Dear Editor,
I am writing to express my feelings about being a student of the first-year NSS. I feel exhausted, stressed and puzzled.
First of all, we are facing many uncertainties. Everything is new and unfamiliar, from the selection of subjects to the newly added core subject — Liberal Studies. We are not sure about what to do is the best. Thus, we are puzzled. For instance, we don’t know how to deal with Liberal Studies. It is supposed to be a subject that enables us to think instead of just memorizing all the information. However, the truth is that we have to remember all those key words and their definitions, and then fit them into the answers. That means we have to memorize even more information than any other subjects. Besides, there is no standard for the marking of the Liberal Studies paper. The same answer marked by different teachers gets different marks. We don’t know what to do in order to get high marks. Therefore, we are confused.
Moreover, we are exhausted. There are school-based assessments, carrying marks for the HKDSE, for every subject. For Liberal Studies, each of us needs to submit a project; for chemistry, we need to do laboratory reports. Also, there are many quizzes and tests. We have to work very hard so as to get good grades. It is tiring to have so much homework. Every day, we work till twelve or even later at midnight. We are really exhausted.
Last but not least, there is so much stress on us that we can hardly endure. Being the first-year NSS students, we bear the high expectations from parents and teachers. They expect us to do well in every aspect apart from academic. Our timetables are filled with different extra-curricular activities, such as playing the piano, swimming, playing volleyball and so on. Yet, we are not supermen. We need time to get used to all these. Too high expectations from parents make us stressed.
In my opinion, there are a few solutions to the problems. For the new core subject, the government should give clear instructions on how to teach the subject and what is the standard of marking.
For the large number of assignments and quizzes, I suggest that students could manage their time well. Never put off the work till the next day. If we do revision every day, quizzes won’t be a problem.
Finally, to deal with stress, there are numerous methods. One of the best is talk to our parents directly, letting them know how stressed we are. Maybe they will start giving us more encouragement instead of just expectations.
In conclusion, being a first-year NSS student is not easy. We are stressed, tired, and puzzled. Nevertheless, we should not give up. We can cope with the difficulties, and have a better life next year.
Esther Li
Carmel Secondary School