1. What are your feelings right now after receiving your results?
Sze Ying: I am feeling extremely happy because I got distinctions for two of my weakest subjects!
Rebecca: I am still in shock and the fact that I did well has not sunken in yet. I am happy that all my efforts have finally paid off.
Catherine: I am very happy that I have made my parents proud.
Aleena: I’m feeling happy as it feels like all my hard work had paid off.
Shannon: I feel quite satisfied for the subjects I’ve done well in. I’ve put in hard work and eventually scored my desired results.
Pyae: Honestly, I can feel my heart beating so fast because I just cannot believe that I have done so well, it is like a dream.
2. What is the recipe for your success that you could share with your
juniors?
Shimona: The key to success is to be consistent in your efforts. From the start
of your Secondary 4 year, you should learn how to prioritise your commitments
well. Don’t be discouraged by your results in Secondary 3, but focus on
developing a consistent pace when working towards your goals. You will be
pleasantly surprised at the good results that follow.
Sze Ying: Yes, I agree that consistency in your efforts is the key to success.
Do regular revisions so that you will not feel overwhelmed during the major
examinations. Start by taking small steps like revising for your class tests
and take them seriously.
Rebecca: I had to juggle between Student Council, my CCA (Netball) and my
studies. Through that experience, I learnt that you must be sure of what you
want, work towards it every day and make sure that you are a step closer to
your goal each day.
Catherine: I feel that consistency and having a positive mindset are very
important in achieving success. You should not be demoralised by your past
results instead, work harder towards your goal. Don’t be discouraged, as poor
results are stepping stones that help you gauge where you stand.
Krithiga: I think you should be confident in yourself and not compare yourself
to others. Also, you should set realistic expectations and do your best. If you
feel disappointed about your marks, it’s okay to confide in your friends. Let out
your emotions and move on.
3. Where did you draw your source of inspiration from?
Shimona: My role model would be my father because he was the one who made me
think it was possible and brought me back on track whenever I was discouraged.
He is the kind of person who works towards his goals and try his best to
achieve them. Adopting his positive attitude was probably one of the reasons
that helped me achieve academic success.
Rebecca: My Chinese teacher, Ms Ang Lay Pheng, is someone I look up to a lot. She
was very supportive and gave me wise advice. Not only did she teach the
subject, she also taught me the value of giving my best in everything I do - no
matter the results. This has inspired me to work hard not only for good grades,
but because I want to do my best.
Catherine: Firstly, I think my role model would be my dad. He was from India and
back then, there weren’t many educational opportunities. Although he faced
financial difficulties, he never gave up and became the first in his family to
be able to further his studies overseas. Secondly, my seniors who graduated
with flying colours have also been very inspirational as they were the ones who
showed me that performing poorly in school examinations does not mean there is
no chance of a comeback. With hard work and perseverance, anything is possible.
4. What was your source
of motivation?
Carina: I guess my source of motivation would not be just one person, more
like people – like my family. My family inspired me a lot, especially my
sister. As O levels was nearing something terrible happened in my family.
Regardless my family inspired me to keep going and finish the race.
Krithiga: What really motivated me to study especially for History was my
interest in the subject. Initially, I failed the History, however I was still
interested to learn the content, which really fascinated me.
Aleena: For me having a clear goal of what I wanted to achieve motivated me to
work hard to achieve my goals. It can be a certain JC or L1R5 that you want to
achieve, whatever your goals are, working towards them will motivate you to
study harder. I think target-setting was a source of motivation for me.
Sze Ying: I feel that the Crescentian culture of hard work motivated me to study
harder. When I procrastinated, I thought about my friends around me and I would
see them working hard at improving themselves. That motivated me to give my
best for O levels.
5. What were some of your study methods employed?
Carina: I realised that not being afraid to ask for help from teachers and
accepting that I do not know everything took some pressure off my shoulders. I
learns to accept that sometimes content can be confusing and sometimes I would
feel really lost in class. instead of refusing to ask for help I decided to go
to the teachers to consult and that made a huge difference.
Li Na: I studied with my close friends. Basically, my whole class gathered in
the canteen during study break and we just studied together. We ensured that we
are all disciplined and did our revision together. We also sought help from our
friends who were better at some subjects. I would say studying together and
relying on your friends especially during stressful period worked well for me.
Nicole: I will plan my study schedule one week in advance even before the week
arrives. Within that plan I would leave out an hour or two to take breaks. The
breaks made me feel better and less stressed so when I returned to revision I
was able to absorb more information.
Sarah: Unlike a lot of my friends, I preferred to study alone. I just felt
comfortable studying alone and I think it is alright to do so if it works for
you. I also think it is important to be disciplined if you are studying alone
and it requires you to stick to your schedule. Sometimes it can be impossible
to complete everything you planned for yourself. For me sometimes I will not be
able to complete certain chapters and when that happened I would compensate by
taking up a little bit more time than I gave myself in the study plan to cover
the topics.
Deepika: My relationship with English was much like a
roller coaster ride, sometimes I did well, at other times I did badly and I did
not know where I was going wrong. If you are in the same position as me, seek
your teachers’ help. I also realised that doing corrections religiously helped
me a lot because I took notice of my tense and spelling errors.
Pyae: This is not my story but I want to share it
anyway. My friend was not very fond of Chinese and she used to fail Chinese,
yet for O levels she got A1. So I asked her how she did it, she said that she
put in hard work and learned to love the subject. I realise now that studying
becomes less painful when you learn to love the subject.
6. How did you manage
your time?
Shyer Wern: I think towards the start of the year, when you still have CCA it is a
bit challenging to manage your time between CCA, school activities and studies,
but you should try your best and do not be too hard on yourself when you fall
short sometimes. But once you step down from CCA, you must discipline
yourself and plan ahead and plan your study schedule. For me, I came up with a
monthly plan and decided what I wanted to cover in that month or in that week.
Carina: For me, I used Chronos, my own planner - I have three, one for
months, one for weeks, and one for days - and I plan everything in advance. In
addition, when I plan my days it is by hours. I will allocate for instance,
four hours to study and an hour to rest because I think it is very important to
take breaks. Sometimes when my friends and I study together we will study for 2
to 3 hours and play basketball for an hour and continue again. It really helped
relieve the stress. I think managing time is all about planning. Planning
between studying and resting.
Shannon: I was very busy during the O level period but I managed to set time
aside to rest and spend time with my family as well. I did not spend one whole
day with my family but just spending meal times with them was good enough. Also,
try to stay away from your distractions such as your phone, youtube, K drama.
Only look at them when you have completed what you were tasked to complete for
that day so that your time is spent meaningfully.
Rebecca: I managed to juggle my time between Student Council, CCA (Netball),
and my studies because I learnt that prioritising daily activities is
important. You should create a schedule or a study plan that helps you to stay
focus and divide your time well. You need to allocate more time to revision and
studying as it is nearing O levels and keep away all your distractions. I
prioritised by spending a little bit more time on the subjects I was weak in.
I think a study plan will help you to manage your time.
Pyae: At the start of the
year I was unable to manage my time because I had NPCC competitions and it was
stressful. However, with the help from my friends, classmates, and teachers, I
managed to overcome the stress. And eventually when you step down from CCA, you
will realise that you have a lot of time at hand and you can spend those time
doing revision for O level.
7. What were some of your main obstacles and
how did you manage your distractions while studying?
Krithiga: I think you should tell your parents about the distractions you are
facing (e.g. watching too many Youtube videos) and leave the door open when you
are using the computer so that they can help you become more accountable.
Nicole: What I’d do is every week, I’ll plan my schedule in advance so that
I’ll have one hour or so to relax. This makes me feel like there is something
to look forward to and helps me become less distracted when I know I have a
task to complete.
Chloe:
For me music was not a distraction, in fact I used it to de-stress. I
think it is important to de-stress so that you do not overload yourself.
8. What are some of your
plans after this?
Sze Ying: I would like to go on to a junior college, but have not yet decided
which one to go to, so I will be going for the open houses this week to make my
decision.
Rebecca: I’ve thought a lot about it and I’ve decided that I would want to go
to the healthcare sector, and consider the area of nursing or allied
healthcare.
Catherine: I would like to move on to a JC, preferably Raffles Institution, and
then take up Medicine overseas.
Harini: I am aiming for a
JC, personally aiming for NJC.
Chloe: My sister was from
Hwa Chong so I want to go to Hwa Chong too.
9. What advice would you give your juniors who
are preparing the O level examinations this year?
Jessica: Don’t overwhelm yourself by trying to memorise too much information
the night before the examination, as it just will not work. Try to focus on the
important parts and have faith in yourself. You must remember that it is
perfectly alright to fail at times. Just remember that the test or exam is not
the end. Your performance in prelims does not affect how well you will do
during your O-levels. Even if you do not do well for the O levels, it is still
not the end of the world. It may sound optimistic, but it is true.
Shannon: Firstly, do not procrastinate. If you find pockets of time, try to do
your revision. Secondly, do not give up. Rather, find things that motivate you
and keep going as. Like Jessica said, it is never the end. Thirdly, make sure
you are getting enough sleep, as it is very important to help you retain what
you have learnt. There is no point in staying up late, and end up not
remembering what you have learnt. It is also important to exercise more and eat
your fruits and vegetables! Lastly, remember to spend time with your family as
they are the ones supporting you. It will be stressful and you will have a lot
of work to do, but do remember to set aside time for your family as well. Never
give up on yourself; just dream big and do your best!
Gek Chi: Take care of yourself. Your health and the way you take care for those
around you are extremely important to get you through the O levels. It is going
to be tough with a lot of challenges, so you should be mentally and physically
prepared to take on whatever comes your way.
Krithiga: I think you should be confident in yourself. At
the same time, you should try your very best. If you feel sad about your marks,
it’s ok to confide in your friends. It really relieves all your disappointment.
Let out your emotions and move on.
Harini: At least half an hour before the exam, stop
reading and revising. It might confuse or make you feel stress. Wish your
friends all the best and step into the exam hall with confidence!
10. Finally, do you feel that the Crescent
school culture helped in preparing for your O levels?
Sze Ying: I feel that Crescentians are generally hardworking and helpful, and
this is what motivates me to work harder. Whenever I procrastinate, I would
remember that the people around me are working very hard, and this pushes me to
strive on. Moreover, the consultations provided by teachers are very useful, as
you will get one-to-one guidance and more in-depth knowledge about the subject.
Rebecca: I think the school culture here is very good, because we’re not fully
academic oriented. Crescent gives a holistic education, which I feel is the
most important. Having a holistic education means that you not only study hard
and have good grades, but you have the mentality, good attitude and good
character to push you to do greater things. The school provides night study,
which was very good for me. It allowed me to focus for the few two hours and do
what I could. All the consultations and supplementary classes helped in the end
to help me better understand the concepts.
Catherine: I really love the Crescent culture because it has a very friendly
atmosphere, where everyone is very approachable, especially the teachers. No
matter how many times we approach them, they never fail to enlighten us and
give us wise advice. Feeling happy to come to school to meet our fellow
Crescentians and chat with our teachers have been such motivational boosters.
Crescent provided us with a holistic education; it did not only encourage
us to excel academically, but also developed us into ladies and leaders of
tomorrow.
Reported by student interviewers: Anna Lim Jia Jia (4S1), Gloria
Maclaine D’silva (4S1), Helen Chong (4C2), Grace Kwok (4S2), Divya Kothari
(4S2), Kay Yi Xin Elisabeth (4S2), Soh Shun Qin Cheers (4C1), Sarah Lim Su-En
(4C1), Mia Preto (4G1), Iyshu (4G1).
O level graduate interviewees: Htoo Pyae Pyae (4S1), Deepika Sundaram
(4S1), Chloe Tan Yi Qian (4C2), Kusalavan Kinububha Harini (4S1), Krithigha
Panneer (4S1), Aleena Saju (4S1), Nicole Leong Le Xuan (4C2), Shannon Kwok Xin
Yi (4G3), Yosephine Jessica (4G3), Lee Gek Chi (4G3), Sivasubramani Shimona
Sylvia (4S1), Tan Sze Ying (4S1),Rebecca Sim Rui Yi (4C2), Catherine
Ezhilvalavan (4S1), Carina Lim (4C1), Goh Shyer Wern (4S1), Sarah Wong (4S2),
Chua Li Na (4S3).