what i wished i knew before entering jc

currently awaiting my a level results and with the insane amount of free time i have i’ve been doing some soul searching 🤔🤔 or maybe just some quick reflections on jc haha and thought i’d share my two cents on my personal experience!

1. don’t tie your worth to your grades

genuinely learnt this the hard way because up til jc my grades have alw been pretty decent and kinda my pride and joy. nothing quite beats studying hard and bagging an A and feeling like you’re smart 😏 nah but fr i struggled big time with my chem and math in jc and was consistently scoring D/U for math and S/U for chem 💀 for reference, in secondary sch i was bagging A1 for amath and emath and minimally B3 for chem so i my grades quite literally plummeted in jc. looking back i rmb feeling extremely demoralised cus it wasn’t even like i didn’t study, i was studying with whatever pockets of time i had in between lessons and before cca but my grades still sucked.

the turning point for my grades was only in j2, after i identified problems with my studying methods and sought help ie consultation from teachers and tuition (side note, my personal opinion is that tuition isn’t a must in jc but it honestly alleviates the burden of self-studying and makes scoring good grades easier) in hindsight, i’m honestly quite grateful for the failures because they pointed out to me that the sciences were not my strong suit and i should likely pursue a degree in the humanities instead

but yep i wished i had a more open mind about my grades and saw each test as an opportunity for me to identify my weaknesses in each topic rather than a test of my intelligence levels 🙏

2. make use of extra-curricular activities offered by your school ⭐️

for my jc, the career guidance counsellor would often email us various external opportunities like seminars, workshops, competitions etc. ngl ik it’s gonna be really tough to participate in these events while juggling with schoolwork and cca (esp if your cca is very demanding) but genuinely these opportunities are golden because they really do add to your portfolio which can help a lot with university admissions. universities no longer view grades as the only way to enter prestigious courses and if i’m not wrong most unis actually offer ABA (aptitude based admissions) which take into consideration your portfolio on top of your grades. i’d say j1 is a good time to explore these opportunities cus j2 is time for the academic lock in and grind ghahaha

but ofc the bottom line is that you should only be participating in these events if you have the mental capacity to! pls dont burn out or overload yourself 😞😞

3. if you can, maintain good grades, it opens the door to even more opportunities

hmmm okay maybe this advice is more for those who have already mastered the art of studying and have the ability to get good grades in j1 already. while most extra curricular events will be made available to all students regardless of grades, the more prestigious and exclusive opportunities like book prizes and scholarships/bursaries will only be offered to students with better grades. getting good grades consistently does provide you with that visibility. 👀👀 i did feel a bit fomo seeing my friends with better grades get offered these super prestigious awards while i struggled to keep afloat sianz but anyw its most definitely not the end of the world if your j1/j2 grades suck cus ultimately a level results are the most important!!

4. consult your teachers!! 👩‍🏫 🧑‍🏫

ahhh big regrets for this because i only started consulting my teachers in j2 because i always felt awkward approaching them/thinking my questions are stupid but pls don’t feel that way! more often than not, teachers are quite open and willing to take in questions and meet up for consults after sch. for me, i found writing extra essays for my humans subjects like econs, history and gp and submitting it my teachers for marking and feedback really useful! especially since the humans don’t have a standard answer, ifl its important to approach your teachers for help so you can further fine-tune your arguments and basic concepts.

5. don’t last minute study 🥳

tried and tested. been there, done that. don’t attempt. legitimately the subjects in jc are so freaking content heavy that cramming is impossible. personally i find studying consistently >> cramming because you’d actually start to enjoy and appreciate the academic rigour rather than complain about the sheer amount of content. wowiez and i can’t begin to emphasise the importance of being attentive in lessons/trying your best to participate actively! genuinely just try to be a good student and not a rebellious one because a lil participation goes a long way. if you have a bad relationship with your teachers, applying for scholarships and finding a personal referee will be tough once you graduate😔 so don’t burn that bridge

all in all, i rlly enjoyed my jc days ☺️☺️ believe it or not i genuinely enjoyed learning despite failing so many times✖️ personal fav subjects were history and econs! i found them very applicable and relevant to my daily life 🥳🥳