So I’ve recently finished year 12, yet sadly I’m still lurking around on AN
In the past few weeks I’ve noticed that there are a few threads or questions that appear in some topics regarding whether one should study ahead or just chill or whatever. Here is a mini essay on my thoughts and experiences of year 12 – I do not go to a private school, everything I’ve done this year and whatever results I achieve will be the outcome of my own sheer hard work and the assistance students have given me from AN and my teachers from school.
I don’t know where to start with this, but it’s clear that there are many of you that are fretting about starting the course or whatever. This time last year, it was the same deal I wasn’t sure of what to do. So I decided to start learning some of the course for methods and chemistry. However, I don’t learn things well by just reading a textbook and self-learning. I prefer it if someone else taught it to me – I think this has something to do with being assured that what you’re learning is correct. So if you have this ‘fear’ as well then do as much as you can but if you’re unsure about something post it up on AN. That’s what I did for methods and I self learnt functions and calculus. Chemistry was a bit different, I had seen some of the stuff from biology and I found what I was reading interesting so I that made things a bit easier. I didn’t do read through the book and actually understand everything, I was doing it from a perspective of purely learning it because I wanted to – this made it a lot easier. But there were a few topics where this didn’t work because I just didn’t like it lol.
That is all I did on working ahead/self learning whatever you want to call it. What I did for English was read the novels/watch the film. I don’t really call that working ahead cos it was homework. I did nothing for specialist – apart from set homework. And the only thing I did for jap was watch anime – if that counts
During the year I noticed that if you learn the topics properly then it will help you A LOT when you learn it in class – as it is pretty much revision. But if you didn’t do it properly then you essentially wasted X hours of your holidays and have to learn it in class. Which leads me to this: DO NOT WORK AHEAD IF YOU’RE NOT GOING TO DO IT PROPERLY. Just relax – it is the holidays not studidays. (lol lame)
When I self learnt stuff for methods I did like a few questions until I was getting the hang of it then moved on, I did no questions for chemistry lol. I know some people on AN who did every question from the textbook or whatever, but personally I do not want to waste holidays busting my guts doing study that I don’t have to. And plus you would probably have to do them in class/homework anyway.
What you should do on the holidays:
-Read English texts
-Maybe just read the theory to whatever you may be learning in your subjects to familiarise yourself with it.
-Work ahead if you really want to i.e. do some questions, understand the stuff if you’re willing to put in the effort.
It doesn’t matter if you do none of the above – I mean at least 50% of the state wouldn’t do it anyway, by doing it you just put yourselves ahead in the race by a small margin.
Also don’t work too hard during the holidays, find some time to relax watch tv, play computer games, do nothing, whatever you fancy. If you work too hard, you will probably show some signs of burn out or whatever you want to call it by the first week of school – which you don’t want. (if you’re a freak then disregard this... just keep doing what you want lol)
If you ever feel as tho youre burning out during the year just take the night off or maybe even the weekend off. Then slowly ease back into studying - do not let it drag on, do something about it!
Throughout the year, my main advice would be:
-study consistently (I probably did 2-3 hours a day - which mainly consisted of homework or study for a sac)
-get help if you don’t understand something, if you don’t it will probably bite you in the ass on the day of the exam.
-maintain good health
-Adapt the mindset of, ‘I can do this’ or ‘nothing is impossible’ if you have this attitude you will soon develop yourself into someone who beings to achieve things you thought weren’t possible. That is probably a thing I found most important for myself. Before year 12, probably in year 11, I always thought ‘man those guys who get 90+ ENTERS/ATARS are insane, they must study nonstop.’ But after becoming a member of VN/AN I realised this was hardly the case. It comes down to a combination of determination, consistency, hard work and of course a bit of luck. Although results haven’t come out yet, I still believe that those vital to success in VCE and virtually any aspect of life.
Some motivational tips:
-Organise to have someone to motivate you when you are down – I had a teacher do it at school and I found it very helpful particularly because I knew that if there was a problem I could turn to this person and they would be able to give me the advice I needed or put me in a better position than I was beforehand.
-Find some motivational quotes – I would do this now. I spent some of my procrastination hours doing this – it was helpful but if you have a list now then it will be much more helpful.
-Read about some motivational people or inspirational stories i.e. Abraham Lincoln
-Remember: you are X months from finishing high school and finally living the life of an adult. This was something that was on the back of my mind a lot and probably eased myself during stressful times.
Start looking at uni courses now so you have an idea of what you want to do when you have to put in your preferences –trust me it helps a lot, you have mid year exams, sacs etc going on so it’s best you do that now.
Year 12, definitely a long year, but at the end of it you will realise that time goes so fast. It will be one of the most stressful periods of your life, but at the same time you will have some good fun. It is a life experience that will forge you into a stronger person, one who is able to push through during intense times, one who can begin to cope with constant pressure – at the end of it you will become a more mature person (even if it’s by a tiny amount
) I suppose yuo could think of VCE as a computer game if you wanted to. Each sac/exam a quest if you complete all of it then will become a knight. Your ATAR=lvl of your knight. Lol do whatever you want to make studying/school more enjoyable and interesting.
Don’t hate on year 12, you will have a great time unless you study 24/7.Enjoy it while it lasts, before you know it, it will be all over.
Final note, this is your year so do what you think is best for you, not what may be best for others. If you want to experiment with study habits/skills do it now while you have heaps of time. Getting ahead now wont put you that far behind the state as a whole but you will be slightly disadvantaged by students at the high end i.e. some of the people on AN
*AN is a fantastic resource, use it wisely - what i mean by this is dont be too dependent on it sometimes someone may not be able to answer your questions so you have to be prepared for that. I was probably on VN a lot throughout this year probably most nights for a few hours, if not i would be talking to some users on msn/fb.
This is what I can think of right now, when I have more time I’ll see what else I can add
Feel free to post up questions or your own personal experiences.
Hope this helps you uncertain kids!
Home
Help
Search
Login
