Are you happy with your performance? What more do you want to do?

Especially with the incredible year of Grade 9 where I learned a very valuable lesson of being Consistent, building a discipline for practice and going through hard times in math.

Though now… I believe it’s time to take the next step, it’s time to reach —

My Smart Goal for Next

Term! :

Comfort and Calmness in a Topic 😌✨

From as far as I know, I am actually good at math, I can comprehend our lessons, and answer correctly consistently with enough constant practice. Though I noticed that in tests, I would have hiccups and mishaps even if I studied well. This is when I realized, I put too much pressure whenever I would answer. Which inevitably lead me to the not so appreciated results due to 9/10 times, overthinking.

I realized this a bit too late in my time studying, but better late than never!

First term has become my stepping stone giving me these learnings.

What Exactly do

I mean By Comfort and Calmness? :

Well it’s simple, to have a level mind and a clear mind keeping focus in answering questions. Eliminating the unnecessary pressure and overthinking that stops me from being at my best.

HOW TO BUILD

COMFORT AND CALMNESS, CONSISTENTLY:

(NON-NEGOTIABLE THINGS, THAT SHOULD BE DONE ALL THE TIME)

1. When learning a specific Math Topic, HAVE AN OPEN MIND, clear your mind of the thought of getting good grades, instead widen your perception and see math as what it is, a subject to help you learn more.

   
   

2. In the NOTES you have jotted down instead of seeing it as things to remember, take it instead as knowledge that’s important -

   As simple as it sounds, this simple mindset change can relieve the stress of memorizing.

3. Don’t Be Afraid to Take Breaks - It’s okay to stop for a while and rest when you are tired. At the end of the day you are not meant to overwork your mind.

4. Know that Your Best is Enough -

   When you give your all in a test, that’s enough! No matter the result, that’s your best effort anyway! Give yourself a pat on the back!

5. UNDERSTAND THAT MATH IS A PLACE TO LEARN -

   The most important in my opinion, is to remember that this subject is not a place to just keep sending in work and trying to get good grades, but it’s a place to learn new things!

Overall, if I do this everyday, I believe even in just a month or two, I can find comfort and calmness in this subject. I will measure it by asking myself everyday after school if I’m actually seeing math as a learning experience or not.

Oh yeah, you might be asking why I say rollercoaster, let's just say, this term contained many twists, turns in such a short amount of time.

In the beginning of Grade 10, I was very excited, I was coming from a year of Grade 9 where Math wasn’t necessarily my strength, but I knew I could do better. Especially because I learned from the mistakes of that year. I also learned valuable lessons like how to hone my skills, how to ask for help, how to keep going in times of struggle and most importantly how to create CONSISTENCY.

With this, I came to my first few lessons with such a high spirit, I was writing notes consistently, answering equations repeatedly and I was getting them right! I was getting the lesson properly with minimal struggles along the way though of course those were normal hiccups. Though something unexpected kept happening and happening…

Even with my amazing results and progress that I would have in practice and self studying. I still ended up with scores that were on the mediocre end. I was confused, day in, day out thoughts came into my head suffocating me. Thoughts like, am I actually doing good? Am I missing something here? Am I good enough?… Though the tasks just kept coming in and coming in, I was overwhelmed and my mind was spinning around like crazy.

After that, came a sudden announcement late in September. Classes became online. I was ecstatic, it was kind of a rest as I would be in the comforts of my home. At that time our long test for Linear Functions would be moved. Now… for me it was a mixed feeling. Though little did I know this would lead me to a huge revelation in this term.

Something just clicked for me in that topic, I was answering it with a peace and comfort that I didn’t understand at the time. Once I answered that test and got my result that was 35/36 (my highest grade). Upon further reflection, it all made sense to me. I was at rest in online, I also felt relaxed reviewing due to the increased time, but most importantly I grew to appreciate and like the lesson.

With this I learned that before you can do well and be your best at something you must first learn to find a comfortable area with it and appreciate it.

✨ This was the secret to success. ✨

So instead I’ll focus on the very first SA on functions. Once again this was the season where I was in high spirits and did nothing but grind. The pressure was on in this first assessment! I actually thought I answered really well. In answering that test I answered quickly, though really that pressure and mindset of having to do good caught up to me. I got the results back, I felt horrible… that -7 struck me so hard. As I said it lead to thoughts of not being good enough, and I’m not doing enough. This stuck to me for a while. Which in turn became my biggest misconception.

I thought that my best wasn’t good enough, but the truth is, I just needed to learn to be calm and comfortable in math to relieve all the pressure for the best results 😌

This was monumental to me as this test proved to me that hard work with no unnecessary pressure, result in good grades.

Nothing much else to say, but this has become my standard of what I will continue to do in future tasks. 😎

When you work together, it all works out better 😎