Some motivation for the last minute people.

So my AS exams are less than a month away and I have decided to start studying. YAY!
Since I started grade 11, I haven't really studied much. While it is not something I am particularly proud of, it is also not something I can go back and change.

So here I am, huddled on a seat by my window, watching the rain pour (not exactly, I included that in there for, well, drama) , learning everything I didn't learn for the past few months. This might not get me straight A's but at least I will be happy knowing I tried. 

If you are a very last minute person like I am, how can you stay motivated and get good grades?
Well, the key is to keep your expectations really really low. Let's be realistic. You had eight months to study, probably a hundred chapters to cover with all the subjects you are doing combined, but you chose to  do all that work in the very last month. You probably won't do as well as the ones who had been working hard since the very beginning. But that is the other thing, in life, you are not really in a competition with anyone else. I read somewhere, "The only person worth competing with is the person you were yesterday." And it's true. You don't know  how many times that quote has changed my mood from a depressed lunatic to a female Bob Marley.

If you constantly keep on comparing yourself with other people that is really not going to do you any good. As the people of the great Interwebs say, "No matter how good you are at something, there is always an 8 year old Asian that is better than you." I am not trying to demotivate you, I promise.

I  also realise that a lot of you can't afford to be all relaxed about failing an exam. Your parents and teachers probably expect a lot from you and it is driving you crazy that you might end up disappointing them. OH THE HORROR, right? Well, I go through that too. But ultimately, it's my life. Why should I study? I had a conversation with a friend last night and he told me "Screw people. Study for yourself." Wow. His quotes in freaking Italics. I swear to god, he must be very proud of himself if he reads this. But he is right, you know. You are doing this for yourself. You are doing this to be independent. You are doing this to be able to get a good job and afford everything you had to go without. You are doing this because you want to.

So my advice, just let go of all the pressures and just indulge in learning. Be enchanted by every new concept that comes your way. Celebrate every little Math problem that you manage to solve and basically, just enjoy learning... for yourself. It might not make you better than everyone else, but you will be better than the person you were yesterday, and I'm sure your future self will thank you for it. That is all the motivation that you need, really.