We congratulate Cai Peishan and Tay Zu Yun of Sec 412 Class of 2020 on their commendable results.  Peishan is currently studying in Dunman High School, and taking a hybrid subject combination. Zu Yun is in Hwa Chong Institution with the PCME combination. 

Here, they share their thoughts on the road there.

What were the challenges you faced in the final year of your secondary education and how did you find the motivation to manage these challenges?

One of the major challenges I had faced in Secondary 4 was preparedness. I questioned myself: why can’t I achieve higher marks when I’ve already been trying so hard? By then, prelims were around the corner, and I remember feeling so underprepared. I was afraid for the upcoming exams; at the same time, I felt so incredibly drained. I knew how disappointed I would be with myself if I didn’t at least try, so I set my bars high and told myself to put in all the effort I could to achieve my goal. This fuelled my determination, and gave me the motivation and the crucial push to trudge on. My friends and teachers played a humongous role in my learning journey. Motivation didn’t come easy — without their support, I would have crumbled under the stress and pressure, and would never have come so far. I found solace in the company of my friends, and my teachers were always willing to provide me with consultations to brush up on my foundation and right all my wrongs. They inspired me and provided me with more reasons to continue studying, further concretising my resolve to achieve my goal.

What advice would you give your juniors?

Time management and prioritisation of work comes down to our awareness of the importance and urgency of each task, as well as our discipline.

One of the most important things that I completely stand by is self-care. Sleep is incredibly important, as it acts as a major fuel station for all of our actions. Besides proper nutrition that also plays a huge part in our energy levels, the deprivation of sleep can cause a lack of focus in class, and this can dangerously snowball into consequences greater than tiredness if it were to be left unfixed. Another crucial thing is to avoid using devices right before bed, as apps such as Instagram and Youtube can distract you from your much needed sleep. The unapologetic gratitude and care of oneself is something that many people struggle to have, and for others, an endeavor of a lifetime, but we could always start with small, simple steps.

What were the challenges you faced in the final year of your secondary education and how did you find the motivation to manage these challenges?

I lacked motivation to study. Despite knowing that I had to take a major exam at the end of the year, I found myself to be quite relaxed and I even fell behind on some of my homework, especially during the HBL period where we had to stay at home to study. This gave me countless distractions. However, once phase 2 started and we were allowed to study in public spaces such as cafes, I asked a friend to go to a cafe to study with me, in hopes of being able to study effectively with a friend. That day, I realised that I was much more productive when I studied with a friend. Closer to the O level examinations, what motivated me to keep pushing myself to the final goal was the realisation that my entire class was in this together and that we were very close to the ‘finishing line’. I also managed to give myself some time off from studying for a day to do things that I enjoyed, in moderation, so that I found relief amidst the stress.

What advice would you give your juniors?

One piece of advice I can share is that one should consult subject teachers whenever faced with queries or doubts, though this may sometimes seem  trivial. This will ensure   the doubts are not carried over to other topics in the subject. When doubts start to pile up we end up feeling overwhelmed and lose interest and motivation to study. Another thing we can do is find out what study method works best for us and put it into practice. For instance, I absorb information best when the content is read out to me, so when memorising content for subjects such as geography and social studies, I like to type out the portion that I need to memorise into google translate and have it read it out to me. It would also be good to find a way to keep oneself off the phone when studying. I think even though most people acknowledge that our phones are a distraction, we don’t really try to do anything about it, and I think this is partly because we feel that nothing we do will be able to keep this distraction from us. But then one should keep experimenting with the different ways of keeping focus on our tasks. Personally, what I do is that I take a time lapse of myself studying, because I find that not only do I find it satisfying to watch the time lapse videos after I’m done studying as it looks like I’m doing a lot of work, I also find that I barely stop the recording to look at other applications because I don’t get notifications while taking a time lapse video.