Student Stories: 5 tips for surviving Year 10

By Bridie McArthur

Year 10 is kind of a prequel to your senior years. Like any other year, it’s a bit harder than the last with a heavier workload, but it comes with a heavy sense of anticipation and apprehension for what’s to come. It’s a bit of a wake-up call, and it needs to be. For me, it was a major learning experience.

Having got through relatively unscathed, here are my top tips for surviving (and thriving in) Year 10.

My ultimate tip:  Always hand in a draft

Handing in a draft means you have to have a draft to hand in — it forces you to start early, which is key for procrastinators like me. The feedback you get is invaluable; I’ve learnt so much about editing and how to improve my work over the last few years. My process of assignment completion is basically word vomit, submit draft, edit using feedback, edit more, submit. Works for me!

If you need help, ask

If you don’t understand something and you can’t figure it out yourself, the only way you will is by asking for help. Don’t suffer in silence; you’re not going to get anywhere. Your teachers are there to help you, and so are your classmates and friends! Asking for help is so much more efficient than struggling by yourself.

Start establishing effective study habits

This is imperative for you later on when entering your senior years of school. This is the time to figure out how to study, and more specifically, how you study, if you haven’t already (don’t worry, I hadn’t either). Trial and error is key to finding out what works for you.

Have something you do outside of school

You need variety! Having something to look forward to that isn’t schoolwork is super important, and it will increase your enthusiasm and focus as well as prevent boredom. Sport is a great way to alleviate stress, meet new people, and stay fit and active, but obviously, not everyone is a sport person — the good thing is, there’s so many extracurricular activities out there! I take classes at Budding Theatre.

Start assignments ASAP

Procrastination sucks. Trust me, I know; we are very well acquainted. There are some really quick ways to start and help throw off procrastination on the day you get your assignment. I try to topick my topic the day I get the assignment and plan at least in the first few days. I also open up a Google doc and write out the title; this holds me accountable.

Overall, Year 10 is a great year — you’re changing, as always, and the things around you and the things that are coming are changing, too. You’ve got this! You’ll learn best from experience; these tips come from my experience. Figure out what works for you. But, seriously — hand in a draft. You’ll thank me later.