Studying can be tough. It can feel tiring, stressful, and the last thing you want to do on a school night. It demands complete attention and, with the variety of distractions offered to us by today’s world, it can seem impossible. Well, I’m here to bring some clarity to study and how to do it well.

Firstly, in my years of experience, I have found that you have to treat study as if it is another subject. As much as any person wouldn’t like to admit, studying has its additional demands that extend beyond the classroom and normal homework requirements. Ultimately, studying is for the student and done by the student for the student’s own benefit outside of the classroom. And there it is – your first step. To study better, you must reframe what the study means to you. Maybe it’s getting better at Pythagoras’ Theorem, or learning a new language. It could even be to get a specific ATAR, or to get into a specific course at the university of your dreams. By reframing study as our means of bettering ourselves by reinforcing our own learning and takeaways from the course materials, your own sense of personal achievement is greater during and particularly after studying and seeing the results firsthand.

On top of finding the bigger picture, it is imperative that students’ discover their own best method of study. Studying effectively doesn’t mean studying the same way that the top kid in your school studies. It is about finding what works for you and understanding why it works for you. For example, when I was in the HSC, I could not and would not write out a full essay unless I was in exam conditions. The reasoning: because I did not feel that I could memorise or stay focused for that period of time. I would also keep getting caught up in perfecting it.

Which leads me to my final point, study does not need to be perfect. It just needs to be. Do not hesitate to discover your own study methods and techniques using trial and error.

Emily Mackay