I felt the same when commencing year 12. I was all by myself...and there were tonnes of people expecting high achievements from me...And believe me, I spent the whole year with the idea 'what happens if I fail?' I cried many nights because this was my only chance (yes only chance) and I didn't know what I would do if I didn't meet the expectations...I had a terrible start in 2012 by getting 67% in my english sac...and then I had already decided what to do...(getting into a course with 20 in esl..there are a few of them) But then in april or may, I said to myself I gotta do this, not that I can do this..but I have to..no way out...I already bought couple of inspirational biographies in 2011..so I sat down and read couple of pages from each book...day after i borrowed the article we were doing for english from my teacher..after copying every single detail, I spent my whole weekend about how to write a good piece...and I scored 37/40...Once again I felt I could do this..but no..in mid year break, I couldn't even write a single essay...I was so despair...Even though my teacher was motivating me, I knew I was going to get a low score...but at the same time, I was constantly working my way towards the exams...Day in and out I was studying for the English exam...I was confident that I could get adequate mark for the math subjects to get into an engineering course..so my only focus was english...2 weeks before the exam, I was studying like an animal; I had two showers in two weeks and my beard was so long...On the exam day, I was still hopeless..but once I turned the page, I saw the question for the reading and responding part..And guess what..same question as my practice sac question..I did that question and scored a decent mark and my teacher provided me some sample responses...And yeah, by the end of it, I was so relaxed that I did so bad for the math subjects..careless mistakes and so on..but I got into my first preference..
My advise is that: No matter what everyone else says or thinks about you, or expects from you, make your way through this by just studying..there are times when you feel depressed..just grab a cup of tea, and review your dreams...Then ask yourself..Can you do it or do you have to do it? Many people who think they can do it, are the ones who fail..I know from myself
Thanks for that! I like the idea of inspirational biographies. I think I will do that.

And congrats on finally getting through; guess all the hard work payed off.
I don't think that's such a good advice. I mean, of course working is a must but if you mean working towards something you don't want to do in the future, then that's a different issue.
I'm starting this year and my mindset is that it will be okay, alright and that I know I will be able to do it. Move on from negativity because seriously, the more you think about it, the more you become negative. Before you entertain negative thoughts or doubts, think that it's just nerves and move on. It will be only for a little while; everybody has nerves but then you gotta move on and be positive because believe it or not, positivity is a shield. It protects you. If you are positive then you are more likely to be happy and you turn negativity to positivity, which means less stress for you.
The big thing is, sometimes you gotta stop thinking and start feeling. The more you think, the more you doubt, the more you doubt, the more you stress, the more you stress, the more likely for you to become depressed and so on..
Oh God, that soo sums up me. I always over think things and end up psyching myself out. Hopefully, I'll be able to stop this for Year 12 and take things one step at a time

What I'm really worried about is, being unable to balance studying/homework between subjects. Last year, I put all my time into my 3/4 and didn't even touch my 1/2s, hence really shit grades there. But I can't afford to do that this year with 5 3/4s!
Any advice there on how to devote equal time and work to all your subjects?
I'm going to be having the same issue. Though I didn't overly neglect any subject in Year 11, seeing as I needed to maintain an A+ average to get a scholarship (

), I procrastinated a lot and found it extremely difficult to balance my time. I think the best way to manage your time IS in fact to monitor how much time you dedicate to each subject using a timetable. Also, try and make use your of your 5th and 6th subject. Be aware of the fact that they only contribute 10% so dedicate your time accordingly.

I've heard that structuring by time isn't the best idea. Rather, structuring by content is the way to go. So instead of saying, "I want to complete an hour of this", work by aiming to achieve x amount of questions.
Agreed. I tried organizing my timetable by hours, and it did not work. I mean, when I first wrote it all out, I was happy as hell because I could see how much work I could complete and I was excited to actually finish it all. But then when I actually started doing everything, I went over time, more often than not.

So, I'm back to just writing out which subjects I want to do for the day and how much of each I want completed. I then fit this into my day however I can.
