Article written by Intercultura top student Veronica Colombo (4B) from Hong Kong
Hong Kong students often complain about the excessive amount of homework they have to do, thinking that in other countries the situation is different and that the school life there is more enjoyable. Well, I cannot generalize, but I can tell you one thing I am sure of: I have found the Italian school environment even more competitive than the one in Hong Kong!
That is why I would like to share with you the ways I have found to ease this situation and to handle the pressure we are to face every day.
Getting ahead of time
In my opinion, the secret to achieve the greatest result with the lowest effort lies in a wise management of one’s time. As I have always been told, time is valuable and even though initially this perception can cause stress and put even more pressure in our lives, it is true. As when I was in Italy, I have been managing my time in Hong Kong according to my priorities. For instance, during my free lessons in the library I prefer to study and to do my homework rather than sleep or waste my time in other ways, and as a consequence when I come back home from school I have less to revise and I can fully enjoy my family life.
Revising
Another thing that I have learned is to revise constantly and methodically, even if I am not having any coming test: if you read every day, even just once or twice, the topics you have just done at school you will remember them more easily and clearly.
Focus
As far as I am concerned, a useful hint is to focus on your goal. Since it is humanly impossible to stand out and excel in every subject, I am convinced that we should find something we like and we are good at and use it as a motivation to do our best. For example, if you are interested in mathematics, not only will you gain awareness of its applications in physics and chemistry, but you will also start striving to succeed in other subjects. And do you know why? Because your goal will no longer be just to pass your tests, but to excel in order to have free access to a good university to study what you are keen on.
Be inventive…
There are a lot of unusual ways for self-improvement that are just waiting to be discovered and used. For instance, if you want to improve your English skills you can just switch the language on your television from your mother tongue to English. Later on, you might buy some books or newspapers (in English), underlining the words that you do not know and trying to remember their meaning.
Have fun!
Another way to improve your English and have fun is to join international volunteer programs during the summer holidays: as you can understand from their names, those programs are open to people from all over the world. As a result, you will meet a lot of people with different cultures and speak English with them. You will have a remarkable experience.
In conclusion, I would like to suggest you a book I am reading right now, One Day, which was written by David Nicholls and published in 2009; in this book the lives of two people, Emma and Dexter, are narrated over twenty years starting from the night when they first met, the night after their graduation, until the fatal event which will not allow them to meet each other any more. Intriguing and breathtaking, not only will you like the book because of its plot but also for its realism and accuracy in describing the feelings of the two major characters.