Social life, what social life?

Focus and determination are crucial at this time, is you are to achieve the ultimate grades that match your potential!  Anything less could spell disaster.

There is no doubt that this time is particularly stressful for IB Physics students.  The upcoming exams are approaching way too quickly and they are the culmination of two years of hard work.  In fact, if we consider the GCSE/IGCSE/middle years work that prepared you for the Diploma, then really, these exams are the final stage of a 5 year journey – a journey that has hopefully turned all students into more powerful learners, a journey that has adequately prepared most of you for the next stage of education at the university of your choice.

If the above dos not raise the pressure levels high, then it should also be remembered that there is also the weight of expectation on every students shoulders from their friends, parents, teachers and essentially anyone who has helped you over the last few years!

Time is a strange thing – for a teenager, it seems to flow very slowly and for an adult, all too quickly.  The truth is that the exams will come very quickly and whatever plans a student has for anything other than work, should be shelved – beyond your health and security, nothing is more important at the moment – you owe t to yourself to try your best.  If you do not, then poor grades will leave you regretting your decisions – not a good place to be.

Grab as many exam papers as you can, along with the marking schemes, for all your subjects and go through them in fine detail.  Work as a team with fellow students and when you get really stuck, ask your teachers – but try yourself first.  Look for every opportunity to teach others if they are unsure – in this way you will help yourself.  Also do not forget that illness can have a major impact on performance – if you get a head-cold, it is most likely to affect the way you are able to think, and for the sciences and maths, this could well reduce your marks significantly.  As such, stay away from ill people!

Finally, make sure that you use all the resources you have available to help.  Use software where possible and sensible – for example, there are phone apps for writing memory cards – so you can be constantly checking and testing yourself.  If you are trying to summarise a piece of work, why not put it into wordle and get the mains themes popping up – it will not really produce a summary, but it should give you ideas for the main points in the text.  Get into making mind-maps – they are an excellent way of helping you with factual recall. And of course never, never give up.

This is your moment – the final part of the journey, the chance to show how good you are. Everything is now driven to this end.

Social life, what social life?

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