souli said:
I'm going into year 11 and my subjects are as follow;
Advanced Mathematics, Advanced English, Extension English, Economics, Modern History, Modern Greek (accelerated).
Any tips will be appreciated, no matter how big or small. Thank you so much!
Hey, I go to a top 3 selective school. Here is my advice:
1. Pace. You may feel tempted to "run before you walk" at the start of Year 11. The workload, the expectation, the internal pressure, and what not all increases which means that just by working harder, you won't succeed. Especially if you go to an academically selective high school, you need to expect that you will encounter some set backs and deficits and then employ marginal gains to increase in outcomes.
2. Process >>> Outcome. Don't focus on the outcome because you will never be enough for your standards, especially if you are a high achiever. We all are susceptible to pride and that will be your biggest enemy if you dont prioritise the process. The process is your system. How are you going to integrate exercise, study, extracurriculars, relationships, etc? This will undoubtedly give you the security to keep on persevering even when you don't feel you can as the system will be stronger than your discipline to keep it. This assumes you have consistently and realistically designed it.
2.a Process >>> Outcome subpoint. Despite studying for hours and hours you cannot control your exam mark/outcome. You can control your system however. Maybe you didn't know a concept well enough in an exam? maybe the english marker had your paper after marking 50 others before it? None of that is realistically in your control. If you don't absorb this mindset early on, your confidence will drown and you wont achieve anything at all. Confidence is everything. People know they are smart because they are reminded of it by their peers especially in a high school level because everyone is extremely malleable and socially connected.
3. Your teachers. If you have a "bad" teacher, you need to consider either getting a tutor, or trying to mend the relationship. Your teachers are important. Especially english. If they don't know you, they will have no reason to keep you accountable. Accountability is extremely important. I sent my teachers questions on a pdf every week. I made a tracker. They were harsh but come exam time they were confident that there was a noticeable refining of my skills.
4. Tutoring. Non-essential. If you can make a good system, you won't need to get tutoring. Use as many resources as you have available to you. Don't feel the peer pressure to get tutoring and waste money. These companies are not going to give you something original (apart from a few). Heaps of private tutors understand the nuances of success - go to them (generally).
5. Even though Year 11 "doesn't count", it will if you don't let go of the common "perfectionist" mindset that many high achievers have. You will have many exam blocks -- you wont do well in some exams. You can have 2 or 3 exams in a day during that period. If you mess up one exam, a perfectionist will find it hard to let it go and they will consequently hinder their ability in the remaining exams. Not worth it. Be honest early if you feel you have mindsets such as this and really challenge it as it will plague your performance in year 12, and thereafter in university.
Don't stress. You need to believe that you have got this, or you won't.
Hope this helps man
