How to survive the summer break

Coming up to the summer break is always a bittersweet affair. Your holidays will involve equal amounts of procrastination and doing nothing mixed with the guilt over the fact you should be studying.

Let me set the scene for you.

You’ve just finished your first term of the HSC and most probably made it through your first set of assessments. Up until this point you have been surviving off the hype, energy and fear of finally entering the final year of school, the point where you realise that everything from here actually means something. You’ve most probably done the first assessment for each subject weighing anywhere between 10% and 25% of your final assessment mark… Feel free to freak out at this point!

But now the hype has slowly died down and you are about to head into a 2-month break over summer. Up until this point the summer holidays have been full of fun, beaches, good weather and chilling out with friends. Plus you have Christmas and New Years to look forward too. It’s perfect. But this year is a little different.

So here are a few pointers we recommend you follow to get through:

Don’t think about the HSC

Your main aim should be focusing on getting a tan, not your HSC. You have all year to stress about your marks don’t start too early

Take the first couple of weeks off

You have time to get on top of things. But use the first few weeks to re-charge the batteries

Enjoy Christmas and New Years

Get the HSC out of your mind over the festive season. Although absolutely everyone will be asking you about it, just say ‘yeah it’s going well’ and move on. No one needs to know how much study you are doing and they probably won’t understand anyway.

Actually start studying towards the end

Lets be real, this is an important year so you do want to make the most of the break. It’s a time without the interruption of school, annoying random assessments that take away from writing notes and no weekend sport or extra-curricular commitments. You can lock down and put yourself ahead.

Structure your study

Don’t spend hours procrastinating and actually getting no work done, but staying home and feeling guilty because you feel like you should be working. Define the times you work and the times you don’t. For example work solidly from 10am – 3pm from Mon-Friday and chill out in the afternoon and on weekends. Or study 3 days on and 4 days off. Whatever it is, making a distinct ‘study time’ gets rid of the ‘guilt factor’ and keeps you productive.

Major works

After asking around the office this seems to be what most people said to focus on in the break. If you have any major works, large assignments or project based assessments it’s a good idea to work on these. There are no distractions in the holidays and these things ALWAYS creep up on you. Trust me. So get a head start on major work in the holidays.

English texts

It is also a good idea to get familiar with your English texts so you can cut down the amount you have to do during term. During school you want to be focusing on actually writing your essays, not on reading the plot of the text. That should be done in your own time during the holidays.

Power week/refresh

Just before school starts again it is a really good idea to have a more intense final week of study. This is a good way to refresh everything you learnt in the last semester and get your brain to start thinking about study again. 2-months is a long time, you’re guaranteed to forget everything you have ever learnt so the holidays are a good time to get back on the horse.

Your goals over the summer break are as follows:

1. De-stress and re-charge to avoid burning out and going too hard too early.
2. Make sure you understand and do not fall behind what has already been learnt.
3. Get a start on major works and big assignments that will creep up on you at the end, when you have no time to focus on them.
4. Organise your notes and maybe get a few topics ahead.
5. Read your English texts and get familiar with the modules and electives.
6. Make sure you know what is expected of you for the coming year.

So that is the official Hub guide to surviving your summer holidays and getting you in the best position to smash out the rest of the year. Enjoy this break because it is the last you are going to have for the year!