By Shannen Lim (24A01A) and Muralitharan Viehha (24S06H, Peer Helper)
Your resident Aunties and Uncles are back with our Ask Aunt Agony and Uncle Upset column, this time as a collaboration between Raffles Press and Peer Helpers’ Programme (PHP)! Ever wanted to rant about that someone you just can’t stand? Overwhelmed with too many feelings? Submit your confessions to https://tinyurl.com/RIAAUU and we’ll give them our best shot. This column will be published at the end of every month.
“What are some habits that are good to have for JC?”
Worried Winnie
Dear Worried Winnie,
JC is a balancing act of commitments, academics and maintaining positive mental and physical health. It often feels stressful and overwhelming to manage all of these things and take care of ourselves well. While different people manage their time and cope with their stress differently, we believe that these are some habits that could be helpful in general.
We have sorted them into the four main areas every student typically has issues managing in their JC life—academics, physical health, extracurriculars and social life. We hope these tips help you make the most of your time in JC!
Lectures, tutorials and revision
Though Year 5 is the year to explore and have a little fun, try not to let too loose on your academics. Watching lectures and keeping to the given schedules should be of paramount importance. Of course, do not panic if you lose the mark by a few days, but try your best to get back on track! Watching your lectures in a conducive environment is essential for your focus. Places like your bed, or in front of an entertainment device proves to be more counterproductive than you would think.
As for tutorials, there is no need to stress yourself too much. Most of the time, tutorials are broken up into parts and your teachers would inform you beforehand how many questions they want done by the next lesson. Thus, it isn’t a must to finish them all at one go.
If you are unsure about a question, make sure to try your hardest on your own first before consulting someone else for an explanation. This helps you to think on your own during your examinations. Doing the topical questions provided after every topic for your subjects should be enough to get a deeper understanding of your material or even for revision before examinations.
On the topic of revision, make sure to take notes in class and listen actively, not passively. Ask your desk buddy if you have any doubts and consult your teachers if they’re left unsolved.
Looking through your notes and corrections will be incredibly useful for your examinations as you can relearn from the mistakes you had forgotten about, which is unfortunately more likely to happen than not.
Lastly, doing timed practice papers on your own will train you better for examinations. Trying at least 2 papers (which is better than nothing at all!) before your examinations is a very good habit to have.
Sleep
Sleep and its importance have surely been explained to us time and time again. However, students like us still underestimate its importance. Sleep as early as you can so that you can work your mind the next day.
However, even if you need to sleep late to get the last few questions in, have continuous sleep. Do not break it up or take naps at night as it’s sure to burn you out and tire you even further. Trying to do work after this point will be immensely tough, so ensure your sleep pattern has at least a semblance of consistency.
As for naps, take an hour’s nap at most and get to work immediately after. To keep you accountable and get you out of your sleepy daze, ask a friend or a study buddy to wake you and perhaps even study with you.
Extracurriculars
For extracurriculars, we think it is important to go for quality over quantity. It may be tempting to try out all of the exciting options that JC has to offer, but doing so can often leave you feeling overcommitted and stressed, making you unable to enjoy the process or do well in the extracurriculars you have taken on. This may even result in the neglect of your academic studies.
A good habit to have is to keep an open mind to try out things that will allow you to stretch yourself and learn new things. This can be something you are already passionate about but have not had much opportunity to pursue or something completely new that you just heard about upon joining JC.
Whatever it is, extracurriculars should be something that allows you to let loose and relax, so choose something that you’ll have fun in and will allow you to discover a new side of yourself. Do not be afraid of failure but instead give yourself the time and space to pick up new skills.
In managing extracurriculars, it can be helpful to draw out a schedule for yourself and carve out time to practice or train outside of official training times so as to build up stamina and further develop your skills. Keep in mind that extracurriculars are supposed to be fulfilling and fun, so do not stress yourself out too much about doing them perfectly!
Social Life
When we enter busy academic or training seasons, our social life is typically the first thing to go. However, we advise you to instead treat your social life as a priority as our friendships and relationships with our family are important and often what keeps us going through the stressful times that JC brings.
It is helpful to intentionally carve out time for friends and family by setting aside slots in our schedule for conversations or meals to catch up with them. This can look like setting aside minimally one day a week to go home for dinner with your family or making the effort to reach out to a friend for lunch on a day when school ends early.
With friends, it can be especially hard to maintain close relationships since everyone is busy and has different schedules. A good habit to have would be to take the time once a week to check in on them and send them an update about how you are doing so as to get a conversation going between the two of you.
Our friends are often relied upon as our pillars of support and closest confidants, so it is important for us to make it a habit to look out for them and spend time with them as well. This would help greatly with our mental health and aid in managing stress in a healthier way.
We hope the habits above prove helpful to you, and we wish you all the best for your 2 years in JC!
Sincerely,
Aunt Agony and Uncle Upset
If you need anyone to talk to about any issues you might be facing, do drop by My Rest Space near Marymount gate and talk to one of our peer helpers! We’re open on Tuesday from 2.30 – 4.30 p.m, Wednesday 11.00 a.m. – 3.00 p.m., Thursday 2.30 – 4.30 p.m. and Friday 1.30 – 4.30 p.m. If you would like to meet a peer helper on a regular basis, do email us a request at rafflesinstitutionphp@gmail.com or fill in our request form at our website https://rafflesinstitution5.wixsite.com/rafflespeerhelpers/peer-helping-request!
