Hedy’s Tips: Overcome the Fear of Failure to Achieve a 97.85 ATAR

Don’t let the fear of failure hold you back from achieving your best. As the HSC approaches, it’s natural to feel the pressure. Hedy explains how to avoid succumbing to this fear and achieve an excellent ATAR score.

Written by:
Matrix Education

Ever wonder how top students like Hedy turn fear into fuel? Read about her path to a 97.85 ATAR and uncover the secrets to overcoming your own fears to succeed in your studies.

Me, Myself and I

Name: Hedy Xie

School: Gosford High School

ATAR goal: 97.85 ATAR

University Degree: Bachelor of Medical Science

HSC Results:

SubjectAssessment MarkHSC Exam MarkHSC MarkPerformance Band
English Adv9187895
Maths Ext 1919191E4
Maths Ext 2908588E3
Chemistry9091906
Physics8491885

Hello! My name is Hedy Xie, and I am a recent graduate of Gosford High. I have just achieved a 97.85 ATAR and am now studying for a Bachelor of Medical Science at the University of Sydney in 2024 to eventually do dentistry. I know that starting your Year 12 journey, even if you have just finished Term 1 of Year 12, can be incredibly daunting, as it was for me. Here are some of my tips for overcoming those nerves.

As an avid cat and K-drama lover, I have had my fair share (and many more to come) of distractions and long, long periods of procrastination. However, even though these distractions hindered my ability to study, there was another more fundamental obstacle at the core of this: my fear of failure and lack of self-confidence.

Journey to Conquering My Fear of Failure

My fear of failure prevented me from working hard and studying to the best of my ability. I used avoidance as a defence mechanism to distance myself from the disappointment of over investing. The outcome of this strategy was completely the opposite of what I had hoped. My results plummeted, and my mindset became very negative, which further fed into this fear of failure.

To be honest, I thought it was the end of everything and my dream of becoming a dentist, or at the very least, achieving a 95.00 ATAR (high expectations, right?). It all started to become less of a reality and more of a fantasy. It was only by overcoming my fears that I was able to pick myself up and build resilience. This, in turn, made it significantly easier to establish productive habits that were reflected in my HSC results.

Tip 1: Acknowledge and recognise your fears so that you can change your mindset

Changing your mindset, especially during a challenging period like the HSC year, is a gradual process that involves self-reflection and active efforts to shift your thinking patterns. Firstly, I began by consciously identifying negative thoughts as they occurred and replacing them with positive ones. For example, I realised that my fear was often rooted in ‘what-ifs’ and worst-case scenarios.

Hence, I would instead focus on ‘What can I learn from this topic?’. By doing this, I was able to redirect my energy from fearing failure to embracing learning.

I was able to accept the results of my assessments (good and bad) and learn from my mistakes. This allowed me to keep growing in my studies and myself, which is ultimately the most important thing, as I hope I can continue this growth throughout university.

One example of putting this into practice is when I struggled a lot in Physics. Whenever I had to complete an assignment or do homework, I always focused on my negative feelings towards the subject, usually voicing out loud to friends and family (as an outlet for my stress). I later had a scary realisation that it was because of these thoughts that I could not work to the best of my ability. So, rather than stressing about how much I dislike physics and all the concepts that I don’t understand, I focused my energy on the interesting aspects of Physics. This made me enjoy studying it a lot more than before. Consequently, this improved my results and aided me in achieving a 91 in the HSC exam. Remember, it was a gradual process for me.

Tip 2: Embrace hard work and consistency

I know how hard it is to force yourself to study when all you want to do is watch Chinese dramas (me, every day), but without the effort and the work, how will you achieve your goals? You need to build self-discipline (it’s a scary word, I know) to overcome procrastination. Obviously, self-discipline is not built overnight, but you can definitely grow it little by little every day. Start with small things, such as going to bed at the same time every day (to make sure you get enough sleep!) or exercising every day for even 10 minutes. These little activities will slowly build good and productive habits into your daily routine, and eventually, overcoming procrastination or a lack of motivation will get easier by a whole lot.

The second part of this tip is consistency! I am not one to speak about consistency, but the best advice I can give you is to create a plan ahead, days in advance. For example, I found that writing down a to-do list for each day in a week on my calendar helped me stay on track without getting lost in the many assignments I had. Another tip would be to put that calendar on the wall in front of your study table so you can be reminded whenever you sit down of the things you need to get done.

As I personally love Chemistry (with all my heart and soul), I liked completing homework for this subject (in particular, HSC exam style questions that I found from Matrix Work Books), and consistently too, as I made it my goal to complete all the homework assigned by my Matrix Chemistry tutor (Arthur Tang!). Obviously, I had to balance out my tutoring homework with schoolwork, so creating plans was essential to keep me on track. This made reviewing and preparing for the HSC so much easier, as I had already incorporated this preparation into my daily workload (doing HSC-style questions, homework, etc.).

Tip 3: Always, ALWAYS seek help and ask questions whenever you are stuck or confused

There is no better way than asking for help to improve your understanding of difficult concepts. Matrix has a really cool system where you can book One-on-one Workshops online or in person if you are currently enrolled in one of their courses (note that you can only book Workshops for the subject(s) that you are enrolled in at Matrix). For an hour, you can ask and receive feedback specific to your subject and advice for any upcoming assessments, which has particularly helped me with preparing for my Chemistry Prac Exam (kudos to Arthur Tang). Otherwise, do this in school! Remember that your teachers are your best resource (other than the syllabus), so use them for whatever help you need.

Bonus Tip: I encourage you to keep socialising!

Hang out with your friends and go out. Year 12 is not all about studying; it’s also the time for you to make memories that you’ll look back on in the future. In particular, during my breaks at Matrix tutoring, hanging out with my friends (shoutout to Kristine and Urvi) and going out to get food made studying so much more fun.

The Takeaway

Although I am here writing about how to get the best ATAR and HSC studying tips, no matter what ATAR you get, you should be very proud of yourself in December of this year. The HSC is an incredibly difficult time, and the stress you will or are experiencing can take a massive toll on your mental and physical health. What I would like to emphasise is that there are many pathways to doing what you want after high school and that you don’t have to ‘give it your all’ like a lot of people say since oftentimes, that just isn’t possible.

I hope this has helped and encouraged you in your last years of high school, and I wish you all the best. Just give what you can so you can graduate without any regrets!

Written by Matrix Education

Matrix is Sydney's No.1 High School Tuition provider. Come read our blog regularly for study hacks, subject breakdowns, and all the other academic insights you need.

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