So it is that horrific time of year... not the HSC, no, but when 2019 graduates need to begin preparing for their own term 4 exams. Aint that just great?
So notifications will begin rolling in, if they haven't already, and assessment tasks and homework and study will begin to pile up... but here are my not-tested, not-fool-proof, not-genius tips for surviving Year 12 2018/9.
1. Have a schedule.
I would probably be as rich as Donald Trump if I was got given a dollar each time a teacher said this. I don't mean a timetable - screw timetables, in my personal opinion - by a schedule I mean an order to do things. If you have an assessment next week that you haven't started, homework due sometime by the end of that week and you're also behind on study notes, don't go and do your study notes first. Make sure you p r i o r i t i s e . I know - a scary concept.
Unless you have homework due the next day, make a start on that assessment you haven't touched. (Homework can always wait, assessments cannot).
Make a decent start on your homework. Even if you don't finish it, aim to finish homework for at least one subject in a night - this means you're at least up to date for 20-14% of your classes.
Now go on to do those study notes. You may not realise it, but preparing for exams and actually doing the homework you're supposed to does count as "studying".
Remember - don't do the easy stuff first and leave the hard stuff to the last minute!
2. Have a "balance".
Again, if I had a dollar for every time I heard this one, I'd be Larry Ellison. My teachers could not have enforced this any more. If your life is purely Netflix and studying, you'll burn out pretty quickly. Everyone needs a little extra pizazz in their lives to spice things up and keep it interesting.
Academics: Find a favourite subject and spend extra time on that.
Sport: If you don't already have a sport, go join a gym, or make sure to walk around the block each morning or night.
Creatives: Learn an instrument, find a favourite TV show, join the drama club or get into a new book. This is the best kind of down time you could get, other than sport.
Community: Make sure you're actively participating with people outside of you, your friends and your family. Join a youth group, visit nursing homes every other week or start tutoring. Making a difference can make you feel better too!
3. Don't become a stress head.
Now, I probably say this with hypocrisy. I'll be pretty calm right until the morning of the exam, and that's when people begin arguing over details of a syllabus point that I didn't know in the first place. Or, when my parents say "you haven't been studying enough, have you?". Or when the typically smart kids try to psych me out. Trust me, it happens to everyone.
Follow the tips above. A balance keeps hormones in place and therefore keeps you calmer.
As soon as you think, "I don't have time for this", think seriously about what you spend all your time doing, and whether any of that should change.
Collaborate. For some reason, a lot of us seem to think the HSC is a competition. I can give you the facts, but long story short, we all do better if we all do well, so make sure you all W O R K T O G E T H E R !
I hope this helps at least a couple of you. Drop some comments below if you have any tips as well for Year 12 Survival because I'm really interested in improving my ways of managing life. Let's all be a team and help each other out this year.
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Topic: Managing Year 12 - for Year 12 2019 (Read 1458 times)