Stress + Frustration = Burnout
Stress – That you STILL have to push through to the end of the year AND get the best possible results.
Frustration – That you have already been at school sooooo looong.
Trying to maintain interest when school seems more about the past and only vaguely about the future, can cause lack of motivation and have a bad impact on your academic performance.
Give school subjects meaning. Link your results to your future life.
See if you can re-engage with your school work by talking with your school based Career Advisor, (Year Coordinator, favourite teacher, pastoral care officer).
See an out of school career professional.
- Jobs and Skills Centres are in most country towns and they are co-located with TAFE colleges in the city. Advisors can do aptitude tests, help you to identify your strengths and suggest possible future. You can find your closest Jobs and Skills Centre HERE.
- University career advisors are a bit like sales people. They love helping people and they want you to find a course at their university. You will probably choose a uni that is close to where you live. Go to see a career counsellor at which ever university you choose to find out about courses and subjects and the fantastic clubs and opportunities available at that university.
- See an independent, impartial professional career advisor (like me).
If you want impartial advice on the different universities in WA, get A Comprensive Guide to Going to Uni in WA in 2024. You can get it HERE.
Finding a scholarship to apply for could motivate you.
Check:
Scholarships not for you? Think again. The world wants you to succeed.
Scholarships for Academic Superstars
Try these ideas to motivate yourself over the next few weeks
- Create SMART goals for each subject, then plan your timetable for the next few weeks. Find how to do that HERE.
- Walk around your future uni campus and imagine yourself there (once you get through this last few weeks).
- Go to an information evening at your future university.
- Talk to a student already at the university for tips on how to overcome year 12 burnout.
- You are not the first one to feel burnt out. Counselling services like Beyond Blue know how to support you.
There are many paths to university. Check Alternative Paths to Uni in 2024
Plan a Gap Year
If you can make it through to the end of the year, apply to uni like everyone else, then defer once you get your offer and take a gap year in 2024.
A comprehensive Guide to Gap Year Ideas that may interest you
Three Gap Year stories to give you ideas of what’s possible
Leave School Now
If you REALLY can’t stand it, take a break. Leave school if that is the best option for you.
Check out Alternative Paths to uni in WA 2024
I have talked to many parents who have pressured their year 12s to:
“Hang in there.”
“You are so close to the finish line. Don’t waste it.”
They are doing this because they love you and want what’s best for you. They clearly don’t understand your level of burnout.
Take time to explain your distress.
Talk with a counselling service like Beyond Blue. They will know how to help you.
There are a million paths to your best possible future and getting great end of school results is just one of them.
Don’t get on the Uni Bus unless you know where it’s going.
Year 12 can be an endurance test. Trying to link future you with what you are doing now may help. Good luck as you enter this final stage of your school career.
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