Serious discussion about my life and stuff

I’ll probably post some random things I wanna talk about in this thread and hopefully get to chat with others :smile:

Starting off: how does one study effectively? My friend is representing the UK in IPhO and man I need to get smarter. Feeling less worthy of being a friend lol :,)

Reply 1

oroxnsn

I honestly think "studying effectively" depends from person to person. For me, reading through the biology textbook over and over does nothing for me but for a lot of my friends, it works wonders. Instead, I like to use the blurting method, where I read through revision notes I made and write/type everything I remember. Then I go back and compare my answer to the notes, writing the things I missed in red. Rinse and repeat. For more application-based subjects like math and chemistry, I would just recommend doing a bunch of practice problems lol.
Also, some people study better in public spaces like the library but some others study better in their rooms, so maybe try experimenting with that?

Not sure if I'm qualified to answer this but I did get an IB 44/45 predicted so hope this helps somewhat. Also, I wouldn't compare yourself to your friends; all that does is bring your self-esteem down and stress you out (speaking from personal experience). Just focus on yourself and it'll be ok :smile:

Reply 2

parmezanne

Volunteer Team

Put in the hard work. Lock away the phone, go to a public library or cafe, get stuck in. :yep:

Reply 3

PAT_22

I think my main problem is procrastination, and stamina while studying XD
Needa work on that

Reply 4

PAT_22

Something interesting I learned yesterday:

It is not discouraged in (at least one) UK-system international schools in China to have Y12s do Y13 Olympiads. I've met two doing A Levels that got a Gold and Silver lmao.

It's like if you make a very gross generalisation:

Year 9: I wanna start preparing for GCSEs and University
UK: Oh, you're in Year 9! Go play and do whatever you want and I won't even care what you decide to explore on the internet. [Proceeds to neglect and kill child's desires and ambitions]
Singapore: Do it! Here're a bunch of books for you to read. Also I recommend you to attend a few overpriced tuition that most wealthy Chinese parents will happily pay double for [proceeds to make child myopic and stressed]
China: Huh, only now? My son has already learned 1500 characters before he started primary school, and has attended illegal private tuition to boost his grades for 9 years [child proceeds to be outperformed by entire cohort that has been studying more advanced material since primary]