Senior - SPM year tips !

Assalamualaikum and hello all!

So, SPM just ended EXACTLY a week ago, it still feels surreal that my high school life already ended, got some regret, got some beautiful memories, got some lingering-longing feelings, but for sure if i have the chance to reverse back the year i would probably declined it because senior year is just too tiring hahaha , so make the most of your final year pals!

If you are the candidate for SPM 2020, you'll probably need some advices about what to do in this remaining holiday before you are officially becoming the senior of the school, yeup you still have approximately 4 weeks before hitting your senior year.

Honestly, you have so so so much you could do for the remaining weeks so that you are more well-prepared for SPM. Lemme tell you my story last year, i've been procrastinating the whole end-year holiday and yeup, i regretted it (though not so much hahaha). Should've used the precious time to re-learn the topic i couldn't fathom , or maybe some addmath practices would be a true lifesaver! Okay, so you might right now feel like blaming yourself for wasting early holiday by not studying BUT the fact that you are reading this right now means you already have THAT determination to grind yourself before entering the battlefield of SPM, that's already the first step and lemme tell you, THAT's GREAT and you shall be proud of yourself because you already have the 'awareness' about what's coming in the future.

So, here's some tips that i hope could help you to prepare before your senior year :

1. Organize, organize, organize

Yeps, organizing, this is a really crucial step actually as you are going to face the hazardness of f5 years. All teachers would be giving A LOT of handouts, notes, practices, throughout the year and you gotta have place to store them pristine-ly. So my advice is, to have separate binders/files to keep the handouts according to the subjects. You could just buy some affordable cute files from Mr. DIY because popular files are pretty expensive so, save your money :p

2. Gather references and practices books

To save your time from having to go to bookstore during your busy f5 year, you should go and buy the books from now on. Especially right now is Back-To-School discount season at bookstores. But if you want to save your money more, just ask your previous senior for their used book, message/DM them kindly to show your interest towards their books. Some might sell their books in low prices so that’s fine too. And usually, the seniors would donate their books in the beginning of the year, so keep your eyes on the books and SNATCH them ASAP before someone take the books. Let me remind you, it would be a *quite* intense competition on getting the books, because, you know, free books :p I managed to get my hand on a few lot of good references/practices book that literally save me a lot of money (as you know these books are expensive as heck lol). Buying books from Big Bad Wolf Book Fair is also a nice catch for you because mostly cost like RM3-RM15, even though they sell the older books, but they still could be used as the syllabus is the same. You can find many past-year books too that’s not available in the book store (this is really helpful as people say SPM questions tends to repeat the pattern from SPM long-long time ago) . And if you are someone who likes to study from textbook like me,  (i don't have that much of reference books because most subject i learn 100% from textbooks xD) you better go and buy your own textbook from online or any available stores, or photostat it because some of my friends are having trouble during SPM since they need to return the books to SPBT before the exam, they finally get to borrow it longer but it was quite a trouble really ( but not every school let you so, better prepare!) , but if you are okay studying with referencing books, then no need lah to buy textbooks.

3. Join Telegram Groups for SPM

I literally downloaded Telegram last year for the sake of SPM. There are A LOT of SPM groups (per subjects) as the medium to share notes, practices, etc all related to the subject to all SPM-takers around Malaysia. One group could have thousands of members so you could get a lot of 'bahan' from other teachers or students. The groups also enable you to ask questions regarding the subjects with the help of other students and teachers, especially for addmath. It’s really helpful when you couldn’t contact your teachers and friends. But usually your notifications would be too 'serabut' with all these groups,so, make sure to mute your noty so that it wouldn’t disturb you! (btw, it’s a good app to download songs, movies and kdrama too, but, let keep this for after SPM hehhe)

LINK FOR TELEGRAM GROUPS
- NOTASPM2K- Chemistry- Physic- Sejarah- English- Tasawwur Islam- Mathmod-  Bahan SPM 2020- PQS & PSI
* there are a lot more, but search by yourself :) !

4. Instagram / Twitter for studying

Ya’all, we are the millennial kids right? So as the millennial pals, the advantageous we have over the older generation is that we could ALSO use the social medias for our studies too, not only studying in ‘traditional way’ alone. There are a few SPM-related account on Instagram and Twitter that you could follow, so ‘sambil-sambil’ you scrolling down your Ig/twitter feed, you could gain some knowledge shared by those accounts. Especially on twitter, I get a lot of tips, mnemonics, and short notes for SPM from @notaspm2k and @expressspm (instagram) that saved my SPM (thank you dearest admins <3)! Or maybe you could follow some studyblr account to get inspirations and studying-vibe from them so that you get off your phone and start studying. Well I’m also apart of this studyblr community and lemme tell you having your feed full of studyblr posts sparks you to study in a chillax way (?) (hard to describe, but yeah this is It ) (but don’t be too pressured seeing them studying and making aesthetically-pleasing notes, just study your own way)

5. Make your Cheat Sheet

Believe me, the future you would thank you so much for making these cheat sheet earlier because you wouldn’t really get time to do it later when you are packed with homeworks and classes. You could make simple notes for each chapters, flash cards for definitions, names of important figure in history, et cetera. This would help you a lot in doing revision later on, and easy to carry them anywhere to read them during recess time, waiting for your bus, or before bed. I felt really grateful that I did my own formulae lists for Addmath and Physic that aren’t available in the list provided in exam papers before SPM as it prevent me from losing marks just because not knowing the formulaes.

For flash cards, you could just buy the plain flash cards at Daiso/Mr. DIY or make your own using plain papers .

6. And lastly, Meditate

Becoming a form 5 students, would totally took a huge toll in your life. For me, it was truly the hardest year among my high school life, and I’m pretty sure most of form 5 students felt this way too. But hey, WE ONLY NEED TO ENDURE THIS ONE FREAKING YEAR. Also, this is going to be the last chance for you to spend your remaining days with your precious friends, having fun as a ‘high school student’, be with your family and so on, before going through the adult world by yourself (in which im still scared , and intrigued to look upon >.<). But still remember, your body and mind has its own limits, don't put too much pressure on yourself, just study in your own way and don't mind the toxic environment that are conspiring against yourself, take a brake sometime, to rest, recharge, re-energize, before continuing your way. Use this holiday to ease your mind, having ‘your own time’ dedicated to nourish back your soul and mood, take care of yourself, treat yourself some sweet desserts, binge-watch your fav tv shows and kdramas hehehe (but don’t stay all night for this!) , enjoy the serene and tranquil ambience of the neighbourhood, the nature, before you’re going to be busy with school later,  pray a lot and make du’a for the health and well-being of you and your loved ones, and lastly,  pat your head, saying 

‘you’ve done so well all these years, going to face SPM which you never thought before you are going to be a senior before, you are finally growing to be a better version of yourself, who can be responsible and take care of yourself, before finally facing the real and harsh, but also beautiful world, you got this!  ‘

I guess that's all for now, remember, this is a journey of learning,  accumulating knowledge, becoming a better version of yourself. I hope you all won't be too stress out and hurting yourself in the process. Anytime anywhere , it's always yourself first. Don't be too swayed to study just for the excellence results, hayati the knowledge, have excitement to study the knowledge of dunya and akhirah, have an ambition to use the knowledge you accumulated for the greater cause of the world and to help other people. Insya Allah, having these as the pure intention of studying would make you not tire out easily whilst studying, because you are studying for Allah , for yourself, not for the sake of other people. 

You can always reach me out in my social medias if you are having trouble/questions (though it might take a while for me to answer it because i'm a slow responder heheheheh)

bubye, love

heba <3