Hey! So for those of you who don’t know me or don’t remember who I am, my name is Jo and I graduated last year as part of the 2020 cohort. I was one of two co founders of Wildflower too! I’m currently studying at UNSW doing a Bachelor of Law / Bachelor of International Studies. Alongside this I’m working part time at a cafe a few days a week, tutor, play social netball, bake brownies and embroider stuff for friends, and love a good night out.
This section was created by myself about a year ago as an advice section for girls (and maybe a few rogue male readers) who are about to finish Year 12 and need advice. So I’m going to try and explain what worked for me and just ramble a bit about life.
SET GOALS
Trust me I know this is annoying and I know we all hated setting SMART goals in homeroom. But having goals actually gives you something to work towards and understand what is needed to get there. During Year 12 I’m proud to say I achieved all of my academic goals. I got a 96.3 ATAR, ranked top 3 in each of my subjects and got into UNSW Law. I set these goals at the start of the year and at times I wasn’t sure if I’d get there, but knowing what I wanted pushed me to work harder when I didn’t feel like it.
DO NOT QUIT EVERYTHING
Your parents might tell you to quit your job, stop sport, not go to that 18th, not date that person, not do the things you enjoy. But I’m here to tell you that you can have your cake and eat it too. During Year 12 I worked 2-3 shifts a week, did several extra curricular activities, started this blog, played netball and hockey, went to parties, got into my first relationship (shout out mason), and went out all the time. Having those things in my life made me happy, they made it easier to handle the stress of Year 12 and take a brain break every so often. So please, please, please do not let this year be only study, study, study.
DEVELOP A PERSONAL ROUTINE
During Year 12 you’re told to study 4 hours a day and even more on weekends. You’re told you have to study a million hours in order to succeed. I can tell you now that this isn’t always the case. You need to study smarter and not harder. Much to the surprise of my teachers I was probably one of the most disorganised students out of everyone and rarely went home and studied for hours on end (except Ms Moujali definitely realised during Maths Advanced). But there was a method to my madness! Subjects like legal studies and SOR have syllabus notes freely available online and I would utilise these along with some personal research to study more effectively than spending hours reading my textbook. I then found study techniques that worked well for me, reading over my essays and making flash cards were always my go to.
PRIORITISE MENTAL HEALTH
Mental health is so so so so (profanity excluded) important! During year 12, especially during the month before the exams I was crying everyday, stressing about whether I’d be good enough and if I’d get the “right ATAR”. Now let’s put this into some context. I already had early offers to 7 universities for the course I wanted. Yet the “HSC Hype” made me feel as though I still needed to get into a top tier Uni and get a 95+ ATAR. In retrospect I wish I didn’t place so much pressure on myself, I wish I didn’t let my mental health get out of hand for those few months. So please remember that you have so many options, so many pathways, so many ways opportunities and another 80 years to do it.
Now I’m sure I could ramble on further about HSC, life and advice but this is already too long!
Good luck to all of the girls doing HSC this year, I’m so proud of you guys!
If any of you ever needs some notes, advice on early entry or HSC, or maybe want to do law please hit me up on my Instagram @joanne_mayy
– jo :)
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