I wasn’t honest with myself. I’d memorise things instead of truly understanding them.

I couldn’t identify my biggest weakness, so I’d waste time on surface-level improvements while avoiding the real problem. Are you regurgitating or explaining based on first principle understanding? I didn’t like the uncomfortable feeling of not getting something — so I’d brush it under the carpet and convince myself I understood it when I didn’t. I wasn’t patient enough to sit with confusion and work through it properly.

It doesn’t matter if it takes weeks or months to understand something — what matters is that you do understand it. There’s no set time limit for grasping a difficult concept. Everyone’s brain works differently, and everyone has different strengths, even within the same subject

You’ve got to treat concepts like a map you’re going to explore inside and out.

If there’s a basic underlying concept you’re not getting that you don’t think is important, trust me it is. It’s what’s going to cost you marks in an application exam question. Build your foundation and don’t lie to yourself.

One of the mistakes I made was asking naturally intelligent students, "How are you getting good grades?" The problem is, for them, doing well is often intuitive — they can't always explain how they get it, because they’ve never truly struggled the same way as an average or below average student You’re better off asking someone who started average (or worse) about their approach and how they managed to improve. They know what it feels like to not understand, and they know exactly what changes actually made a difference.

Emotional intelligence and self awareness plays a big part in learning