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So, you walked out of the room with your head in your hands. You couldn’t believe how badly you messed up that exam, just don’t understand how it could have gone that badly. Maybe you analysed Text 2 instead of Text 3, maybe you were supposed to use one text, not two, or maybe you just didn’t feel like your essay was quite up to scratch. Whether you forgot to put a title on your short story, didn’t fill out each section in a separate booklet, or even managed to run out of time, I’m here to tell you that it’s all going to be okay.
It Went Better Than You Think
The first, and most important, thing to note is that every single human being walks out of that room thinking that they messed it up somehow. No matter how much your cocky mate reckons he smashed the exam, no matter how many pages your dux claims she wrote for a 2 mark question, everyone thinks they should have done better. Now, if this is the case, and most people do pretty well in Paper one, then it follows that you didn’t actually do as badly as you think you did!
Small mistakes, the things that you’ll go over in your mind for the next month, seriously don’t matter. HSC markers understand the stress of the first exam, and account for the fact that you’re all super nervous. You’ll be surprised how well you can do under pressure, but honestly there’s no way of knowing if you were successful in your analysis until you get your marks back. I got a 95 in English overall, but I thought that English Paper one was the worst exam I had ever sat (that is, until I sat Paper 2). I couldn’t believe how badly I had done. Well, it turns out I was wrong, and you probably are too. So, in this one respect, please don’t trust yourself. You’re not a good judge of how well you did in the exam, and so there’s no point speculating. It’s all going to be okay; forget about Paper One and move on.
Nah, But Like, I Seriously Shat the Bed
Okay. Let’s just assume for an instant that you did. Let’s assume that you forgot to do the whole of Section II (which a friend of mine actually did, and still got a Band 5). Let’s assume that you forgot your name in the exam, wrote an essay about Belonging, and repeated the word ‘repetition’ 18 times in the hope that the marker will find it funny. That only leaves us with one question; so what?
So what if you did actually mess up the exam? What are you going to do about it now? Obviously, absolutely nothing. What’s done is done, and you’re not going to make life easier for yourself by despairing about marks lost. Take that anger, and direct it towards the Board of Studies. It is, after all, their fault for making you sit such a stupid exam. Use your anger to study extra hard, and show the Board of Studies that you can smash out any challenge they set you. Because, really, if you want to prove to BOSTES that you’re better than them, show them that even after messing up an exam you can still get a killer mark. Because the fact is, you can. Messing up one exam isn’t the end of the world; say you got 10% less than you wanted. That probably scales to a loss of about 5%, which is going to be half of your English mark (so 2.5%), which is going to be a fifth of your Atar (so 0.5%). That’s absolutely nothing. Despite this massive screw up, you’ve only lost 0.5 (max), so move on and live to fight another day.
Okay, I Feel a Bit Better. But What Now?
Now, you struggle on. You continue to study hard, and you prepare the hell out of tomorrow’s exam. We’ll be releasing a ‘last minute guide to Paper 2’ later tonight, so make sure to keep an eye out for that. You show the Board of Studies who’s boss.
The next month is going to be tough. You need to be able to compartmentalize exams; once an exam is over, it’s over, and it’s time to focus on the next one. Use these forums as often as you can to get an edge on your cohort, whether you need help with study tips, content, or literally anything else. We’re here for you, whenever you need us.
Oh, and one more thing. This weekend, set your English notes on fire. Talk about catharsis.
