Mariam Elisha

ATAR – 94.55

University of NSW

Bachelor of Commerce Finance

Bachelor of Science Immunology

Motivate each other in class – Class-time is extremely important and shouldn’t be wasted. Your teachers emphasise this because they do not want you going home swamped in a pile of work. Use class time to the best of your ability so that you can have time at home to take a healthy break; additionally, allowing you to work on your summary notes or potentially any concepts you have learnt in class that you feel you need to work on. I understand there are some times, we go into class extremely tired from a long day, especially during Period 6; but don’t disrupt each other. Motivate each other to get some work done by simply doing your own thing. You can all catch up after class.

Tip for tackling SOR II booklets – There is no doubt that SOR II is a content heavy subject. However, it is a subject you can easily excel at if you study smarter, not harder. Find a partner you can rely on so you can work on those 20 page worksheets. Divide the work up fairly and equally, so that you can efficiently finish the worksheet. This is so that both you and your partner can both go home without homework and instead, simply read through the completed worksheet; summarising them into key notes for your trials and external exams. 

Motivate each other outside of the classroom – I know there will be those days where you’re at home on a Saturday; not bothered to get started on your work. However, what you can do to potentially tackle this overwhelming procrastination feeling, is to organise a hangout later that day with your friends. Something as simple as going to a mate’s house later that day, can motivate you into doing your work (as you will see hanging out with your friends as a reward). For you introverts who don’t feel like being social, something as simple as saying “Once I hand in my Google Classroom assignment for English, I can spend time watching my favourite TV show or play the keyboard”; Ultimately, whatever your hobby is, try to use it as a reward system (and make sure to be kind to yourself with this reward system! You are entitled to a break, whether big or small. Just be fair with your break times; don’t get too greedy!). 

For Year 11 students: Prelims is your time to understand how senior study works. Trust me, I learnt it the hard way when I was in Year 11. I always left my class work to “later” and didn’t even know what summary notes were! When the preliminary exams came along (final exams), I was an absolute mess and I wish no one experiences what I experienced! I suggest that this is your time to test out new study routines so that you will have no academic consequence (i.e. it will not affect your overall HSC mark). Finish as much classwork as you can so you don’t have extra homework. I say this so that you can spend more time on your summary notes. Summary notes are one of the keys to ensuring you ace your exams and  consolidate all the information you have learnt from your classes. When the preliminary exams come around (Term 3), I guarantee you; you will not remember concepts you once were great at in Term 1. You need to write notes under each syllabus dot point that you learn in each day of class. This is so that when the final exams come around, you have all these summarised notes that were made when the concept was FRESH in your memory. Thus, helping you to reinforce your knowledge and feel prepared for the final exams; only focusing on looking at past papers.