A 99+ Student's Reflection on VCE - Advice and experiences
My Reflections on VCE
Being at home gave me a lot of time to think and reflect
lately, I’ve always been a reflective person and this is my way of learning
from my own experiences as well as a form of thank you to all the people who
have lent me advice, help and inspiration during my journey in VCE. As I can
not directly repay them for their time and energy, I hope instead to pass on
the favour and extend my experiences, advices and reflections from my VCE
journey, to those who need it. NOTE, this is not content or subject specific advice
but rather a collection of the most valuable insights and tools from my
experience that has helped me achieve at a high level.
Context:
I graduated in 2019 from JMSS with an ATAR of 99.20 and is currently
a first year Biomedical Science student at Monash. I studied Methods, English,
Physics, Chemistry, Specialist Maths and Chinese SLA.
The mindset
My goal was simple: to achieve the highest ATAR I could without
sacrificing my health. The importance of school was instilled in me at an early
age and I manifested that (somewhat tunnel-visioned, more on this later) belief
into a drive to study and be exceptional. My drive was that I knew I would be
short-changing myself to be average, not in the sense of “I have so much
talent” but rather from a place of self-respect and knowing I am capable of more
if I would commit my efforts into this goal. So, the fear of me coming out of
high school knowing and regretting that I left pieces of potential behind which
I could’ve realised if I had just worked harder would always keep me going.
How I organise
I have a weekly plan of all the tasks I need to complete for
each subject, a daily plan of the tasks I need to complete that day as well as
a daily schedule of what I would work on down to the hour. Being organised is
critical, knowing what you’re supposed to be doing at all times not only
alleviates a whole lot of stress but also keeps me focused and stops me from
wasting time.
The three apps I used for this are
- - OneNote – Weekly tasks
- - Power Planner – daily tasks
- - Sticky note – daily schedule
I’ve attached screen shots of examples
https://i.imgur.com/fsXgf8D.png
How I stay motivated
Despite the overall productive mindset, I still found it
extremely helpful to find tactics and ways to keep myself motivated on a daily
basis. Perhaps I would liken it to how a car with a strong engine would still
need constant fuel. My main source of motivation came from people, those around
me and inspiring individuals in the world. You don’t change your mindset
overnight or just by watching one video, but you do slowly adopt the mindset of
those you interact with often over time, so make sure those you consume are
positive.
1.
Successful people, interviews, podcasts
The people and shows that has had a huge impact on me
include: (all on Youtube)
-
Impact theory by Tom Bilyeu ->
inspiring stories and accounts of successful people
-
The Joe Rogan Experience podcast ->
wide range of content, science, martial arts, motivation etc.
-
Jocko Willink podcast -> war stories
that give me perspective what real struggle is
-
The Tim ferris show -> being strategic
and methodical in any pursuit
-
Kobe Bryant interviews (RIP) ->
mindset of a competitor, my favourite athlete/mindset of all time
-
David Goggins -> an inspiring testimony that one can defy all odds and circumstantial disadvantages, the epitome of mental toughness!
-
And other compilation motivational videos -> gives energy and focus, but sometimes just hype, not always informative
2.
People around me
Those who work hard inspires me,
I try to be around them more, talk to them, ask for tips and how they study.
Being around people with certain qualities tend to sway you in the same
direction so in that way I gather inspiration from them.
Those who don’t work hard also
inspires me, I would see them and know I could get ahead of my competition.
When they waste time, you work. When they work, you work. Who’s going to win at
the end of the day? That mental edge would always give me more energy to focus
and grind just a bit harder.
A further point on the influence of people. You become the
average of those who you spend the most time with, so don’t let people who
don’t share your ambition to drag you down. If that means sitting with the
quiet kids, those who will inspire you to do work rather than having fun in
class with your noisy friends, that’s a price you will have to be willing to
pay if you want your results to be extraordinary. Sometimes, that even means
being alone. Year 12 for me was a lonely journey at times, I had to overcome
the mental barrier of appearing as the kid who sits by himself during study
periods or lunchtime. It doesn’t mean abandoning all connections and
friendships, but it does mean purposely staying away from your energetic
friends at times in order to focus. At the end of the day, if you were to ask
me was it all worth it? Hell yes.
Comparing yourself to others
My teachers often emphasised that we as a cohort were on the
same team and therefore shouldn’t compare ourselves to each other. I’ve come to
agree that they are right, but not for that reason. I don’t shy away from the
reality of competition and I believe VCE was a game of individual success for
me. But here is why I think you shouldn’t compare test results:
Consider two scenarios:
1. 1. You
get better scores on a test than someone
-
Comparing in this case leads to complacency, I've never found myself more motivated to study harder after knowing I did better on
a test than someone else. You could feel smarter than you really are, if
you look up, there’s always someone better than you. Stay humble, stay
focused.
2. 2. You get worse scores on a test than someone
-
For some people this may be a wake-up call, and
therefore motivating. For me in many cases, once you’ve studied hard for this
test yet got worse results than someone who you perceive as more talented who has put in seemingly less effort (It could be you were just oblivious to how hard
they worked), it leads to discouragement. You could feel like your hard work
still doesn’t measure up to someone’s talent, so why try? Having said that, I
don’t believe in deluding yourself into thinking that you can outwork
everyone’s talent but at the same time mindlessly comparing yourself to others
without a healthy mindset can lead to damage in your productivity.
Alternatively, I believe the key is to have your own
standards and judge yourself against that. Rather than being hung up on how I
did compared to others in a test, I would focus on myself: my preparation, my
performance during the test, what went right? What when wrong? Learn and do
better in the next one. I was never truly satisfied, not beating myself up every
time but rather just knowing I could always do better. That, I believe was the
most productive approach, given that you have a drive to improve regardless of
how you do compared to others. So, don’t around asking people how they did, for
the sake of bragging about your scores. If people asked how I did I would
answer honestly, but I try to keep myself away from that comparison.
Working hard vs working smart
The answer is both, but not in the way you might think.
Working smart isn’t finding a shortcut, it isn’t about saving time or energy
but rather it is about putting in more thought in making sure your efforts are
effective. In fact, working smart required more mental energy than blindly spending
hours in repetition, because it requires reflection. I believe the path of most
resistance is often the most effective and there are two levels to this. When
you’re picking to spend hours doing the same types of practice questions from
your textbook yes you are working hard and picking a path of resistance, compared
to not studying at all. But what people often miss is the second level of
reflecting and strategically planning how to apply your efforts? Answering that
question is often even more mentally draining than just simply “doing work”.
This is why although some people can do 50 practice exams but still not do
well, because you didn’t choose the hardest path, which is reflecting. It takes
more mental effort to carefully mark your mistakes, figure out why you make
that mistake and how to not make that same mistake again, before moving onto
another practice test. Why should you choose the hardest path of reflection
instead of settling for just blind work which is “good enough”? Because there
is no worse feeling in the world than to work your ass off and still achieve
poorly.
Here’s my method of making sure I do the work of reflection:
-
On the front cover of every practice test or
worksheet I’ve completed, I write two headings: Mistakes and Knowledge Gaps, in
red pen. Then I go through the test and analyse exactly what mistake I made and
what content knowledge I am missing. Afterwards, I think of ways to mitigate
those mistakes in the future and I compile that on a summary sheet by topic
along with the knowledge gaps, which I make sure to read before I do another
practice test.
- Being aware of the mistakes you make is the way to prevent making them, read your list of common mistakes before attempting another practice test
- If the mistake is skill-based, for example if you suck at integrating by hand, then go practice, simply being aware isn’t going to help.
The above applies to all the math and science subjects I
did. For English and other essay-based subjects, reflection is also crucial,
but may come in a less obvious way.
- - For English, I highlighted all the languages and sentences I used that the teacher pointed out were good and tried to emulate that in my next essay. The same goes for any parts that were bad, don’t make the same mistakes.
- - Same goes for Chinese
- - Compile a bank of effective ideas and language to draw from
Never exhale
“rest at the end, not in the middle” – Kobe
Bryant.
There were many times after a SAC out of a series of SACs or
an exam period where I’ve let go of the pressure and exhaled way too early, and
that costed me in preparation for the upcoming assessments. It was also easy to
feel relaxed at the end of a term or semester, even though holidays should be
an opportunity to further separate yourself from the competition because that’s
when everyone else is taking a break. That failure to maintain the pressure has
costed me several days of organised studying, I would feel unmotivated and find
myself having accomplished very little one week into the semester break. This
is even more crucial during the final exam period, where exhaustion can really
set in after the initial ones, but for those who have their exams spaced out
over almost a month of time like I had, the feeling of apathy and just wanting
to “get it over with” can really cost your preparation for the later exams. So
never exhale, it is not over until you step out of your final exam, keep
studying, keep planning.
- - Plan and organise what you want to get done the moment holiday starts, don’t allow yourself to fall into autopilot mode.
Note, this doesn’t mean you never take a break and never
relax, taking time off is critical to reset your mind but I’m sure you get this
message plenty from your teachers. If you want exceptional results, you will
have to have an exceptional work ethic. Schedule breaks into your days and
weeks, never out of spontaneous laziness, but rather strategically planned to
keep yourself functioning optimally.
Naps
Short note on naps, I started utilizing them towards the end
of year 12 where I really had to put in the hours. Afterschool, before I start
studying again I would usually feel destroyed from the afternoon crash (more on
this later in diet), so I would set an alarm for 10 minutes and just slump down on a
quiet table to take a nap. I would wake up so much more refreshed, it is
amazing what a 10 minute nap can get you.
- - Set an alarm for 10 – 12 minutes to take a nap in the afternoon to recharge your energy
- - No more than 15 minutes or else you will feel even more tired from the sleep inertia
Reading
One of the most impactful hobbies I’ve picked up in year 11
was reading. Self-development, science, productivity, leadership, psychology,
business, relationships, mindset, those were the books I was interested in. At
first it started as a suggestion by my English teacher on how to improve my writing,
but then it became the greatest source of inspiration, insight and growth for
me. The books I’ve read have shaped me as a person to a great extent and I
definitely wouldn’t have the mindset I have today without them. Here are some
all-time favourites:
-
Relentless by Tim Grover
-
Can’t Hurt Me by David Goggins
-
Extreme ownership by Jocko Willink
-
The Obstacle Is the Way by Ryan Holiday
-
The Productivity Project by Chris Bailey
-
Deep Work by Cal Newport
-
The Compound Effect by Darren Hardy
A little bonus for those who like fiction instead, I usually
don’t like fiction with the exception of this author, her books are so good I
was almost addicted haha. Might be even better for purpose of improving
English:
-
Throne of Glass series by Sarah J. Maas
-
A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas
Exercise
Exercise was one of the two most important habits for me
during VCE. I won’t go into the well-known benefits as there are an ocean of
information out there, but rather I will talk about how it affected me in
dealing with VCE. My exercise consisted of working out every night/morning and
playing basketball at school or on the weekends (not for a team, didn’t have
time for that). Exercising every night became a “pillar” in my routine that
helped ground everything else. It made my sleep schedule more or less consistent,
it was a mark for the beginning or the end of a study day and was just a
constant among the chaos that VCE can bring. Basketball was the best
stress-relief as well as conduit of creative energy for me, I could literally
feel the pressure and fog of stress lift off my mind when I’m on the court. VCE
was a heavy stress and wear on the mind and basketball helped re-new my
attention and energy, which ultimately kept me going in the long run. I’m not
saying everyone needs to pick up basketball or working out, but any form of
exercise or hobby that can temporarily liberate your mind from studying (but
also not a huge time-sink) will be highly valuable in sustaining your mental
wellbeing in the long run.
What I could’ve done differently
I have no real regrets when it comes to VCE, I felt like
I’ve left everything on the table and I’m satisfied with the outcome, both in
my achievements and who I’ve become. However, there is always room for
improvement, and these are the things I would’ve reconsidered if I were to
re-do VCE.
Leadership involvement
Looking back from a perspective of a first-year uni student
who is in a different game now, I’ve really come to realise the importance of
experiences such as leadership, volunteering or community involvement in
accessing future employment, internship and leadership programs.
A little seems to go a long way in this context, a seemingly
insignificant involvement in high school could be what opens you up to other
smaller opportunities such as student representative or a first year leadership
program which could ultimately compound into greater opportunities such as
internships which would really set you apart from the competition. Because at
the end of the day, hundreds or even thousands are going have the same piece of
credential you will have as a graduate someday. Skills and experiences are what I
believe at this stage will set you apart in the future. Therefore, if I could
do VCE all over again I perhaps would have invested a bit more time in pursuit of a
leadership role such as house captain as to strike a balance between the cost
of time (ATAR) and the experience gained for my resume.
- - Get involved in leadership or extra-curricular team projects to help build that future resume
VTAC
Get on top of your VTAC early! I didn’t do this and I had to
pay for it at the end of the year with stress and most likely many missed
opportunities. Do your research early, carve out some time each week to think
about your future career and what sorts of course you want to get into.
- - Schedule some time on the weekends or throughout the week to research your career and get your VTAC stuff done early
Relationships with teachers and staff
I didn’t have the maturity or foresight back then to know
the importance of networking and connections, sometimes who you know is more
important than what you know in getting an opportunity in the future.
- - Establish more rapport and connection with the teachers, they are valuable resources and networks for references and future opportunities
- - Talk to them casually, get to know them, you will be surprised what you can learn
Diet
I didn’t have the worst diet but I definitely could’ve have
optimised my energy levels much more had I known more about nutrition at that
time. I would have afternoon energy crashes almost every day which many would
think it was due to lack of sleep but I’ve come to known that having a heavy
lunch full of carbs and other unhealthy stuff was the real culprit. So if you
want to have a steady energy level throughout the day instead of zombie-ing
your way through the last period and afterschool, here’s what I recommend:
- - Pack a healthy lunch with more protein and healthy fats instead of buying junk food from the canteen, it can be the difference between having that daily afternoon crash and maintaining your energy throughout the day to be more productive
Final thoughts
VCE wasn’t just about ATAR, even though at times it
certainly did feel that way. Compared to the content and knowledge, or even the
momentary exhilaration of success, what was more valuable were the many
invaluable attributes, skills and the character I’ve built in the process.
Content can be forgotten, but I learned how to learn, how to persevere, how to
organise, how to handle disappointments and pressure, how to set goals, how to
stay disciplined, how to stay humble and how to stay focused. More importantly,
it has given me the proof to be able to have the confidence to aim high in my
life and become the best version of myself possible.
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