Amir Hariz scored excellence for his IGCSE Sociology Exam after his mother’s insistence to him not to drop the subject.
When Amir Hariz signed up for Sociology as an elective in Year 10, little did he know that he was going to be dealing with one of the most challenging subjects! “I thought it would be the easiest subject of all because the word ‘socio’ connotes socialisation and I had the perception that I would be learning about how to stay engaged and communicate with others but I was proved wrong by the end of my first term,” Amir recalled.
The subject required a lot of writing skills with contents that stretches from learning about social issues faced by families, in the education arenas, in the social media, to issues concerning about crimes and social inequality.
“The subject matter was so diverse and one have had to read a lot to truly comprehend a topic. There was no way for anyone taking this subject to think of slacking off or taking it easy as every single lesson was inter-linked to the other,” Amir said. With the copious amounts of reading required, Amir decided to give up and drop the subject when he progressed to Year 11.
“I was scoring a ‘D’ in my term exam and I thought that there was no way to succeed in this subject for the final IGCSE exam. I was already struggling with other subjects and the idea of dropping Sociology became apparent.” Amir said.
However, Amir’s decision of dropping the subject was not accepted by his mother, Ms Ija, who think that he should persevere and not worry about scoring a stellar result after a year of studying the subject. “We got together, did a readout on the subject and we both agreed that Sociology encompasses a very wide breadth of perspectives of how humans have to live to survive in the world.” Ms. Ija shared.
Ms. Ija found the subject very interesting and stimulating for one’s mind and she think that it would be a credit for her son, Amir, to learn new perspectives. She think the main point of succeeding this subject should not only be on passing the exams but should be focused on the learning one can extract from each lesson.
Ms. Ija thanked the Sociology teacher, Mr. Peter Soh, for his endless support rendered to Amir throughout his high school. She said, “Mr. Peter kept Amir challenged and gave him the much needed confidence to tackle the subject.”
Amir’s re-decision to continue with the subject started with consistent studying and working closely with his teacher, Mr. Peter, to improve on his learning issues and methods.
“It made me feel surer and more confident when Mr. Peter told me that I was actually doing fine. I started to reflect deeply on his words of encouragement and made up my mind to do my utmost best for Sociology,” Amir said.
Amir became aware of his learning progress and dedicated about five hours per day to practise tackling sociological essays and past year questions, with Mr. Peter’s guidance.
“When I found that I can tackle questions without any reference to the course book, I felt a great sense of satisfaction. I realised that the struggle to understand better was actually an opportunity to learn more and be more effective. At the same time, I learnt information extraction and stay progressively consistent in all my efforts,” he shared.
Today, Amir’s dedicated efforts paid off! He achieved A* in the June 2022 IGCSE Exam. “Being forced to face our fear is actually not a bad thing after all,” he quipped.
He advises his juniors not to give up too easily but to face reality, not to be afraid to fall, be strong to stand up again and again for this makes one stronger! “It is a positive advantage to be able to create opportunities to work closely with your teachers and mentors. Have strong faith to want to succeed and be constant in learning consistency.” These are Amir’s important advices to all students who will be taking on the oncoming IGCSE exams. Amir has started on his next venture, an IB Diploma Programme in India. We wish him well and know that he will be successful in whatever he sets out to do in the future.
