[Ask Me Anything] #5: pi

[pi]

1) How do you balance uni work and real life/how do you maintain good grades in a gruelling course like yours?

Well firstly I don't claim to have amazing grades haha. With the risk of sounding like an ungrateful humblebraggart, my grades do put me in the top quartile of my year, but they probably should have been a bit better if I did a few things differently over the years. So my grades are *ok*, but certainly not amazing by any definition

I think the most important things in uni are the following (not sure how many are specifically relevant to you!):

1) Find a study strategy that works for you. I kid you not, but it took me 3 semesters to find what worked for me, especially because I was so lackadaisical in my approach to VCE. I tried making lecture summaries, tried reading textbooks, tried hand-writing notes, tried annotating lecture slides, tried flash cards, etc. In the end I found something that worked for me, and it made the rest of the years much easier. I think a lot of people get worried that they haven't acclimatised to uni as easily as the next person, and that's understandable, but it's really /ok/ to be lost for a year or so. As long as you keep at it, it will work out eventually, and life becomes considerably easier.

2) Take breaks when you need to and have mandatory days off. As I said earlier in this thread, I took Fridays off. Even when times got tough, I made it my time to do everything non-academic. I found that to be a good chance to assess where I was, reflect on what happened in the week, and take my mind elsewhere. Recharging your batteries is important.

3) Hate to harp on about this, but I found reflecting on stuff really helps. If I just sat an exam, I'd think about it afterwards. Why didn't I know the answer to Question 12 or 23, what went wrong. Why did it go wrong. How can I not make that mistake again. I accept I'll never be perfect or the best, I know that, but that doesn't mean I can't be better. Just taking some time out to think about how I can be better is helpful.

4) Have regular social events and/or chats. During third year I had a 21st or two on every weekend - that was great, plenty of time to catch up with people on a regular basis and do something non-academic. In other years... there aren't many 'organised' social gatherings to bring the squad together. So some initiative is good. One thing I find to be useful and great, is to have friends who don't do what I do. I have a great group of mates, who I actually met on AN years ago, that do all sorts of non-med courses (or rather, 'did', as some have graduated), and we meet up regularly and chat on a fb group chat daily. Having a broader group of friends is good because it forces me to not talk about my course. The last thing I want to do after a long day of study is talk to mates who want to talk about studying... Legit that's the worst thing. I 'use' socialising as a chance to have some fun that's completely unrelated to med, and I think that helps balancing things.

5) I'm a big fan of 'knowledge > grades'. I'm happy if I can back myself to know things, if that translates into decent grades then that's fantastic, but grades are secondary to be becoming a knowledgeable and safe doctor. Perhaps it's hard not to have an eye on grades if seeking graduate-entry courses that need high GPAs/WAMs, but I think it takes a lot of the pressure off if you don't focus on it. I came into my course knowing that I was in the bottom 25%, so from the outset I knew that working my way up was going to be hard, heck it could be impossible for me to keep up with all these VCE beasts around me. So why not just enjoy the fact that I'm here and enjoy learning cool new things? That's my philosophy to studying in uni

Not sure if any of that answered your question haha

2) Would you try to dissuade someone from pursuing medicine, and if so, why?

Wouldn't dissuade, but I'd warn people of the following: it's hard and is getting harder. Getting into med is the easy part, graduating is a little harder, the hard part is when you're a doctor. The number of consultant/boss jobs aren't increasing despite the fact that the number of medical graduates has been increasing at an alarming rate for the past two decades. This means we have a bottle neck, and not enough senior jobs for junior doctors. This is a disaster because doctors aren't trained to be anything else, we're not like commerce grads who have skills in multiple areas, we literally have no other skills. The vast majority don't even have proper research skills. So be warned of the career prospects, you might have a job for the first few years out of uni, but don't expect that to be the case for long. There's a fantasy many have of med being a 'sure thing' once you get in, that is what it is - a fantasy. It couldn't be further form the truth. Know what you're signing up for, because in 10-15 years time, it could be Centrelink benefits.

3) If you couldn't be a doctor because you didn't get into the course or some other reason, which career would you pursue that would be equally as fulfilling?

My back-up uni course was Biomed/Engineering. If I didn't get into graduate-entry med, I'd probably continue the path of becoming some sort of engineer. I've always had a passion, but perhaps not much talent, for maths. So I think I'd enjoy engineering. Whether it would be equally fulfilling? I'm sure it would be, albeit in different ways. I'd say nearly every career has their dull and their fulfilling moments, even lawyers!

[tashhhaaa]

cheers for the reply, ur my idol

for real hahaha :')

[n.a]

Question. How did you stay motivated throughout the year, and especially under exam stress?

[pi]

Question. How did you stay motivated throughout the year, and especially under exam stress?

I keep things interesting. I think this is a good way to stay motivated, but is it a good way to get the best marks...? Probably not. Two examples.

Uni:
Now medicine is interesting, but I don't find it all equally interesting. There are some conditions which just aren't that fascinating to me, but they're core conditions to know about so I have to sit down and learn about them one day. So what I do is to everyday learn about something cool, which to me, is usually some rare af condition that has something weird about it. Mixing it up in this way keeps me motivated, as I'm never bored. If you can somehow study without becoming bored, ie. actually enjoy what you're doing all the time, you can never lose motivation. This way, studying becomes something to look forward to, rather than a chore.

School:
As per my previous essay-length post, it's clear what I did in school was to basically neglect subjects (eg. VCE physics) that I just didn't find interesting or felt weren't worth improving in. And as I've said in that thread, there's certainly plenty wrong with that strategy and it's not a tact I'd recommend anyone try and mimic, but it did ensure that I didn't become bored. As I spent the vast majority of my time on Spesh and English, those times when I did decide to pick up a Chem or a Methods textbook were easy, because I knew when that was done I could get back to something interesting or worth it.

So all in all, the common theme is if you can keep things interesting, you won't become bored, and you won't lose motivation. For me, I kept the theory interesting, mixing up the dull stuff with the cool stuff and using the latter as a reward for getting through the former. But that's just me, I'm sure if you had an interesting study technique or something else as well, it'd work just as well.

Touching upon exam stress, as I've said earlier, I'm luckily not really the type to get anxious about studying. At least, not any more than nerves just the morning before like anyone else; I'm usually quite calm and collected throughout the year. The keys to this, I think, come back to the fundamentals of my study technique (see reply to tashhhaaa), especially: having a study method that works, taking breaks when I want without feeling guilty, not talking about studying after I've done with it, and having a focus on knowledge rather than primarily marks. I'd think it would be quite difficult to adopt that study philosophy during year 12, especially at this part of the year, and I certainly had a strong focus on marks throughout year 12 (especially in English). But having grown up a tad, I think it's certainly more healthy to think about marks as a reward that will inevitably come with the learning, and if you focus on the learning and worry about the learning, the marks will come in time. Probably advice that's more applicable to what I'm specifically doing in uni, but I'm sure the notion of 'knowledge > marks' could be weaved into an approach to any course.

If there's one thing I've taken away from school, it was our unofficial motto "more than just marks". What's more? Your mental health, your physical health, those close to you, and knowledge.

[sweetiepi]

Who do you think is going to win the Grand Final (AFL)?

[pi]

Who do you think is going to win the Grand Final (AFL)?

Last week I would have got away with 'anyone but Hawthorn' haha.

Have soft spots for the Cats and Dogs given i was brought up in the westside of Melb, so either of those would be good I guess. It'd be criminal if GWS won a flag just a few years after being formed hahaha.

Having said that, I'm a Dons fan (inb4 injecting drug jokes), so I'm just hoping for a three good games to end the year

[nerdgasm]

How may I reach the number of posts and forum respect that you currently have before I turn 80?

[zhen]

Did you have the infamous Mr Keyte for physics in year 11 or 12? Also, in year 11 during the lead up to VCE exams, did you focus wholeheartedly on your year 11 unit 3 and 4 subject or did you try to balance your time between all your subjects.

[pi]

How may I reach the number of posts and forum respect that you currently have before I turn 80?

Finally someone is asking me about what matters: how to hoard as much respect as possible

Pi's shameless mini-guide to raking in the respect

• Have a few posts first so people know who you are, and be liberal with your own upvotes, people are more likely to upvote you if you upvote them!
• Post relevant memes in boards that still have respect, especially in threads with high levels of activity (eg. Class of 201X threads), depending on the dankness and spiciness of the meme, could be a +3 to +20
• Post anything against HighTide or any other controversial member, easy +3
• If you feel like getting into a cheeky argument with someone, always include smileys, helps to diffuse the situation and people are more likely to think you're on the right side and are more likely to upvote you
• Post anything about medicine or UMAT, someone's always interested in that stuff on AN haha
• Post "Resource" threads, guaranteed +10
• Post "Good luck" threads (eg. for exams, GAT, UMAT, offers, any other occasion), guaranteed +15
• Post "Motivation" threads (eg. 'Only two weeks left, you can do this!'), guaranteed +10 and you can follow it up with a "Good luck" thread later too to reap all that sweet respect
• Post long replies, it doesn't even have to make sense after a while because no ones reads them after a couple of paragraphs unless they're particularly interested, usually nets +5 without fail, even more if they sound deep and philosophical
• Volunteer for an "AMA", I've gained a fair bit of respect here haha
• Hang around long enough to become a mod, I've found people upvote me sometimes for no good reason other than I'm a mod, even if someone said the exact same thing as me in a previous post, it's bizarre
• I guess the last thing you could do, if desperate, is to actually help people with maths questions etc on the forum, if you're lucky you'll get a +2, great benefit for the community (or rather, that one person you're helping), for very little respect reward; I remember when i used to do that haha

[pi]

Did you have the infamous Mr Keyte for physics in year 11 or 12? Also, in year 11 during the lead up to VCE exams, did you focus wholeheartedly on your year 11 unit 3 and 4 subject or did you try to balance your time between all your subjects.

I had some very infamous physics teachers in MHS, for their privacy and because I think they were still good people, I won't name names.

I really balanced my units. Perhaps right at the end of the year (term 4 + SWOTVAC), it would be foolish to not prioritise your 3/4 because it actually counts, but I think in the rest of the year, there's no need. Despite this being a fairly unpopular opinion on AN and probably also at MHS too, I say this for three main reasons:

1) Having a good fundamental understanding from 1/2 can set you up for an easy Year 12. This is particularly true in Methods, English, and Chem. You don't want to be spending the summer break or Year 12 picking up basic concepts that is assumed knowledge that should have been mastered last year, it just wastes time and the pressure starts to build up. Having a solid foundation is a good thing and is often under-rated.

2) Studying for 5-6 subjects consistently in Year 11 is good preparation for doing the same thing in Year 12. Again, you don't want to spend part of Year 12 toying around with new study techniques because you spent the vast majority of your time last year on one subjects. This again is a foundation, but not one of subject theory, it's one of study technique.

3) Something I found useful in school and uni was to 'keep things interesting'. I can't think of anything less so than really focusing study on one subject, I mean let's be honest, VCE isn't that interesting haha. Having a variety of things to study makes it easier to stay interested, and thus, motivated.

Good luck and honour the work!

[heids]

That guide... The best thing I've ever seen you write.  Cynicism and sneakiness ftw.

[Calebark]

I refuse to upvote that guide, I feel betrated

[pi]

That guide... The best thing I've ever seen you write.  Cynicism and sneakiness ftw.

(Image removed from quote.)

I refuse to upvote that guide, I feel betrated

Hahahahaha #busted


Keep those questions coming! Happy to talk about anything and everything, and to impart the little wisdom I have haha

edit: noticed some mods deleted a bunch of posts here... I've edited my posts accordingly

[HughMungus]

Were Timon and Pumba the real antagonists of the popular 90s classic, The Lion King?

[pi]

Were Timon and Pumba the real antagonists of the popular 90s classic, The Lion King?

I have never considered them to be antagonists.