How to deal with people doubting your aims?

[nosuperstar]

I never know how to start threads, haha.

Well, the school I attend is pretty average, I don't live in a rich area or anything like that, if any of you are aware of the term 'bogan', well, my school is in a bogan suburb, the people in my year level are relatively average despite those one or two high achievers.

In comparison to those high achievers though, their SS and ATAR aims appear to be way lower than mine, and when i've told people my aims, i've just been laughed at, and straight in my face, all of them have told me my aims are impossible, that the people in our year will bring our marks down, the averages for our school are low, making it impossible for me to achieve my aim.

The amount of people that have shot me and my expectations down have really lowered my confidence in trying my best to get high grades, just today, my friend told me 'You realise getting a 98 puts you in the top 2% of the state, really, you? I don't see that happening'.

I see alot of high achievers here on AN who i'm quite envious of and am quite inspired by though, but I don't even think anyone has ever gotten a 99 or anything close to a perfect score at my school, is this in itself evident that I should have lower expectations, or any recommendations on how to gain my confidence back?

[Dejan]

If you place yourself Rank 1 in most of your subjects then you will be unaffected by others therefore you have a better chance of getting the ATAR you want. Use people self-doubt and them laughing at you for to aim for your own goals as a source of motivation to prove those that you can do what they thought you couldn't. You shouldn't lower your expectations for anyone just because someone said you couldn't do it or your school has low expectations but rather to expectations that you can realistically achieve if you work really hard throughout the year. I know there will be people at your school who generally don't give a s*** about their ATAR or how they go throughout the year and just merely to complete year 12 and this can serve as de-motivation as I know that feeling as this applies for me as at my school is around about the same but just try keep your hopes and faith up it may be hard but try as much as possible!

[Mr Keshy]

I never know how to start threads, haha.

Well, the school I attend is pretty average, I don't live in a rich area or anything like that, if any of you are aware of the term 'bogan', well, my school is in a bogan suburb, the people in my year level are relatively average despite those one or two high achievers.

In comparison to those high achievers though, their SS and ATAR aims appear to be way lower than mine, and when i've told people my aims, i've just been laughed at, and straight in my face, all of them have told me my aims are impossible, that the people in our year will bring our marks down, the averages for our school are low, making it impossible for me to achieve my aim.

The amount of people that have shot me and my expectations down have really lowered my confidence in trying my best to get high grades, just today, my friend told me 'You realise getting a 98 puts you in the top 2% of the state, really, you? I don't see that happening'.

I see alot of high achievers here on AN who i'm quite envious of and am quite inspired by though, but I don't even think anyone has ever gotten a 99 or anything close to a perfect score at my school, is this in itself evident that I should have lower expectations, or any recommendations on how to gain my confidence back?

I'm in a similar position to you as well. My school is under represented.

The people who doubt me are generally the smart ones which makes it a little worse. But when ever your friend says stuff like 'You realise getting a 98 puts you in the top 2% of the state, really, you? I don't see that happening." use it as fuel to prove those suckers wrong.

And you know what I've realised? As much as it is cheesy to say, AN is also like a second school to me.. People have great ambitions that I can share and relate to, and that'll push you further.. You may come back from school, down because of what this said friend claims, but you can come back here, knowing that there are people, who aspire to achieve as high just like you around here.

Bottom line is.. Deep inside, you know your true ability, no one else does. Your teacher, your parents and maybe your friends, will look at your SAC results, reports, exams etc, and tell you what you will probably achieve (which is a great guideline) but you know your capabilities and what you can achieve so don't let others alter your goals and most importantly, question your abilities.

 

(Hopefully this made sense)

[CaiTheHuman]

I generally make them feel worse about their aims if they do it too me.

[paulsterio]

You say "fuck you", get the ATAR you've always wanted, and then go back and rub it in their faces.

Life's too short to have people be negative, doubt you and say bad things about you - you know your own abilities and you know what you're capable of, don't let any stupid person say otherwise.

[Will T]

First of all I think that it is despicable for those people to doubt you like that. How dare they claim to know whether or not you can achieve those Study Scores and that ATAR score. And to be honest, I don't just think you can do it, I along with everyone else on AN knows that the key to getting a good score is studying, and if you do enough of it, the reward will come your way, regardless of where your school is situated. Also, I think it highly likely that the people who are issuing these put-downs are people who are intimidated by your ambitions, and are envious of you for trying to achieve something worthwhile.

In addition, and this was noted above, if you are rank 1 in all your subjects (this is something that is in your control), then the scores of others will not negatively impact you. If you ranked first in all your subjects, you will get the best exam score at your school for that subject as your SAC mark, so once again it is all up to you killing the exams. So, to summarize, you absolutely can do it, and I think you'll find throughout life that people who are quick to doubt others do so because of their own inadequacy.

[BoredSatan]

I have heard of people from "bogan" schools getting ATAR's in the 99's and even perfect scores. Anything is possible if you put in the hard work, get that rank 1, and do well on the exams

[Mr Keshy]

I have heard of people from "bogan" schools getting ATAR's in the 99's and even perfect scores. Anything is possible if you put in the hard work, get that rank 1, and do well on the exams

The very reason why I chose mine. It's not the school, it's the students. The teachers aren't not willing to teach, the students aren't willing to learn.

[Biceps]

IMO VCE is about commitment if you work hard you will see results.
The school you go to doesn't affect you if you put in the hard yards and work to achieve your goals.
In the end it is your ATAR score no one else's. If i were you i'd use what they tell you as a fuel for your motivation.
I mean just imagine the surprise that they would feel when you do achieve that 98 ATAR!

[WonderBunny]

Never give up hope! I did VCE at TAFE and got over 98. Yeah, there were a lot of people who didn't give a crap about study, but me and a few others studied hard and got good scores. It can be done!

[BoredSatan]

I have heard of people from "bogan" schools getting ATAR's in the 99's and even perfect scores. Anything is possible if you put in the hard work, get that rank 1, and do well on the exams

The very reason why I chose mine. It's not the school, it's the students. The teachers aren't not willing to teach, the students aren't willing to learn.

Even at good schools (like mine), some of the teachers aren't great. But I guess the learning environment is really encouraging because everyone is trying to achieve a really good score.

As long you keep reminding yourself of your own goals, you will achieve a good score, and may even drag some of your friends who may not have the enthusiasm to study, to get better scores than they aimed for

[nosuperstar]

I love all of you's more than you will ever know! I want to cry! 

@Dejan -
I'm currently rank 1 in majority of my subjects except english, which I aim to greatly improve on next year.
Yes, alot of people at my school are doing year 12 simply for the pass but I don't know if people are actually going to pick up their game, or just continue to stuff around like this year, being surrounded by those types of people can be frustrating alot of the time.
Thankyou! This has definitely made me think of all the doubt in a different manner, I really would love to prove everyone wrong in the end.

@Kesh-
Yes, my friend who said the top 2% thing is a smart kid, this was all discussed after he finished his methods exam, which made me feel much worse about my aims as he's doing harder subjects than me.
YOU SEE IT THE SAME WAY AS ME! I agree 100%, I was lost on what path I wanted to take for next year and beyond, but all the people on AN really encouraged me because like myself, everyone here is interested in actually discussing school, VCE and university, and I was able to steer myself in the right direction, knowing that the high achievers are actually really cool people and they do exist and have the time to talk to you and help you out. I'm really glad that this website is available, it's such a big benefit to me, everyone here goes through the same thing and it's the opinions of everyone here that really matter to me.
Glad to know i'm not alone on this thought, thankyou!!!

@Cai_ -
I tried, but, they just put me down more, so I gave up and took the beating. 

@VILPQ -
I'll try not to, in reality, i'd love not to surround myself by those sort of people, but I haven't got too many friends, sad life, I know.

@Will T -
Will T, you make me want to cry, you kind soul.
I really wish that's the way it is, that their intimidated, I don't wish to intimidate everyone, I just never thought that aiming high was seen to be such a crime.
There's one subject which i'm kind of equal for rank 1 with someone, does being ranked 2nd mean everyone elses marks effect me at that position?

@BoredSaint -
really? woah, why does my school suck so much!

@Kesh -
I agree with this so much, the teachers at my school even made it clear, 'your doing post compulsory learning, so you should be taking the initiative to teach yourself', I was absolutely shocked when I heard this, I think the lack of effort the teachers are willing to put in really reflects on the students in the end.

@WonderBunny -
Tafe at VCE sounds so cool! Sounds like it would also be much easier to concentrate on your studies, no high school drama to act as a distraction!

[paulsterio]

Perfect example, again, of an incompetent public schooling system, please don't let me get started, I could write an essay on the rubbish standard of some of the schools in Australia, which is supposed to be one of the most highly educated nations in the world.

[brenden]

Tbh the best thing you can do is to get the score and then get a big sign and write
"Fuck you all, you pricks
Take a look at me now lol
I told you I could"
This is also a haiku.

Don't let you get them down. One of the Nat Mods on AN, he went to a school that had only been open for 2 years when he graduated. The year before he graduated his school was one of the worst in the states in terms of results, a 24 median or something like that. He graduated with a 99.65. The only limits you have are the ones you set on yourself.
Everyone doubting you can go and get fucked, to put it politely.
Last year, I almost failed VCE. (Failed a subject, as you can see). I was literally the worst student in the year level. I barely went to school. I didn't take any math subject in year 11 and in year 10 I told my math teacher "I will never do math after this year so I'm not going to do any work." I read novels in English (totally unrelated to the course) and you don't even want to know about the other subjects. Point of story, I am the last person you would expect to graduate let alone get a high ATAR. My aims weren't as extreme as yours, I just wanted a 90. The only subject I took this year that I did units one and two for was English. When I told everyone I was going to get it everyone laughed, as you can imagine. One year later, no one is laughing.

[BoredSatan]

Perfect example, again, of an incompetent public schooling system, please don't let me get started, I could write an essay on the rubbish standard of some of the schools in Australia, which is supposed to be one of the most highly educated nations in the world.

This guy..

Here's hoping that in the future you go to teach at a poor public school and help the kids there