 

[Squarehard]

i get these from time to time too, and I'm a teacher, lol.

 

[Vex]

Anyone get the nightmare where you'll be late for a job you don't even have anymore?

 

[Gaia Lanzer]

When I have dreams about school, the schools are usually a hybrid of high school/college on a campus that doesn't exist (none of them look anything like the schools I've attended). One had a giant auditorium-like room that was filled with monsters hatching out of giant green, glowing cocoons, another had a student lounge that was basically a shopping mall (and something about a unicorn roaming around, interacting with students, and yes, the unicorn talked). I always get these strange dreams. Locations that are, in the context of my dream, familiar in the sense I'm there and know the workings of them, but are places I've NEVER been to in my waking life (hell, places that don't even exist).

The one strangest dream that was somewhat grounded (as it DID take place in a dream version of the high school I attended, meaning it resembled my high school, just with additional halls and rooms that didn't exist in reality), I was in class and everybody (including myself) started singing Jet's "Look What You've Done", standing up from our desks and walking out into the hall where other classrooms were being let out and other students were joining in on the song.