u/Choice-Can-257

hihi JC1 here in a low-tier jc (so opportunities outside of sch dont come easy sadly)

like i know ppl usually say by JC, u shld more of less alr know what u wanna do for ur career.

BRO like everytime i ask myself what do i wanna do in uni or what job i wanna choose, i panic a lot. i still dont even know what im passionate abt, what i wanna do in life that gives me security financially and mentally. thankfully however, i narrowed down and managed to strike out being a doctor or anything related to the health sciences or any med sch + bio courses in uni cos i CANNOT do bio for the life of me...

if it helps, i take CMEg (H2 Chem, H2 Math, H2 Econs, H1 Geog) in my jc rn. i took this combi to still open as much doors as i can if i strike out H2 Bio (NEVER want to do bio again after o lvls...) rn im just locking in and working hard as much as i can for sch, and hopefully make it to one of the big 3 unis here

i alr tried seeing my school's ECG counsellor, and alr talked to my parents abt this. all weren't of much help sadly :(

not to mention, ppl hv been talking bad about AI uni courses or courses relating to CS, Data Science, Biz and all. ITS LIKE EITHER ITS TOO COMPETITIVE (eg Law School) / TOO LOW JOB PROSPECTS / JUST A HOPELESS COURSE IN GENERAL 🥲 🥲🥲

growing up, i come from a mid-income family, so i rlly want to have a job that genuinely allows for a decent salary, okay number of working hours, and just be financially comfortable in SG. i intend to be in a higher income bracket when i start to work. (i plan to stay and reside permanently in SG)

i always have nightmares that i might choose the wrong career path and not earn enuf to make a good living here, or like the job progression in my future job may be skewed badly. i rlly do not have enuf ppl around me who has survived thru the job search after uni, and like im so scared of the future job prospects. rlly hope someone reads this and is able to guide me 😄

hihi j1 here in a low-tier jc.

im gradually working hard and studying towards alvls from now to prevent bad burnout (lesson learnt from o's to not overwork myself 😔😔) and starting to build up on my consistency when learning concepts.

i came in with pure chem B3, amath and emath both B4 (LOL idk how my emath became B4 but oh well..)

my amath background was pretty weak up till o's but i managed to get it up for the actual o's to a decent pass. rn, up till the topics i learnt so far, im coping well and did my tutorials consistently. i also do consults with my tcher for parts that i dont understand from lecture/tutorials. i believe as long as i stick to consistent practice for H2 Math, ill be stable over time?

my chem background is pretty ok ig. ive been sticking to a routine for chem too, and i do topical practices and timed papers nearing exams.

for a lvls, i rlly hope to achieve :

A/B for H2 Chem

A/B for H2 Math

idm getting ABB/A or ABB/B (assuming H2 Econs A & gp A/B)

is there anyone who has gotten similar grades for o's and did well enuf like my desired grades for a's? i heard of stories where ppl jump from a B3 in amath to an A in a lvls from my seniors. is 1A + 1B / double B possible for these 2 subs? 🥹

in the meantime, ill keep working hard and continue being consistent in my studies 🙏

(dk what flair to put this under but i rlly wanted to post this for all to see 😄)

to the student who feels like they are losing hope,

whether you're preparing for ur a lvls, n lvls, o lvls, IB, getting ur outcomes for ur uni apps, or whatever major exam stands before you right now, i think there is something all of us should understand.

we understand what it's like to sit in front of a daunting stack of practice papers that seems to grow faster than it shrinks. we understand the endless turning of pages, the scribbling of corrections and notes, the frantic tapping of calculator buttons, and the countless hours spent sliding through digital notes and answer keys until the words begin to blur together. we understand desks buried beneath lecture notes, tys books, assessment papers, highlighters running dry, and to-do lists that somehow never seem to get any shorter. we understand the blow of getting a rejection or a no from the course or uni that you so dreamed of attending. and perhaps most of all, we understand what it feels like to look at all that work and wonder whether it will ever be enough.

sometimes i wonder how many students are lying awake at night, staring at their ceilings instead of sleeping. some are worried about the paper they just got back. some are panicking over how much content they have yet to revise. some are wondering whether all this effort will eventually amount to anything. and perhaps the cruelest part is that while thousands of students across the country are carrying the same fears tonight, each person somehow feels as though they are carrying them alone. and to admit, i myself also feel that way sometimes when the grind just never seems to stop.

there is something strangely lonely about being a student. you can sit in a classroom of thirty people, a lecture theatre of hundreds, or a library filled with muggers, and still feel completely alone in your worries. you hear someone discussing answers confidently after a paper while your heart quietly sinks. you overhear conversations about completed revision schedules while you are still trying to find your footing. little by little, comparison begins to settle into the corners of your mind. before long, you are no longer measuring your progress against who you were yesterday; you are measuring your worth against everyone around you.

but life has never been kind to those who only look sideways.

a mountain does not become smaller because another mountain stands beside it. a candle does not shine less brightly because another flame burns nearby. yet so many of us spend our lives believing that another person's success somehow diminishes our own. it does not. the night sky has never run out of stars simply because one happened to shine brighter.

the truth is that some of the strongest people you know are probably fighting battles you cannot see. the student who always seems confident may be terrified of disappointing their family. the student who consistently performs well may be sacrificing sleep and peace of mind to maintain those results. the student who appears perfectly fine may be carrying doubts they never speak about. we are all walking through storms that others cannot see, which is why kindness matters far more than we realise, especially towards ourselves.

and if i could tell every struggling student one thing, it would be this: do not confuse a difficult chapter with a bad ending.

a poor result is not a prophecy. a setback is not a verdict. a period of exhaustion is not evidence that you are incapable. the tallest trees in a forest were once seeds buried beneath layers of darkness and soil. if someone had looked at them then, they would have seen nothing but dirt. growth often looks invisible before it looks impressive.

one day, whether it is months or years from now, you will look back on this season of your life. you will remember the nights that stretched far longer than they should have, the papers that made you question yourself, the consultations, the corrections, the highlighted notes, and the countless times you felt overwhelmed by everything that still remained undone. but you will also realise that those moments did not define you. what defined you was the fact that you kept going anyway.

so if all you can do today is complete one question, then complete one question. if all you can do is revise one concept, then revise that one concept. if all you can do is get through the day without giving up, then that is enough. rivers carve through mountains not because they are powerful all at once, but because they keep flowing. be 1% better than what you are yesterday, that is an accomplishment worth celebrating already.

the world will always celebrate the results. the distinctions, the scholarships, the acceptance letters, the perfect scores and the achievements. but there is something equally beautiful about the student who quietly chooses to continue despite not knowing how the story ends. there is courage in uncertainty. there is strength in persistence. and there is dignity in refusing to let failure have the final word.

so wherever you are tonight, whether you are attempting one last question before bed, turning the final page of a revision package, or simply trying to convince yourself not to give up, i hope you know this:

the road ahead may feel impossibly long when you can only see the next few steps. but rivers never see the ocean when they begin their journey, and yet they continue to flow. page by page, paper by paper, day by day, they carve their way through mountains.

keep going. you got this!

the person you are becoming is worth fighting for.

from a fellow warrior fighting through his battles too

hihii j1 here who rlly rlly wants to get an A for gp + to be consistent with the A grade throughout j1-j2 & eventually for alvls too ofc. 🥹🥹 im looking for efficient ways to study gp so that it doesnt burn me out even further yk? (i alr have my 3h2s to use my brain space ✌️)

like literally ive been putting in so much effort for gp, and so far my sch hasn't tested us on paper 1 yet BUT IM SO SCAREDD. my sch didnt give us like proper example collection frameworks or formats to classify them so IM RLLY LOSTT AND COOKED 😭😭😭 not to mention, the essay qns are getting more and more versatile as well so yea.

for those who did decently for gp,

1) how did yall build ur example bank for gp p1? like what format / framework yall used to break down each example that u put inside ur example bank so that yall arent just like mindlessly dumping examples inside your example bank without ACTUALLY internalising them yk?

2) how did yall prep and collate ur local stuff for AQ examples? i know AQ needs lots of SG characteristics

3) how did yall ensure your examples can fit various themes and / or qns. as we know, cambridge and prelim qns are getting more and more absurd these days (im looking at u waste disposal qn..💔)

4) can js say like a brief process of how did yall find your examples, collect them, and properly analyse them?

5) for paper 2, what are some good tips that yall have? id say im ok at paper 2??

i average B-Ds for paper 2s, but got a U once LMAO 💀🤡

6) lastly, how did yall keep ur methods to be efficient yet works well for yall when studying gp?

if yall have any good study routines for gp that got yall your As and Bs, feel free to js drop them hehe 😄

hii, j1 here stressing over gp lol.

so my jc has been giving us some content notes for paper 1, where the notes generally follow this format for each theme : defn of the theme covered, features of the theme, and keywords and just some readings in the form of articles and commentaries + when i tried to ask my gp tcher, he js said the obvious "oh read the news can alr" SON 🙏😭

HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO BE AT EASE WHEN CAMBRIDGE IS TESTING SOME UNPREDICTABLE SHI FOR ALVLS BRUHH

i feel like the notes and stuff my sch gives is just so surface-level yk? like no deep enuf content, no connections made to other themes?

1) the thing is, my tchers all told us to go and prep our example banks with these only.. ive seen recent A Level gp qns and i know cambridge is getting even more creative and qns are becoming more versatile & niche now. 💔💔💔

LIKEE IM SO CLUELESS, COS MY SCHOOL DIDNT TEACH US HOW TO PREP OUR EG BANK TO BE VERSATILE FOR ALL QNS, WHAT FRAMEWORK OR TEMPLATE, SO WHAT DO I EVEN USE TO PREP MY EXAMPLES?? 🤡 also as ive mentioned, the gp p1 qns are getting more niche and weird so.. how do i account for that too

[ eg: the sci and tech A Level qn in 2024 asking abt WASTE DISPOSAL bro 💀💀.. like HOW WLD i know to prep for such a niche qn, and isnt that relating to the env or smth ]

2) also right, for AQ, i know local context is needed + relating to ur society, how to ensure that my egs connect to SG society and context cos im scared AQ will also test some unique theme or sm shi

3) how to structure an example bank beyond just “collect examples”

4) lastly, like how do i make sure my evaluation is well-written? + conceptual understanding across diff themes are strong, so that i can bring in other relevant stuff from other themes in my essays?