WOHZAZZ ---> Before I start, I love your nickname - it's so cool, sounds like a brand of washing powder, or the name of a flower child! What inspired it? Is it your real name...Anyway, back on topic. Much the same thing has happened to me, well sort of. You see, I'm a really high achiever, coming 1st in 4 of my subjects and in the top 3 for the other 2 (hope this doesn't sound arrogant). At the start of last term, I felt so tired and just totally lacked motivation. I was able to shake it off using a few techniques I will describe in a sec, and thus it didn't affect any of my assessments. Let me just say that I think the attitude you have adopted is just plain DEFEATIST and wrong (this is not intended as a put down, but sometimes, in the words of Letters to Cleo, "you've gotta be cruel to be kind"). You didn't do well in your Maths and English Term 1 assessments, and that's a bummer. But BY NO MEANS does it mean your HSC is over, gone. Look at the weightings of those individual tasks, then halve them. That's how many marks out of 100 they're going to account for for that subject...For example, if your maths assessment was worth 20%, then it's only worth 10 marks out of 100 (50% weighting internal assessments, 50% HSC exam). When you look at it this way, NO WAY are your chances of succeeding gone. I mean, you went well in the Term 4 assessments, and you still probably have 70 - 80% of your assessments in which you can make up your marks. DON'T GIVE UP, that's an easy way out, a cop out from putting in the hard yards that will enable you to kick arse in the next assessments. Here are some techniques that worked for me:
*"I mean how many people get above a 99.6 a year. Like 400? You take a few of the top schools and randomly pick a few from other schools and all your 99.6s are all gone." This is completely the wrong attitude. I go to a small Catholic high school that has a really poor academic reputation, and last year, a girl got 99.95. And believe me, I'm friends with her, and she wasn't that smart, she just worked hard. ANYONE is capable of achieving good UAI's, you're always reading when the results come out of those people who work 2 jobs, are pregnant, just arrived in the country 2 years ago and still got 95+, so it is a lot easier than it sounds. Tell yourself you can do it, because YOU CAN.
*On a big poster and a series of small cards (palmcards would do), write: "I will achieve a mark of ____ in the HSC." Stick the poster in your study area, and carry one of the cards with your wherever you go. Read your goal as often as possible, when taking mini study breaks, when you finish work early in class, etc. This really helps keep you focused when the teacher's droning is becoming boring, or you've sat down to study and it's all boring.
*Whenever you start feeling yourself lose motivation, visualise where you want to be this time next year. Make the picture as real as possible - add sounds, textures, smells, etc. For example, I have this really clear scenario where I'm in a maths lecture doing my Bachelor of Commerce at Macq Uni, and I'm copying down notes, talking to the person next to me, etc. Try to make it like a mini movie, and replay it over and over.
*Usually, STARTING to study is the hardest part - once you've started, you can go forever. Tell yourself when you start "I'll just do 30 mins", even if you are planning to do 4 hours. Keep repeating this over and over. Make yourself believe it, and you don't feel stressed, as anyone can do half an hour of study - but the thing is, once you've done the half an hour, you'll probably find it easy to go for as long as you need. In other words, trick your brain into not stressing.
*Try to split your study time up into manageable chunks. For example, if you want to do 4 hours, don't do it in one hit, but do 4 lots of 1 hour sessions, with 15 - 20 min breaks in between, or 2 sessions of 2 hours each. This makes it a lot less overwhelming and also allows your brain to recharge.
*Make studying as fun as possible - highlight in different colours, draw mind maps or diagrams, tell your parents about what you're learning (for example, I do Ancient History, and every night at dinner, I tell my family 'fun facts', such as "did you know that Xerxes..."), participate in a study group, use flash cards, get your pet or a stuffed animal and pretend you're teaching it the content.
*Reward yourself for studying with things you really like, for example a certain food, form of entertainment (ie watching a particular movie) our outing. Rewards in the form of time off are also helpful, for example, if I do 6 hours on Saturday, I'll have all of Sunday morning off.
*If you get super stressed, remind yourself that the HSC is not a do or die, and if you don't get 99.6, there are other ways of getting in - mature age entry at 21, doing a related degree for a year and transfering, etc. Try and take a lighter approach to it while still doing the hard work.
*Don't ignore your body. If you're falling asleep trying to memorize something, have a nap and come back to it later.
Hope all this helps. Feel free to PM me if needed - it is important for all us HSC'ers to support each other. And by the way, I am NOT a shrink or careers adviser (just realized I probably sound like one).
Best wishes!
