ATAR Notes: Forum

VCE Stuff => Victorian Education Discussion => Topic started by: WiHiFi on April 01, 2009, 08:02:06 pm

Title: some advice please
Post by: WiHiFi on April 01, 2009, 08:02:06 pm

This is sort of hard for me to say, and I know how pathetic this sounds, but:


Does anyone have any good solutions or know a way to deal with stress?
I'm under a crap load at the moment, due to a number of contributing factors (school and non-school).
And yeah It's gotten to the point where the amount of stress is affecting me both internally and externally =


At first I was only sleeping for 4 hours every night, except for weekends. (Mostly for extra study - as I had to memorize my English SAC)

Then i started sleeping for a long time, almost 11 hours.

And now, i seriously can't do any work. Like i'm literally not able to actually think properly.
i thought it was me, not understanding the questions or something. so I asked my teacher and he went through them, even though it was obvious as hell after he'd shown me.


I'm making myself sound like an idiot but I really need some advice, because I don't know what I should do. Or how I can relieve myself of some stress.

yes i did make a new account, for fear of being identified as a b!tch. im not sure if that goes against the rules and regulations. and yes im aware that admin's can still see my IP.

Title: Re: some advice please
Post by: TrueTears on April 01, 2009, 08:05:04 pm

Sometimes when I feel really stressed, I go for a jog or just a walk outside to clear my head.

Title: Re: some advice please
Post by: TrueLight on April 01, 2009, 08:09:05 pm

learn to breath properly

Title: Re: some advice please
Post by: ninwa on April 01, 2009, 08:09:45 pm

It is not pathetic, and you're definitely not alone.

Have you identified why exactly you are stressed? Are you under pressure to achieve a high mark, or are you doing a subject you are finding very difficult to understand or like? You need to find out what is stressing you out so that you can either remove those factors from your life or find things to mitigate them.

Getting a decent amount of sleep every night is really important. Try doing more exercise like TrueTears said - not only does that release stress, but you'll be tired, making it easier for you to sleep.

Title: Re: some advice please
Post by: brendan on April 01, 2009, 08:11:43 pm

get some proper sleep and eat right

Title: Re: some advice please
Post by: lacoste on April 01, 2009, 08:14:24 pm

and drink lots of water

Title: Re: some advice please
Post by: WiHiFi on April 01, 2009, 08:30:08 pm

Quote from: ninwa on April 01, 2009, 08:09:45 pm

It is not pathetic, and you're definitely not alone.

Have you identified why exactly you are stressed? Are you under pressure to achieve a high mark, or are you doing a subject you are finding very difficult to understand or like? You need to find out what is stressing you out so that you can either remove those factors from your life or find things to mitigate them.

Getting a decent amount of sleep every night is really important. Try doing more exercise like TrueTears said - not only does that release stress, but you'll be tired, making it easier for you to sleep.

We'll its kind of silly, and I know I shouldn't be stressing as much as I am, but its a lot of things.

I really really want to get a good enter, more for my parents than myself. And sometimes I feel like I can get over 90..and other times I feel like it's impossible.
The things that have specifically pushed me over is just like the amount of work and effort im putting into year 12, and am rewarded with average marks. Firstly i got a 70% for methods, then 73% for spec, then only a B+ for physics which i was seriously hoping 100% for. All of which I've been in the top 25% of the class but still I want to do better... :-\

My family has been indirectly putting a lot of pressure on me aswell. I love them heaps, and they try not to put stress on me but I just sort of feel the need to get an insanely high mark for my enter to help them...you know... financially, etc.

Title: Re: some advice please
Post by: WiHiFi on April 01, 2009, 08:32:39 pm

Oh and you I probably could add:

Quote from: ninwa on April 01, 2009, 08:09:45 pm

are you doing a subject you are finding very difficult to understand or like?

That subject is most definitely english. I hate that subject with a passion. Were doing language analysis at the moment...

Title: Re: some advice please
Post by: TrueTears on April 01, 2009, 08:40:42 pm

Quote from: WiHiFi on April 01, 2009, 08:32:39 pm

Oh and you I probably could add:

Quote from: ninwa on April 01, 2009, 08:09:45 pm

are you doing a subject you are finding very difficult to understand or like?

That subject is most definitely english. I hate that subject with a passion. Were doing language analysis at the moment...

I don't really like English that much either, but the more work I do the more I start to realise the importance of it, I begin to like it.

Title: Re: some advice please
Post by: ninwa on April 01, 2009, 08:44:58 pm

It's not silly - don't trivialise something that's obviously affecting you greatly.

Is the school you go to a high-ranking one? In which case those marks would be the equivalent of A+s in average schools, and will probably get pushed up after your exams.

If not - perhaps it's time to rethink your studying strategy. Find a strategy which works for you. Studying longggg hours does not = good marks - look at polky, who studied didn't study for 10 hours a day but did it smartly, and ended up with 99.95. This is probably something to talk to your teachers about, as they are the ones who really know what your areas of weakness are. And only you know what studying technique works best for you.

Start using your scores as motivation. Acknowledge that they are still good scores (top 25% is a fair effort!) but also that you can do better. Think of them as stepping stones to your exams, rather than destroyers of that 45+ study score or whatever lol. Use them to learn where you can improve for your next SAC/test.

I can empathise with your feeling that you need to get a high ENTER to get into a good course so you can get a good job and support them financially. But ultimately you need to understand that
1) you need to stop putting the problems of your family all on your shoulders. Families are there to share the burdens of life;
2) your family loves you and would be proud of you as long as you did your best, not only if you get 99.xx for your ENTER;
3) you don't need a high ENTER to end up in a high-paying job. Look at Bill Gates, I don't think he even graduated from uni! (?)

Finally, there are lots of VN members who did extremely well in English who are more than happy to help you if you're having any trouble with it :)

Title: Re: some advice please
Post by: brendan on April 02, 2009, 09:50:21 pm

have some sex

Title: Re: some advice please
Post by: /0 on April 02, 2009, 10:16:39 pm

Each subject requires a particular method of study. It is important to talk to your teachers about this.
You said you had to memorise your English SAC... If it was a speech then that is totally understandable, but memorising essays in general is not the way to go. There is this guy in my year level who used to memorise essays all the time. However, he did shit in the year 11 english exam, possibly because he could not adapt to the topic.
In general, it's best to practice the concepts and not rote learn formulas, theorems or essays if possible. As long as you have the fundamentals, you should be able to derive everything from them, and this will allow you to adapt easily. For example, you can memorise every component of a science experiment, but its useless without an understanding of the underlying concepts. Even if you don't know the components but you understand the concepts, you might be able to 'engineer' the experiment for yourself (I would not recommend over-doing this however). The exams will always try to push your understanding and force you to adapt to new situations, if you have practice with 'engineering' things for yourself, then that is good. An excellent way to practice this problem solving and hard analysis questions. Maybe it's just me but I've found that solving hard problems gives me an even better grasp of the basics than rote learning the basics in easy problems.

Title: Re: some advice please
Post by: TrueTears on April 02, 2009, 10:22:12 pm

Hmmmm for english , i tend to memorise HEAPS of essays before any sacs/exams. I think this really helps because even if the things i memorised does not relate to the topic, there might be good phrases, linking passages, adjectives that i can use. And if one of the topics is very similar to the one you are given in the sac/exam, then even better !

But what /0 said about concepts is really important. You must be able to understand the concepts rather than rote learn.

Title: Re: some advice please
Post by: Eriny on April 03, 2009, 09:19:14 am

When I begin to get stressed I know it's time for a break. After a weekend off, all of a sudden everything seems much easier.

As for the not being able to think properly, I've been there, I wouldn't be surprised if many more people have experienced the same thing as well. The only solution I've come across is rest.

You should also put your stress in perspective. I'm not sure what your other sources of stress are, but year 12 is only one year. It won't prove anything about what you're potentially capable of, it will only prove that you can get into x amount of courses. You're still young and have lots of time to work towards whatever goals you have. But it will definitely be much easier when your goals are your own. Just keep going, keep doing your best (whilst recognising that you will need a break every so often), and whatever happens after that, take with a grain of salt (even if you do end up with 99.xx).

Ninwa's advice is very good also.

Title: Re: some advice please
Post by: TonyHem on April 05, 2009, 12:11:05 am

I think you just need a bit of guidance and try to be really organised. Try to get a good number of hours of sleep ( 8-9 I think it was - and be consistent)
Generally a lot of people do bad for 1st/2nd sacs, you should be able to see why you didn't do as well as you would have liked from seeing the errors you made. Might be silly errors, misunderstanding of the theory? - Whatever it is, you can find ways to improve it. EG: theory - ask teachers, people on forums, friends, until the understanding is CLEAR to you, doesn't matter if it takes you longer to understand it. silly errors - Other than being cautious and not being too eager to tackle questions in exams, the only other way to weed this out is by doing lots and lots of questions.

cant help you that much, im not getting the marks I would like either, but im not under that much stress. Hope it gets better.

(PS: You dont HAVE to get into university and do a degree. There are a lot more options and truthfully, uni isnt for everyone. Have you considered what you might want to do after studying?)

Title: Re: some advice please
Post by: costargh on April 05, 2009, 01:28:57 am

In regards to 'hating english', I can say from experience when you continually refuse to change your attitude to a subject, you inevitably perform very badly at it.

You need to start telling yourself that you find english fun and easy (as stupid as that sounds) and you'll perform better at it. (I'm assuming that english isn't your strongest subject)

Title: Re: some advice please
Post by: mypurpleundercracka on April 05, 2009, 01:33:12 am

^^^

so true i had the same problem with maths hah

Title: Re: some advice please
Post by: monokekie on July 09, 2009, 07:36:27 pm

Quote from: costargh on April 05, 2009, 01:28:57 am

In regards to 'hating english', I can say from experience when you continually refuse to change your attitude to a subject, you inevitably perform very badly at it.

You need to start telling yourself that you find english fun and easy (as stupid as that sounds) and you'll perform better at it. (I'm assuming that english isn't your strongest subject)

"spesh is fun"

Title: Re: some advice please
Post by: ladyy on September 02, 2010, 01:46:26 pm

Listening to some very loud music for a while and yell your brains out :)