by Ian Tay Rui Ming
My challenges were a lack of discipline, and my shaky foundations for mathematics and Chinese compounded it. Being a person who needs a goal to work hard, I struggled a bit during the first few months of the PSLE preparation. However, my father noticed that I was getting interested in hand phones and told me that he would buy me a new hand phone if I hit a certain score. That really got me going! I started slogging and whenever I felt like giving up, I would think of the new hand phone I would get. When that did not work, I decided to stick a picture of my dream hand phone on the wall in front of me to help me visualise better.
On the day of the PSLE, I did not feel really nervous as I knew that God was with me and that my results were in his hands. However, I felt this tinge of regret for not studying harder so please do not follow my footsteps!
The day before the Science paper, I came down with flu suddenly and could not sleep well the whole night as my nose was dripping incessantly. I woke up the next morning groggy and tired and trudged to the exams thinking I was done for. Miraculously, my nose cleared up just before the paper and I committed the whole paper to the Lord after completing it.
Looking back, I think that God was so real as He helped me through the preparations. Before the PSLE, I was scoring a low average of about 70+ points for my mock examination papers. However, I got a credible aggregate score in the end. Although I did not meet the goal set, I can still see God’s hand on my life.
I would now like to give you some study tips. For example, the formula for calculating a triangle’s area is 1/2 x base x height. When doing a problem of that sort, you firstly put the formula: 1/2 x base x height = area of triangle. Then you fill in the base and height with their respective measurements. This will ensure that you will not forget the formula or use the wrong formula! Another study tip is to understand, not memorize. Understanding the topic will ensure that you know your work better and be able to retain it for a longer period of time.
