At this stage, you don’t need to operate at the high level of intensity that you did pre-trials, however you should maintain some level of productive output every day. The most important Key Behaviour to harness at this time is Grit.

What is Grit?

Grit refers to our level of resolve, resilience, and determination. Grit is sitting down, and just getting through the work – no matter what’s going on externally. This is of vital importance during this period, because unless someone scored 100% for every trial exam, there’s going to be something they need to work on. Grit is harnessing your passion, reminding yourself of your vision, and taking the necessary steps, no matter how difficult, to get there.

What does Grit look like?

• Going through a past exam or test, isolating the topics you underperformed in.
• Working through exam marker feedback to re-write and improve your responses. Remember you will be re-visiting these texts and topics in the HSC.
• Revisiting topics from the start of the HSC year
• Teaching a friend around a topic you find challenging. As Albert Einstein put it “If you can’t explain something simply, you don’t understand it well enough”
• Completing regular mindmap pads to keep syllabus content fresh.

With 50% of overall HSC marks still available, it’s imperative that we kick the post-trials slump out the door. Great assessment marks can still be brought down by poor exam results, and poor assessment marks can definitely be recovered by great exam results. What is required to put yourself in the best stead for the remaining 50%, is Grit. So, let’s get working!

For anyone interested, Angela Duckworth has delivered a fantastic ted-talk on Grit. You can find her talk here or below.