Your ATAR score in perspective: the good, the bad, and the ugly

ATAR score: Put it in perspective

If you’ve been worrying about your ATAR score, please stop. You’re wasting precious minutes and hours of your life that you’ll never get back.

Let me tell you what your ATAR score is …

It’s a number. A number that can gets you into university.

A high ATAR score doesn’t mean you’re a genius who is destined to do great things in this world. And a low ATAR score doesn’t mean you’re slow and you’re going to have a disastrous future.

As Alexander Smith (author of ‘If you want to blitz your year 12 exams read this book’) states:

“ATAR is not an IQ score. The ATAR – Australian Tertiary Admission Rank – is exactly that. A rank. It is not a measure of how well you will succeed in life, and it is not a ticket to a high-paying job. It won’t set you up for life, and it certainly won’t end your chances.”

ATAR is a score that reflects in part how effectively you’ve studied. But it’s also determined by a complex scaling system that is beyond your control.

An ATAR score of 60 doesn’t mean you got 60 per cent as a grade. It actually means you’re in the top 40 per cent of your year group. Similarly, an ATAR score of 90 means you’re placed in the top 10 per cent of your year. Get the idea?

What’s the point of an ATAR?

ATAR is designed to predict your academic performance at university. Based on this score, universities can decide whom to assign the limited number of places in their courses to.

But does a high ATAR mean high university grades?

Not always. Research from the Victoria Institute of Strategic Economic Studies found that ATAR scores are a weak predictor of academic performance at university.

The authors of the study, George Messinis and Peter Sheehan, state:

“While on average students with higher ATARs achieved higher marks in first-year courses, many also achieved low marks. And, many low-ATAR students achieved high marks. This suggests that with proper, considered support programs in place, students with low ATARs can be successful in university studies.”

You are not your ATAR score

Your identity runs wide and deep. You have a lot of wonderful traits and strengths that an ATAR score can never possibly capture. It’s important to remember this and not confuse your self worth with your ATAR score.

What do you do when you don’t get the ATAR score you had hoped for?

Don’t stress. There are other ways to get into university. In fact, 50 per cent of students who are admitted to university get in without relying solely on an ATAR score.

In short, if you want to study at university, you’ll find a way.

Here’s what they don’t tell you …

Getting into university is actually the easy part, whether it’s via an ATAR pathway or another entry pathway.

The real challenge is staying in university.

If you’re like most students straight out of high school, you’re going to encounter a steep learning curve once you get to university.

I certainly did. I achieved a 90+ ATAR score but I failed my first test at law school. High school helped me to master the art of rote (superficial) learning, but not deep learning. When I got to university, I had no idea how to study effectively. I felt like a complete amateur (you can read more about my story here).

The thing about university is rote-memorisation doesn’t cut it. You need to actually understand the content. No one is going to spoon-feed you. It’s a totally different ball game to high school. You need to take charge of your studies.

As you readjust to life at university, expect that you’ll feel completely incompetent for the first few weeks or months (just like I did). But this is totally normal and it’s not a bad thing. You’re going to grow and develop rapidly. You just need to hang in there. Things will get easier.

Later in life, does your ATAR score matter?

In my first year of university, a few new friends asked about my ATAR score. But after my first year, I was never asked again.

Most people understand that an ATAR score is just a stepping-stone into a university course. It gives you options.

Here’s the good news …

Once you’re in the system, you can move around and transfer into other courses.

One of my good friends always wanted to be a dentist. She didn’t get a high enough ATAR score to get into the course straight out of high school. So she did a year of general science at university and then she transferred over to the Dental School. She is now a top oral dental surgeon with her own private practice. Do you think her patients ask her what her ATAR score was? No. No one cares.

To sum up

Despite the fact there has been so much talk about ATAR scores from your teachers and in the media, in the big scheme of things they don’t really matter. Yes, if you have a good ATAR score, you can get straight into the university course you want to do. If you don’t have a high enough ATAR, it may just take you a bit longer to complete a degree. But that’s okay. It takes as long as it takes.

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beautiful calm brain

We live in a world where we are bombarded with perfect photoshopped images via social media and advertising.

These images can mess with our minds, resulting in stress, unrealistic expectations and a fear of trying new things (“What if I stuff up?”).

But there’s a simple technique you can practise to help you rise above all the stress and chaos of life. It’s called …

Mindfulness meditation

Dan Harris in his book 10% Happier describes meditation as being “rigorous exercise for the brain”. He says:

“You can sculpt your brain through meditation just as you can build and tone your body through exercise – to grow grey matter the way doing curls grows your biceps.”

Consistency is key

I meditate every morning. And you should know this …

I’m not a natural meditator.

Like many people in this fast paced world, I have struggled to sit and focus on my breath going in and out… in and out …

When I first started meditating, here’s what would race through my mind:

“How am I going to do this until the timer goes off?”
“I’m not in the mood for this …”
“I’m terrible at this.”

But I forced myself to keep at it. And now it’s an essential part of my daily routine.

Why bother to practise mindfulness meditation?

Because it’s one of the best ways to give your brain a rest from technology and information overload. It’s also a fantastic way to improve your ability to focus and lower your stress levels.

When you practise meditation on a regular basis, you’re less likely to freak out when life throws challenges your way. You start to notice that things don’t bother you as much as they usually do.

Instead of automatically freaking out about something, you pause and think:

“How do I best handle this situation?”

You also become more aware of patterns of thinking and behaviour (i.e. worries, memories, and strong urges that your mind keeps returning to). You can notice where your mind is going and decide that you’re not going to go there (e.g. “I feel the urge to check social media but I don’t need to do that right now.”).

In short, meditation helps you to strengthen and take control of your brain.

But not only that, research has found meditation can extend your lifespan.

telomerase study

A study by Jacobs et al (2011) looked at the connection between practising meditation, psychological factors and telomerase activity. This study involved a group of 30 participants going on a meditation retreat. They had to meditate for 6-hours a day for 3-months.

What did they find?

By the end of the 3-months, the meditators had significantly greater telomerase activity than the control group (the non meditators). The researchers concluded that this had implications for telomere length.

So you may be thinking …

“What’s a telomere? And why should I care about its length?”

Telomeres are protective DNA sequences at the end of chromosomes. They ensure genomic stability during cellular replication. But the thing about your telomeres is they shorten under conditions of psychological stress. And as your telomeres start to get shorter, your cells start to age and you get sicker.

But the study by Jacobs et al (2011) found practising meditation could help restore DNA and build longer telomeres as a result of increased telomerase activity (i.e. an enzyme which creates new telomeres).

As Nobel Prize winner Elizabeth Blackburn and Elissa Epel state in their book The Telomere Effect:

“You have the power to influence whether your telomeres are going to shorten early, or whether they are going to stay supported and healthy.”

Meditation seems to be one promising pathway to healthier and longer telomeres!

So forget purchasing expensive anti-ageing skin creams and supplements. It’s time to start meditating!

How to meditate in 3 simple steps

Step 1. Sit comfortably. You can sit in a chair or you can sit cross-legged on the floor – take your pick. Wriggle around before you get started to find a position that feels good for you.

Step 2. Focus on your breath. Feel your breath going in and out…in and out…

Step 3. When a random thought enters your mind, just notice it, let it go and return your attention to your breath.

Expect that all kinds of random thoughts will enter your mind while you meditate (e.g. “What’s for dinner?” or “I need a haircut.”). Don’t panic. This is normal.

The key thing is to keep at it. You’ve got to meditate daily to experience the benefits. The hardest part about the whole process is remembering to sit down and do it. This is where habits can help.

How to create a solid meditation habit

There are a few strategies that have helped me to establish a regular meditation habit. Here’s what has worked for me:

1. Establish a meditation cue

You need to see or hear something that will remind you to stop whatever you’re doing and meditate. It could be an alarm going off, a screensaver message or a note on your fridge door.

2. Habit stack

What do you do everyday without fail? What habits have you already established? Pick a habit and attach your meditation practice to the end of it. For example, “When I finish brushing my teeth, I will meditate for 5 minutes”.

3. Temptation bundling

Before most meditation sessions, I make my favourite chocolate blueberry smoothie. I sit down on my couch and place the smoothie next to my feet. I set my meditation timer for 10 minutes, scheduling gongs to go off every 3 minutes.

Every time a gong goes off, I treat myself to a couple of sips of smoothie. This is my reward (“I just meditated for 3 minutes. Woohoo!”).

4. Hand holding

When you first start meditating it helps to have someone guide you through the process. This is where meditation apps, CDs and online courses can be really handy. Check out the following:

Meditation app: 10% happier
Meditation app: Smiling mind
Free online course: Mindfulness for wellbeing and peak performance (Monash University)

5. Be kind to yourself

If you find yourself thinking random thoughts instead of focusing on your breath, relax! The key is to not get bogged down when you get distracted.

Just notice the thought, let it go and return your focus back to your breath.

6. Start small

Don’t even attempt to do a 30-minute meditation on day 1 of your meditation journey. Keep your meditations short. Here’s what your meditation schedule might look like:

Day 1: 20 second meditation
Day 2: 2 minute meditation
Day 3: 3 minute meditation
Day 4: 3 minute meditation
Day 5: 3 minute meditation

When you feel ready, push yourself to do 5 minutes.

7. Use a timer

This means you don’t need to keep looking at your watch and you won’t be constantly thinking, “Is the meditation over?”. Outsource these thoughts to your timer.

8. Use a weighted blanket (optional)

Weighted blankets are extra heavy blankets made from micro glass bead fill. When I place the weighted blanket on my lap, it grounds me (I’m less likely to get up and stop the meditation). The blanket also helps me to relax, so I find I can go deeper into my meditation practice. I highly recommend the Australian made weighted blankets produced by Calming Moments.

To sum up

If you’ve never meditated before, start small and do a little practice everyday. You may not feel the benefits immediately, but persevere. As Dr Dzung says in his book The Mindful Teen, “Keep at it … you may think it’s not working but your brain is growing and developing in ways that you can’t recognise right away”.

combat stress

Feeling stressed and overwhelmed? Can’t think properly?

You need to stop and recalibrate. When you find yourself in a funk, your goal is to get yourself back to a normal state.

How do you do that?

You need simple tools and strategies to combat the stress hormones flooding through your brain.

Here are 10 stress-busting strategies I find effective …
1. Stop giving yourself a hard time

serenity now

In one episode of Seinfeld, Frank Costanza yells Serenity now! to try to calm himself down. But this doesn’t seem to work. Poor Frank just ends up feeling even more stressed than before (you can see the video clip here)!

What can we learn from Frank Costanza?

Basically, yelling at yourself and berating yourself only make things worse.

A much better strategy is to practice self-compassion. Speak to yourself as you’d speak to a good friend or a small child who was feeling stressed. In short, be kind to yourself.

2. Practise meditation

When I first heard the term meditation, what came to mind were images of incense, monks in robes chanting and people wearing peace symbols. Little did I know at the time that meditation was actually a powerful technique that could decrease stress levels and enhance focus and wellbeing.

When you first start practising meditation it may feel like nothing is happening (Am I benefiting from this? Is this worth doing? you may think). But just know every time you sit down and practice, you are sculpting and toning your brain to be able to deal more effectively with the challenges life throws at you.

Check out meditation apps such as Smiling Mind, 10% Happier and Insight Timer.

3. Keep a worry notepad

worry pad

Every time you have a stressful thought, jot it down on a notepad. Tell yourself you’ll come back to it later at a certain time (e.g. 4pm = Worry time!). When it’s worry time that’s when you’ll brainstorm solutions to your worries. But for now, just park your worries until then.

4. Practice the reality show technique

Feeling stressed about something that has happened? Take a step back from the situation and replay the events as if you were watching a scene from a reality TV show.

Ask yourself:

• What lessons can I learn from this?
• What would a home viewer make of what just happened?

Asking these questions can give you some emotional distance and objectivity, which can help decrease your stress levels.

5. Power pose

Simply striking a power pose for 2 minutes has been shown to reduce stress and enhance confidence and feelings of power. So stand tall: place your hands on your hips and pretend that you’re Wonder Woman for 2 minutes!

6. Move your body

exercise and stress

Exercise is a fantastic way to decrease stress and clear your mind. It’s also the most effective way to create new neurons in the brain.

So put your comfy shoes on and start moving. It doesn’t matter what you do: walk, jump, dance, surf or skate. All that matters is that your limbs are moving and you can feel your heart pumping.

7. Talk to a friend (real or imaginary)

It can help to talk to someone about the stressful thoughts swirling around in your head.

But what if no one is around and you’re on your own? Pull up a chair and pretend there’s a kind person sitting right next to you ready to listen. Tell this imaginary person what’s on your mind. This may seem crazy but it works. Try it and see.

8. Define your worst nightmare

What’s the worst thing that could possibly happen? Imagine the worst-case scenario in painstaking detail.

Then once you’ve done this, ask yourself the question:

What can I do to stop this situation from coming true?

Create a list of actions you can take. Then be in action.

9. Get a dose of nature

dose of nature and stress

Studies have found that natural environments have a calming effect on stressed out minds. Scrolling through your Facebook feed when you’re stressed and overwhelmed will only exacerbate any bad feelings in your body. Force yourself to get away from your devices and head outdoors.

10. Stop multi-tasking

Research shows multi-tasking floods your brain with stress hormones. It’s also really exhausting for your brain. Instead of rapidly switching from one task to another, try focusing on one thing for an extended period of time.

This may feel strange at first (our brains are hardwired to seek out new and novel things!), but with time you’ll get used to it and your chilled brain will thank you for it.

To sum up

If you want to learn information effectively and grow a healthy, resilient and strong brain, you need to find ways to stay calm.

Pick a strategy from the list above and test it out. Notice how you feel before and after. Feel less stressed? Great! Keep doing it. Feel the same or worse? Try another strategy. Keep experimenting until you find something that works for you and your lifestyle.

Got a stress-busting strategy that works for you? Feel free to share your best strategies below!

Stress and the teenage brain

Here’s a fact that may surprise you:

The average high school student today experiences the same level of anxiety as the average psychiatric patient of the 1950s.

Take a moment to let that sink in: teenagers who are now considered normal would have been referred for specialist treatment in the 1950s.

What’s causing teenagers to feel so anxious?

Professor of Psychology at San Diego State University Dr Jean Twenge believes the increase in mental health issues is due to how teenagers spend their time – on smartphones and social media. She states:

“Right when smartphones became common, and teens started spending less time face-to-face, their psychological well-being plummeted.”

screen time and mental health

It turns out the more time you spend in front of a screen and on social media, the more depressed and anxious you’re likely to feel. This article helps to explain why this is the case.

The problem with stress

Stress stops you from enjoying minutes, hours and days of your life. It also makes learning information incredibly difficult.

A stressed brain is like a computer that has been infected with a Trojan virus. It can’t process information efficiently. It runs really slowly and often freezes. Its systems have gone haywire.

stressed teenage brain

Studies show the build up of toxic stress in the brain can shorten our telomeres making us age faster and lead to the development of Alzheimer’s.

But let’s be clear, not all stress is the same …

There’s good stress and then there’s bad stress.

Good stress can help motivate you and propel you into action. It can make you mentally sharper and help you lift your game.

Bad stress is toxic stress that lingers in your brain and body. If not managed well, it can cause serious damage.

If you’re now thinking, That’s it! I’m dropping out of school and university. It’s just too stressful!, think again. Why? Because stress that lingers isn’t always harmful.

Neuroscientists Doctors Dean and Ayesha Sherzai (authors of The Alzheimer’s Solution) argue that we should welcome some forms of chronic stress. They state:

“Pursuing long-term goals towards an important milestone (getting an academic degree, for example, or changing a lifelong habit) can seem overwhelming, but this kind of purposeful action actually creates significant cognitive reserve (a measure of the brain’s resilience). The associated stress may in fact be chronic, but it fits your vision and purpose. The stress has both a direction and a timeline: you set the goal, and you’re in control.”

Here’s the critical factor when it comes to stress: you need to be the boss of it (i.e. in control and able to manage it).

But what if you’re not in control of your stress? What can this do to the developing teenage brain?

Neuroscientist Doctor Richard Restak (author of Think Smart) states:

“It [the adolescent brain] doesn’t manage stress very well. Typically stress in an adult brain causes a rise in cortisol levels (a measure of stress) followed by a gradual decrease over an hour or two.

In adolescents, that burst of cortisol hangs around a lot longer, resulting in sustained exposure of the brain to harmful effects, such as shrinkage of cells in the hippocampus (resulting in memory loss and depression) and the amygdala (resulting in anxiety and other overwhelming emotions).”

He goes onto state:

“This has important consequences because the hippocampus, the amygdala, and the prefrontal cortex are the three brain areas that undergo major changes during adolescence. If these brain areas are damaged by stress hormones, the effect can extend into adulthood …”

In short, stress that is poorly managed can mess with the growth and resilience of the teenage brain.

What can you do to combat toxic stress?

brain power
You need tools, hacks and strategies because toxic stress is an ugly beast. The good news is there is no shortage of effective strategies out there: meditation, walks in nature, avoiding multi-tasking, having time-out from technology (e.g. The Back to the 1950s technique), exercise, etc.

The challenge is to make stress management a top priority. Set aside some time each day to engage in activities that relax your body and brain. If you want to optimise your brainpower, it’s well worth spending the time to do this.

In the next blog post, I’ll share a range of different strategies to decrease and manage toxic stress in your life.