Surviving O’s with Low Self-Esteem
O Level is already tough on its own with the intense syllabus, sleepless nights and endless piles of papers stacking on the table. Bring in low confidence into the mix and everything just became a lot worse. Everyone is scoring their As while your still stuck with an F for your A Math paper or you’ve been sent to the principal office countless times to remind you that you’re in deep shit. Ultimately, your self-esteem goes down the drain and you feel so worthless.
I’ve been there, done that. But hey, I came out alive with a decent grade and a scholarship, proving people how wrong they were for looking down on me. If you’re in this situation now, I’d like to share some stuff I did to make me feel better.
Get help from a counsellor.
I know, it’s scary sharing your problems with a stranger and sometimes visiting a counsellor comes with a stigma. However, speaking up is so much better than keeping in your problems and battling them yourself. Counsellors are equipped with various distressing exercises that they are more than grateful to share with you. My counselllor even gave me some studying tips. She also taught me to set realistic goals and deal with my low self-esteem.
Stop comparing yourself to others.
We often compare ourselves with someone who has more, smarter or greater than us. Instead, start comparing with your past and present self! So what if you’re still getting a C5 for your biology paper instead of an A2 like your table partner? At least you’re no longer failing. An F9 to C5 is no joke, so give yourself a pat on the back.
Find a group of friends who is in the same situation as you.
You are never alone in this. There’s surely someone who’s struggling as well or might even be in a worse situation than you. These are the people who will understand what you’re going through the best. Make a study group with them and have some heart to heart talk as well. I was lucky enough to make friends with people in the same sinking boat as me. We’ve become the closest of friends and they’re truly one of the best things that came out of this shit hole.
You need to be truthful to yourself so you won’t end up being hurt. Don’t aim for a 2-pointer when your L1R5 for prelim is more than 40 points. Ask yourself, is it attainable with the short amount of time you have? Don’t get me wrong, it’s still possible, but when you don’t meet the mark, you’ll lose all your confidence and it’ll be difficult to find the motivation to get back up. Even when you scored 9 points, you’ll be devastated because of the high expectation you put on yourself (yes, I’ve seen people crying because they scored 9 points which is in fact hella good)
Help yourself so others can help you.
Before others can reach out to you, you must be ready to get better. There’s no point of getting help from other people when you don’t even believe in yourself. Other people cannot fix you. You need to get better by yourself and truthfully, it’s all a mental game. Start telling yourself you can do it and you will!
Also good luck to all who’s taking their O’s this year! You’ll slay it!!
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