Year 12s of 2024 give advice for 2025…
“Gather ‘round!”
After William Hogarth & Dent, Scholars at a Lecture, ca.1800
Throughout 2024 there were many moments where my students would lament, ‘I wish I did this differently.’ or, ‘I wish I knew this earlier.’ or the real kicker, ‘I wish I could go back and start the year differently.’
So when 2024 ended and naturally, in our final tutoring sessions, we reminisced over the year and how much the students had grown and changed in such a short time. Let me tell you, so many of them through self-reflection had incredible insight.
I ended up asking them all, ‘If you could advise yourself at the start of year 12/ or end of year 11, what would you say? ‘
These are some of their answers.
Their advice…
1. “Make sure u do all the essays.”
Eleni’s Insight: Writing practice essays is not only a great opportunity to practice important and assessable skills but also gives you a great indicator of your current abilities and you can then pivot your study plans to make sure you are on the path that you are happy with.
2. “Try your hardest, and study during the end of year 11 holidays. I would also tell myself to study all of the Area of studies periodically throughout the year. Write a lot of essays.”
Eleni’s Insight: Studying periodically is going to help avoid burnout and ensure that you maintain a healthy balance. Starting as early as the end of the Year 11 holidays will help your Year 12 self a great lot.
3. “Read the text 2-3 times, start memorising quotes for all areas early, seek as much feedback as you can, read your responses after writing- to edit.”
Eleni’s Insight: Reading the text multiple times is quite key to embedding your knowledge of it, especially for those wanting to score highly. Seeking feedback, however, is incredibly important for all students regardless of what you are aiming for!
4. “I would probably tell myself to take it one step at a time and focus on doing my best in the present, rather than stressing about the end-of-year result that’s still months away. For example, I would work toward the next SAC, and then, whether it goes great or not, it’s all okay because it’s done. I can start afresh and do my best on the next SAC. Essentially, I wish I’d focused more on improving my skills from one SAC to the next, rather than constantly thinking about and focusing on achieving a specific SAC or study score. Because in a year's time it is those skills I built that are going to be so much more useful than any SAC scores and study scores I achieved this year (although good scores would be really nice too).”
Eleni’s Insight: This is a very insightful piece of advice that everyone can learn from - focus on what you can control, let go of what you can’t and enjoy the present moment!
5. “I would tell myself that even though you may not have energy or motivation to study, that spending even 30 mins to learn on sub chapter for your sacs will help a lot and make the process easier for you in the future, and seeing the high marks will also motivate you.”
Eleni’s Insight: This is great - break down the study into small ‘bite-size’ chunks and everything will seem less daunting.
6. “Biggest piece of advice would be to trust myself a little more and remember that I will think best when I am calm, so I shouldn't overthink things!”
Eleni’s Insight: So much easier said than done but these are truly words of wisdom - staying calm will help you think clearly and be able to showcase your skills as best as possible.
7. “To sleep on time and take regular breaks, because studying for a whole day and then having no energy to study the next day, is not very efficient and productive.”
Eleni’s Insight: Looking at you night owls, staying up all night regularly (even if it is to study) will not be healthy long term and unfortunately, life during school means early wake-ups so you should sleep properly!
8. “Nothing is that deep calm down.”
Eleni’s Insight: Now this is my favourite piece of advice. Many of my students have heard me say, ‘We aren’t working in an emergency department here and we are not responsible for lives.’ In other words, not getting the score you want does suck but the world will keep spinning.
9. “Engage more in discussions about the text you are studying because it really helps with your understanding.”
Eleni’s Insight: Yes! Sharing thoughts and ideas is such a healthy and collaborative way of solidifying your knowledge and expanding your ideas!
