For all those in Year 8 and Year 11- listen up. This one is for you.
Hello to our Year 8 readers…
This time can be very confusing. You’ve only started to adapt to your high school experience and just as you begin to feel comfortable, another change is inevitable. You start making decisions for yourself and have to select two subjects to studying for the following two years. This is probably one of the longest lasting decisions you would have made to date and it can seem daunting. Don’t be afraid, see this as an opportunity to start shaping your life the way you would like it. Start dreaming big and realising that the only person in control of your future and what you can achieve is yourself. Every school offers slightly different subjects to choose, ranging from Drama, History, Commerce, PASS and Languages to your practical subjects of Textiles, D&T and Woodwork. How do you know where to begin? Here are a few tips we always share with our students:
- Make the most of any subject selection talks that your school offers. Take notes while the talks are being given and if you have any follow up questions be sure to talk to the coordinator of the subject. They are always willing to help you in any way possible.
- Talk to students at your school who are currently completing those subjects. They will offer practical advice and tell you about their personal experiences.
- Rather than thinking about where the subjects will get you later on into the future, just worry about your now situation. In most situations, if you consider your present moment and make a decision on that basis, it will naturally put you on the path for your future.
And to those student who have just finished their two years and now looking at their last two years. Your senior years.
This may seem daunting and thats totally understandable. You’ve been accustomed to being told what to do and now the totally opposite is happening, you have freedom of choice. But take this all in your stride and make it mean something personal to you.
There are the pressures of ‘what do do after you leave school’ but lets just put that in our back pocket for now and come back to that later. Take this time to think about what is really important to you. Not to your teachers. Not to your mum or dad. Not to your nosey aunt or family friend who is always in your face. You are going to be the one studying not anyone else. You will be completing assignments and studying for exams and having the experience of stress. This is a time to be selfish and understand what gets you going in the morning and make a decision based on those motivations. Here are some other tips we share with our students:
- Understand which subjects are compulsory at your school and which are not. This often has an influence on the variety you can select.
- Think about whether you are aiming for an ATAR (applicable in NSW) or if you are happy not to receive this mark. There is nothing wrong with either way you want to go.
- Pick subjects that you have a genuine interest. Don’t be tempted or pressured by the subjects your friends are selecting or that magical word of ‘scaling’. Truth be told, no one actually knows how that works.
- If you have already decided on an career path, thats fantastic. It might be a good idea to see what the pre-requisits of the course are and make sure you have complied. If you don’t know what you want to do, thats also fantastic. It means you have free choice in selecting any subject you desire.
Above all students, take this opportunity to learn more about yourself and embrace all the challenges rather than wish away your years of study. Our tutoring and mentoring helps both students and parents make the most of this transition as we share our experience and insight. Chat to us more to see how we can work together.