Plenty of tests you passed were ones you were sure you’d fail. Fear is a terrible forecaster.

Dread runs a vivid simulation and presents it as information. It is good at generating the worst version of tomorrow and completely unable to weigh how likely that version is, which is why the feeling arrives at full strength whether the risk is large or tiny. Your own record is better evidence: a long list of exams and conversations that went nothing like the version you rehearsed.

Before the next thing you are nervous about, write down what you think will happen. Afterwards read it back and see how close it came. A few rounds of that and the panic starts to feel like weather rather than news.