“Time to LOCK IN”

“The academic comeback is REAL”

“I am HIM”

I entered Year 11 with such childish optimism, ready to take on the world. I poured my heart and soul into studying. I grinded James Ruse prelim papers until I memorised the names of the teachers who taught each subject. I felt invincible.

As I walked into the exam an aura of confidence flowed into the classroom. I was the academic weapon. Cast from the strongest iron found in the depths of Khan academy, forged by master bladesmith Eddie Woo, sharpened by the skilful hands of 3Blue1Brown, polished to a shining glisten by MadAsMaths.

However, when results day came around my naive optimism shattered. I had dropped one of the lowest marks in my Chemistry exam and my math marks were plagued by silly mistakes. The academic comeback was a lie. I was not the legendary academic weapon. I was a dull butterknife, poisoned by grandiose illusions of success.

“Maybe the real academic comeback was the friends we made along the way.”

Around this time I found myself constantly saying that. I was too busy coping that while overwhelmed by self-hate and hopelessness, I fell further and further behind my classmates. No matter how hard I worked I could never get the marks I wanted. Maybe I was too stupid. Maybe it was time to give up.

But two years later, I graduated with an ATAR of 99.80, a state rank in Chinese Continuers, and an offer to study Medicine. So how did I do it? How did I go from getting 3/20 in Year 7 history to getting the 7th best ATAR from my school?

First, I realised the importance of having motivated friends. You are the average of your closest five friends. If your friends are motivated to study, you will study with them. I helped them in areas where I was confident, and they helped me in areas where they were confident.

Second, I realised the importance of revision. There is absolutely no point doing questions and past papers if you don’t consistently review your mistakes and learn from them. My review system ensured that I would rarely make the same mistake twice.

Lastly, I had faith. Progress is not sudden and it can often feel discouraging when you don’t immediately get the results you want. Don’t panic. Trust the process. From personal experience, if you put in the work and study effectively, the results will follow sooner or later.