You’ve probably heard of Sisyphus, but if you haven’t, here’s the Sparknotes version. Sisyphus was condemned for eternity with a very straightforward task: to push a boulder to the top of a hill. However, every time he reaches the top of the hill, the boulder will always roll back down to the bottom. Forever…and ever…and ever….
This is what the start of my HSC year felt like. Like Sisyphus, I carried the boulder of my high standards and fear of failure every day, constantly feeling like my efforts weren’t enough to reach my ATAR goal of 99+.
Yet, through some changes to my mindset and some steeeeep learning curves, I managed to feel more confident with my ability to tackle the HSC as the clock ticked down.
Perhaps you are here because you are carrying the same boulder I was. Or maybe you are just looking for some new pieces of advice because there are too many people saying “the HSC is a marathon, not a sprint” and very few golden nuggets going around. I can’t promise your life will be miraculously changed after reading this. However, I do hope that the lessons that helped me immensely throughout the HSC can, in some way, shape or form, help you achieve your goals too!
1. You can’t push a boulder if you are unorganised
Say you were physically pushing a boulder up a hill. You would need to train your muscles to deal with the load and your heart for endurance. You would hopefully create a workout schedule and make sure you kept track of your diet.
The same goes for your HSC prep. By keeping a schedule, creating a study routine, and avoiding distractions, you can allow your brain to focus on smashing the HSC.
Here are a few things I did while studying to stay organised:
- Get a to-do list app to digitally track your tasks or use a calendar. This is super convenient for keeping your tasks in one place - you’ll feel very in control. BUT what helped me feel even more on top of it was actually writing down my daily tasks on a sticky note and keeping that beside me while I worked. It felt super awesome to tick off all the things I had completed and chuck away that sticky note.
- Know the syllabus. For content-heavy subjects, it is crucial to have an organised set of notes. For your notes, use the syllabus as a framework, keep them concise and add visualisations - your notes don’t have to be boring! For sciences, I would recommend explaining the concepts to someone/something, especially specific syllabus examples, rather than memorisation. This is important to understand the science rather than know it (there is a difference!). Your notes should be able to familiarise yourself with the syllabus, and create a reference point to circle back to when you get stuck on exam questions.
- Get rid of reels. It seems hard until you do it. I deleted social media for most of my HSC period and while I did cheekily use the website sometimes, my scrolling significantly reduced as the reel lag tested my patience too much! If that is too big a step for you, add a lock to distracting sites or simply keep your phone out of your study room and don’t even try to log in online - I see you.
