Half Yearly Hangover: Where to Now?

Half yearly exams are coming to an end. Congratulations, you got through the first of your three big exam periods. Have a weekend off. Eat some ice cream. Binge watch Game of Thrones. Do whatever you want to do, because you have gotten through Round 1! After the first big swing, inevitably, comes the half yearly hangover.

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After the half yearly haze has worn off, it can be a little strange. Many of us don’t have assignments to do (or at least nothing substantial), the next big set of exams is over 3 months away, and there is no clear direction of where to go. We are heading into a bit of a “lull period.” Not much to do, we’re spent from exams, it is very easy to lose the “groove” we had heading into the exam period and find ourselves lost, without motivation, and unable to resume a fast-paced work schedule.

What’s The Big Deal, I Have Nothing to Do, Why Should I Stress about a ‘Half Yearly Hangover’?

Those who know me know I’m a massive believer in momentum.

To those who don’t do Physics, let me explain what momentum is scientifically. Mathematically speaking, it is the product of mass and velocity, how heavy something is versus how fast it is moving. Physically, it represents the tendency of some object to keep on its course and smash through obstacles. A bullet may not have much mass, but it travels super quick, and so has lots of momentum to shoot right through most materials. Equally, a massive rock falling down a cliff won’t have as much speed, but it is much heavier: Sure as hell you get out of the way of both.

I liken the physical definition of momentum to success in academia. Your momentum represents your success in exams, your ability to keep going, bounce off obstacles and continue. Think of the typical super smart, brainy individuals as objects with large mass. It is easier for them to maintain a larger momentum. However, even they have no momentum if they stop in place.

To maintain momentum, no matter how intelligent, hardworking or naturally gifted you are, you must keep moving. To maintain a good work ethic, you have to keep motivated and keep working towards an end goal. Any motivation or success you gained from your half yearly exam period, will be completely useless if you end up lodged in the dirt.

OMG okay, I’m going to go do 10 past papers this weekend…

I love your enthusiasm, whoever did have this flash through their head, but this isn’t quite what I mean. In fact, quite the opposite.

I totally think it is worth taking a complete, 1 week break from anything academic.  

Chances are, you haven’t totally had a break from the HSC since the end of January. For many, you would have done work over holidays too, so it could be even longer, it’s getting close to 4 months since Christmas after all.

This is your first chance to recharge the batteries, and probably one of your best chances. You won’t have quite the same luxury after Trials, given that the HSC is only two months beyond. This is your absolute best chance to catch up on sleep, read that book you’ve been wanting to read, smash through the campaign of that video game (maybe this is just me, I’ve been trying to finish the Fallout 4 campaign for months now, never quite find the time).

One week is totally indicative. I took about a week, maybe even a week and a half. My girlfriend only took a couple of days, from memory. Obviously, many people will take multiple weeks break. Do what you think feels right, but don’t take too long. The longer you take off, the harder it will be to open your books again. Be honest with yourself, but be generous too, you’ve earned some time off!

Okay, I’ve taken a week off, now past papers?

Hmm, probably not. I mean, totally if you want to, practice papers are awesome. But doing that sort of intensive study now is probably a little counter-intuitive. It won’t have massive benefits this far out from Trials.

Instead, here are a few other things I’d recommend you do to keep yourself busy in the post Half Yearly lull, before your next load of assignments start rolling round.

Review your Half Yearly Papers: If you get given a copy of your paper and/or marks before you head off on holidays, you should take a couple of hours to review it. Look at what you got wrong, see if you can understand where you went wrong (and perhaps even re-attempt the question). Make a list of any obvious topics where you weren’t as effective as you could have been or which otherwise require some extra revision.

Consolidate the First Half of your Course: You are probably just over halfway through your HSC course. This extra time is a perfect quiet time to consolidate that knowledge. Don’t stress about it, just work through and be honest. Do you know that dot point? If not, do some light study on it, try and get it in your head. Make a list and work through it. It’s very hard to learn old content on top of new stuff, do your best to start Term 2 fresh. This includes getting your study notes up to scratch (unless you’ve downloaded ours instead). half yearly hangover

Pre-Learn Your Next Topic: If you are feeling brave, I think it is a fantastic idea to pre-learn some of your content for your favourite subjects. Sure, it is definitely better to learn it with a teacher, but you’ll get way more out of time in class if you already have a rough idea what is going on. Class time becomes revision, which is extremely effective in getting content memorised and understood. half yearly hangover

There are lots of resources available to get the leg up. We offer free notes to download for a variety of subjects, all Band 6 standards. Download and do some background reading; along with your textbook you’ll have an awesome head start. If you needed help with a concept, jump on our forums and take advantage of our free HSC tutoring. If you need a super effective resource, we also have paid notes available, written by our HSC lecturers, all super passionate high achievers in their subjects.half yearly hangover

You’ll notice there isn’t much here in the way of intensive study. Just background reading and light revision. The post half yearly period should definitely be a rest period for you. The trick is, even when resting, not to totally stop working. Keep moving, keep a light pace, and you’ll find the transition back into high intensity work much, much easier.half yearly hangover

Everyone will have a different half yearly hangover cure. Do what feels right to you, because at the end of the day, it is you who got through the first lot of exams. Be happy with yourself. Be proud. This is the first milestone on the HSC journey, and you came through unscathed, ride that momentum through to the finish!