Dear anonymous,
High school can be a very stressful place, always having to worry about homework, tests and drama going on. These things alone can prevent you from sleeping at night, as your brain is unable to relax.
It’s really easy to get stressed about not sleeping, especially if you know you have a lot of tests. Some tips to help are to get out of bed for a while and get something to drink. Once you go back and lie down and you still are not feeling tired, try reading a book, listening to calming music, or doing light breathing exercises. If this still does not help after 30 minutes, try not to think about sleeping or what you have going on in general; instead, close your eyes and think about something random. Eventually, sleep will come.
If you are running on little sleep, try drinking something with caffeine. Consuming this every day, though, is not healthy for teens, so don’t rely on it. During your test, if you’re feeling tired or your head is foggy, try doing a breathing exercise, and if you have gum, you should try that, then you should feel more awake to finish your test.