WHAT PEOPLE DON’T TELL YOU WHEN GOING TO JUNIOR COLLEGE

If you’re considering taking on the JC route after completing O-Levels, this is a fun, tongue-in-cheek piece contributed by a JC graduate.

Firstly, it is going to be more challenging than O-Levels. Your teenage dream ends the moment your fun-filled orientation ends. That’s when the grind starts. Your first welcome will be the never-ending cycle of lectures and tutorials. You’re thrown straight into the deep end. It’s basically sink or swim.

The JC years will be the most intense years of your education life. You will need to juggle with as many A-level subjects as you did for O-levels, just you know, the workload will be thrice as much. This learning just doesn’t get easier. It will be a steep learning curve over the next two years. That is not all. In the midst of all that frenzy, you’re expected to perform and be an all-rounder, including extra-curricular activities.

Okay, maybe we are painting the situation with a gloomier shade than we need to, but the fact is, it is going to be a challenge. How can you navigate through this and come out of this path glorious?

You forget everything you learnt in O-levels.

You step into your first lecture. Coming out from your first H2 math lecture, these are the common symptoms most students experience:

You find the contents oddly familiar.
However, they sound foreign to you at the same time.
You dig out your O-levels notes and frantically flip through in an effort to recall (that’s if you still have not thrown it all away).

You realize how rusty your brain can be in a short 2 to 3-month period. Then, you regret throwing away your notes, knowing now that it’s the saving grace between you and lagging behind in your studies for the next 2 years.

A ‘D’ or ‘E’ grade is not a fail

Everyone rejoices! A D or E grade is no longer considered a fail. In A-Levels, 45 and above is a passing mark. You have more leeway for making mistakes or placate your parents momentarily that you’re ‘doing well’ in school. Even though deep down, you know that you’re not.

Have you wondered why the benchmark is set lower? If you think of it, you’ll realize it’s because A-levels are much harder to score. It’ll be a common sight to put in 200% effort and yet score an E for your tests. This brings us to our next point. Hold tight and brace yourself for the ride ahead.

You spend 6 hours on a 3-hour H2 Math paper (and still not get it).

This is a sad reality that you’re unlikely to escape from especially with H2 Math papers (which most of you will take). You find yourself wrestling with the math questions in your head and only to never figure it out. Before you know it, a full day’s gone by.

The truth is what your teachers teach in lectures and tutorials will unlikely be questions you see in the exams. These questions are on a different difficulty level. Every time you are tackling exam questions, you start seriously questioning the what was taught over the 2 years of junior college education in Singapore.

Fret not. It’s alright if you do not understand what was taught in school. Here at The Annexe Project Tuition Centre, we specialise in equipping you to see H2 math questions from different perspectives with our highly successful h2 math tuition in Singapore taught by our principal math tutor Mr Alvin Yeo. Now, you can solve the seemingly impossible questions with ease.

Not all teachers can teach well.

You can feel good for once that it is not necessarily entirely your fault for not understanding the subject.

In every school, you have superb teachers who are subject gurus. Just a single one of their lectures beats another teacher’s entire term worth of lectures.

There’s also the other end of the spectrum where your tutor is simply bad at his/her job. They may be knowledgeable experts in their fields, but they certainly aren’t experts in teaching it well.

That is why tuition exists. You can find good tutors who are effective teachers and content experts. Mr. Alvin Yeo is a good example of a H2 math tuition tutor who knows the mechanics to understanding and scoring for H2 math.

You actually skip classes to study.

You’re not hearing this wrong. You may not believe your ears till you hit year 2. In year 2, it’s crunch time throughout the year. Thankfully, that’s when you know yourself better and what works best for you. As mentioned above, you might start realising that some teachers are just not being effective enough for your needs . You may find it more productive to study on your own than going for tutorials.

While we definitely don’t encourage the skipping of classes, you will find many around you who do this. Ultimately, do what’s best for you, you are an adult now. If your grades don’t improve, then it’s time to consider going back to tutorials. You need your tutor’s help after all.

You’re still expected to be a ‘holistic achiever’.

You know what we mean. The requirements for a varsity entry/scholarship no longer focus solely on good grades. You’re expected to participate in multiple Co-Curricular Activities and competitions while juggling your studies simultaneously. It’s the ‘kiasu’ in our Singaporean blood speaking.

As if the non-stop studying isn’t enough, everything you do in Junior College now focus on building the impossible portfolio so that you have a fighting chance for an entry into a decent course. Be prepared to be stretched in every way possible. You can expect to have little time to yourselves.

Consultations are a necessity, not an option.

Consultations are your saving grace. There’s no time for you to pause and reflect during the flurry of lectures and tutorials. Your teachers would have rushed off for their next class; leaving you little opportunity to deepen your understanding. Consultations give you the space to probe and clarify any learning misconceptions. The personalised setting only benefit you. While your teachers may say consultations are optional, we say it’s mandatory.

We hope that you’re better informed and more prepared to take on the JC education. Though it’s demanding, it’s not impossible to conquer. We hope you’re up for the challenge.

At The Annexe Project, we offer different program tracks that tailor to different student group’s growth within reasonable prices. We provide students free consultations after lessons as long as our tutors are available and the student is pro-active. Contact us to find out more about our specialized tracks for H2 Math tuition.