ATAR Notes: Forum
VCE Stuff => Victorian Education Discussion => The VCE Journey Journal => Topic started by: Jimmmy on January 27, 2019, 12:22:39 am
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Hey All!
I'm relatively new to these forums, so I figured I'd start one of these! I'm going into Year 12 this year (only four days away :o), and am doing Mathematical Methods, English Language, Philosophy, Legal Studies & German this year, having done Business Management in Year 11.
A little bit about me; I'm a big sports player/fan, and try to get involved in any sport at any opportunity. I'm afraid school has/will continue to negatively affect that this year, but that's just a part of life I guess. I do try to get involved in other extra-curriculars to keep my mind away from the daily grind though. Alongside School Sports, I've been involved in Debating since Year 7, been involved in Chess Club and done some volunteer and fundraising work for various causes over my 'high school life', but particular the past few years. I got involved in Leadership in Year 10 and will be heavily involved again this year, and alongside that participation I've also contributed with my peers in implementing/running some Student Voice programs around the school. Public Speaking and such is definitely something I enjoy, so anything that allows me to talk/interact with others is something I'm usually enthusiastic about!
Outside of the school arena, I do Pilates :D sorta links in with my love/need for sports in my life, and I briefly considering doing physiotherapy at Uni, but once I'd locked my subjects in I realised that wasn't gonna happen. :P I was actually quite keen on theater in my primary school years, so much that I ended up scoring the lead role in our school production...and it's on video, so even though I can't sing now I do have evidence that there was once a time where I could ;D I'm also pretty big on fantasy sports, although that'll take a back seat this year. AFL SuperCoach, Fantasy Premier League etc. is always good fun.
Why am I starting up a journal?
I'm doing this for a few reasons, but it mostly revolves around my desire to keep a record of things. Since the end of 2016 (Year 9), life has gotten pretty hectic and heaps of stuff has happened in my sporting/school/leadership/personal life, so much that a massive chunk of this summer was devoted to trying to organise pictures/dates/"memories" of the last few years, a bit obsessive I know, and something I need to chill out about and do less of. I'm only new, but it feels like we've got such an amazing community here, so I also want to share my experiences to help others if I can. I want this journal to keep me accountable throughout the year, but also to serve as a record of how I tracked, alongside the memories that come with the next year.
Goals
Firstly, and most importantly, I want to go with the flow. I mentioned my tendency to over organise earlier, but I really just want to reassure myself throughout the year that not 'everything' needs to be kept in a folder, recorded and written down :-X That way, I can enjoy the year a bit more and maybe even perform better. So I want to organise things (pictures, meetings etc.) when necessary, but if it's not and is time consuming, I'll leave it and have faith I'll finish Year 12 and still have a memory of the good moments. :) Simplifying things and being more efficient, the amount of time I spent trying to find pictures of events last year was ridiculous. ;D
In terms of my subjects, I will put a few numbers together but I really have no idea how this year, with five subjects to worry about, will go;
Methods: I would love a 40 Raw, that's my goal. I'm expecting high 30s, because I did pretty well in 1&2, but aiming high!
EngLang: I want to make BusMan my 5th subject, so a 42-43 Raw would be great. I did pretty well on the SACs applicable to Year 12 in 1&2, so I'm hoping I can hit that mark. Definitely the subject I worked the least on in Year 11 due to my 3&4, so I think this is where the biggest scale of improvement can come.
Philosophy: It's the subject where I still have a tiny bit of holiday homework to complete :-X I think a 40 is definitely possible, the only issue is we have a small cohort, so it'll be interesting to see if that affects anything. a 40 is definitely the aim.
Legal Studies: My best subject, the subject I finished my holiday homework the earliest and my favourite subject out of the ones I'm doing this year, and the one I'm gonna need to ace if I am to achieve an outstanding ATAR. 45+ is my aim, and I'm hoping it just comes down to having a good exam day, as to whether I can exceed even that.
Global Politics: I entered it at the last possible moment, with minor background knowledge and a keen interest but not much more. Anything over a 35 raw will mean I'm content with the switch, as I wasn't going to do much better scaled-wise in the other option. However, after looking over the Exam and textbook in general, I reckon this could be one of my better subjects. 40 raw is probably my optimist score.
German: My weakest subject by a long way, and one I'm doing because it really lets me think differently and will be a break from the 'smashing my head against books/texts' of the above four. Allows me to talk, which is one of my strengths in the speaking assessment but my writing and listening need heaps of work. A 25 Raw would keep me satisfied.
I completed BusMan last year, and ended up with a 42 Raw. I wasn't entirely satisfied, as I expected better but the exam really didn't favour our cohort and how we revised, so you live and you learn. I have heaps of notes on it though, so if anybody is doing it this year and wants a different perspective, feel free to message me!
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That's it from me for the moment, I'm sure there's stuff I missed but you'll definitely see updates, so I'll remember and add stuff as the year progresses. :) Feel free to ask me any questions that you wonder about.
(BTW I'm only up this late because of the Aus Open, another goal; make sure I'm in bed by 11:30 on school nights ;D)
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Hey, great to see this new journal, and really awesome to see that you've put a lot of thought into how you want this year to turn out. I love the goals that you've put together for yourself, looks great. If you really want to look ahead, a word of advice is to check out a bunch of past exams for all your subjects, as this gives you a really good understanding of where you are heading for the year. For any more advice, check out the link in my signature. Great job on your BusMan score by the way, good luck with your other subjects as well. I look forward to the continuation of this journal! :D
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Hey, great to see this new journal, and really awesome to see that you've put a lot of thought into how you want this year to turn out. I love the goals that you've put together for yourself, looks great. If you really want to look ahead, a word of advice is to check out a bunch of past exams for all your subjects, as this gives you a really good understanding of where you are heading for the year. For any more advice, check out the link in my signature. Great job on your BusMan score by the way, good luck with your other subjects as well. I look forward to the continuation of this journal! :D
Thanks Yertle! I just had a look at your Year 12 advice, and it looks like we think very alike! The whole 'go with the flow' mantra seemed to be positive for you, so hopefully I can implement it successfully too.
An early update here; I found out today that one of our Philosophy books isn't in print yet, and won't be until mid-March. Around a third of the study design has been changed, so they needed to reprint both our textbooks used for the subject. Interestingly enough, I actually bought the two old textbooks last year, not realising the changes. I accepted it as a loss at the time and just used them for some casual reading in December, but it turns out that chain of events may turn out to be quite serendipitous for the first 6 or so weeks of classes!
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Awesome first post to your journal. Really hope you can keep it active through the year. :)
P.S. I haven't done it for a few years but always happy to chat SuperCoach. ;)
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Awesome first post to your journal. Really hope you can keep it active through the year. :)
P.S. I haven't done it for a few years but always happy to chat SuperCoach. ;)
Thanks Joseph! (apparently Nick too?) ;D
What do you think about an ATARNotes SuperCoach league? Do you think we could round up 18 people somewhat interested in footy?
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Thanks Joseph! (apparently Nick too?) ;D
What do you think about an ATARNotes SuperCoach league? Do you think we could round up 18 people somewhat interested in footy?
Haha yep, feel free to call me either.
SuperCoach - I reckon we'll potentially struggle for the numbers, but feel free to give it a crack! And I hope to see you over on the sport boards. ;)
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Hey there,
From what I've read, I am really excited to keep up with your journey this year! It sounds like you're one of those amazing 'all-rounders' and I think it's fantastic you're planning to keep up with sport/debating/chess/volunteering, as we generally think study is the sole part of our final year, when in reality whilst working hard is obviously the most important, continuing to partake in all the activities you've enjoyed all these years is crucial, otherwise you'll just burn out quickly when you need all the energy to last you for the next ten months. It's kinda like long distance running I think, if you careen through right at the start you'll have no energy left, whereas if you maintain a steady pace, you'll conserve energy and motivation to sprint at the end and emerge triumphant. And Pilates and theatre, I also love and would definitely encourage you to get back into theatre productions! What do you love most about debating/public speaking? I definitely get what you mean about capturing memories, I'm like that too, and that's one of the reasons I decided to start my journal!
not 'everything' needs to be kept in a folder, recorded and written down
Nothing has resonated with me more! And I have decided to adopt your ‘go with the flow’ mantra as I am never living in the present moment.
I love the sound of your subjects, Legal Studies and Philosophy almost made it onto my own subjects. I’m actually currently pondering why I didn’t choose Philosophy?? And German I’m planning to learn after I finish school because of how much I’ve loved learning about the culture so far. Congrats on a fantastic score for BusMan last year!
Oh and the Aus Open has meant absurd bedtimes for us too, definitely need to get back into the habit of going to bed at a reasonable time!
I have no doubt you’ll smash 2019!
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Hey Jimmmy, it's really nice to see a new user already contributing a bunch. I'm also very much into sports, especially footy, who do you support?
Good luck with this year and I'm looking forward to reading future entries :)
SuperCoach - I reckon we'll potentially struggle for the numbers, but feel free to give it a crack! And I hope to see you over on the sport boards. ;)
If it's anything like tipping last year, a few will join but stop tipping after a while me :P
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Haha yep, feel free to call me either.
SuperCoach - I reckon we'll potentially struggle for the numbers, but feel free to give it a crack! And I hope to see you over on the sport boards. ;)
I've definitely spotted it, and it'll only be a matter of time before I *attempt* to get some SuperCoach interest drumming.
Hey there,
From what I've read, I am really excited to keep up with your journey this year! It sounds like you're one of those amazing 'all-rounders' and I think it's fantastic you're planning to keep up with sport/debating/chess/volunteering, as we generally think study is the sole part of our final year, when in reality whilst working hard is obviously the most important, continuing to partake in all the activities you've enjoyed all these years is crucial, otherwise you'll just burn out quickly when you need all the energy to last you for the next ten months. It's kinda like long distance running I think, if you careen through right at the start you'll have no energy left, whereas if you maintain a steady pace, you'll conserve energy and motivation to sprint at the end and emerge triumphant. And Pilates and theatre, I also love and would definitely encourage you to get back into theatre productions! What do you love most about debating/public speaking? I definitely get what you mean about capturing memories, I'm like that too, and that's one of the reasons I decided to start my journal!
Nothing has resonated with me more! And I have decided to adopt your ‘go with the flow’ mantra as I am never living in the present moment.
Hi Mango! Thanks so much! I've read through your journey thus far also and I must say, it's super unique and I love it. I'm trying to stay upbeat, hopefully I can last the next 10 months :D I really enjoy interacting with other people, so that pretty much sums up why I enjoy public speaking/debating. It's my main outlet with friends and such, which I guess is both a positive and a negative in different ways.
I love the sound of your subjects, Legal Studies and Philosophy almost made it onto my own subjects. I’m actually currently pondering why I didn’t choose Philosophy?? And German I’m planning to learn after I finish school because of how much I’ve loved learning about the culture so far. Congrats on a fantastic score for BusMan last year!
Oh and the Aus Open has meant absurd bedtimes for us too, definitely need to get back into the habit of going to bed at a reasonable time!
I have no doubt you’ll smash 2019!
My subjects were a massive headache for a while. As I'm sure you've spotted, I'm not doing a single science :-[ I enjoyed it, but I just couldn't see myself in a science based job, probably regretting that now when I'm attempting analysis of texts in Philosophy and extended response questions in Legal :-X Tonight made me a little sad though, I would've loved to see Rafa complete the double career Slam. :'(
Thanks for the interest, and I'll be sure to pop by your journey journal regularly also :) We've got a great community here that will hopefully enable all of us to do well.
Hey Jimmmy, it's really nice to see a new user already contributing a bunch. I'm also very much into sports, especially footy, who do you support?
Good luck with this year and I'm looking forward to reading future entries :)
If it's anything like tipping last year, a few will join but stop tipping after a while me :P
Don't worry MB, I'll rope you in with some sneaky tips on how to win the 50k. I haven't got super close myself, but I have a mate who finished top 5 a few years ago. :o
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^Top five would be infuriating.
I finished 215th a few years ago and worked out that picking Judd over Murphy at the start of the year (or the other way around - I can't remember) would have made the difference.
Top five would just be painful haha.
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^Top five would be infuriating.
I finished 215th a few years ago and worked out that picking Judd over Murphy at the start of the year (or the other way around - I can't remember) would have made the difference.
Top five would just be painful haha.
Don't worry MB, I'll rope you in with some sneaky tips on how to win the 50k. I haven't got super close myself, but I have a mate who finished top 5 a few years ago. :o
I don't think I've finished that well overall but I did once come fourth overall in a round (which is one off a prize), I think I peaked there.
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Update!
We had Camp last week, it was short and sweet but pretty enjoyable. Team building activities were really fun and we had it near the beach which was nice. :)
Day one of classes is done today, and they were all really chill about holiday homework which is slightly concerning :-X I hope my Philosophy teacher is as chill about it when he sees my rubbish pile of analyses and essays tomorrow. I'm also panicking about a Methods pre-test, since I smashed out all of my Methods homework relatively early in the holidays and other than looking/answering on the VCE Methods Question thread on here, I haven't done much else.
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Update!
We had Camp last week, it was short and sweet but pretty enjoyable. Team building activities were really fun and we had it near the beach which was nice. :)
Day one of classes is done today, and they were all really chill about holiday homework which is slightly concerning :-X I hope my Philosophy teacher is as chill about it when he sees my rubbish pile of analyses and essays tomorrow. I'm also panicking about a Methods pre-test, since I smashed out all of my Methods homework relatively early in the holidays and other than looking/answering on the VCE Methods Question thread on here, I haven't done much else.
What was the highlights of the camp, aside from the beach and the team building activities? :)
Best of luck for the methods pre-test tomorrow, I'm sure you've got this in the bag! :) Hopefully your philosophy teacher is also nice about the essays and anaylses- that being said, you may have done better on them than you thought as well! ^-^
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What was the highlights of the camp, aside from the beach and the team building activities? :)
Best of luck for the methods pre-test tomorrow, I'm sure you've got this in the bag! :) Hopefully your philosophy teacher is also nice about the essays and anaylses- that being said, you may have done better on them than you thought as well! ^-^
Well, we did mountain bike riding and it's probably the most extreme sport I've ever done :P We spent most of the time on the beach, played beach soccer, cricket and classic, octopus on sand. :o
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octopus on sand
I feel for your knees haha.
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You know when they say a week is a long time in football? Well, the past week (or nine days I suppose) has brought some interesting developments, and has felt like an eternity to be honest.
Last Thursday I pretty much had an epiphany and realised I wasn't comfortable continuing German, not because I didn't like it, but the worry of being assessed on it overcame me. I'd already showed interest in Global Politics and had spoken to the teacher on many occasions, so I jumped straight into it and am gradually catching up on the work I missed, but feel pretty confident going forward with it. So since I haven't got a goal for it, here it is;
Global Politics: I entered it at the last possible moment, with minor background knowledge and a keen interest but not much more. Anything over a 35 raw will mean I'm content with the switch, as I wasn't going to do much better scaled-wise in the other option. However, after looking over the Exam and textbook in general, I reckon this could be one of my better subjects. 40 raw is probably my optimist score.
The work this week has been...a lot. I probably spent 4-5 hours at a desk from Monday to Friday this week outside of class, and don't really feel at all ahead so that's a minor worry. A heap of Methods chapters to catch up on, although the theory all makes sense which is good. Philosophy has been really dense, so many questions from the textbook to answer! Over 70, pretty intense but I'm almost done there and it's due Tuesday. They're probably the big ones of note that I'm 'worried' about, the rest is about on track.
Our first Legal SAC is Wednesday week, and I'm sorta looking forward to it. Hoping to smash it and get off to a good start.
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So I was trying to study yesterday but there was a big party going on next door with loud music until like 11:30 last night, and I hate studying past that time so I just called it a night.
Wake up this morning, did a bit of study mid-morning and the music is back on again. :-\
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Been a pretty cool week, met with the Junior School Captains to do a bit of intra-leadership planning of some events so that was great. Have been slowly catching up on Methods, notes are organised but I haven't started my bound reference yet so I really should get to it, but I honestly don't really know where to start. I've gotten 128 page books with binder holes as I've heard they're useful if you want to connect one workbook with another.
The Legal SAC is this Wednesday, almost finished theory, made Quizlets and definition banks and am doing some practice questions tonight.
Probably a busy night ahead though, Global Pol & EngLang need some notes to be written up :-X
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Any events you're particularly interested in?
How are you finding taking notes as a study method?
Good luck for the SAC :)
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Any events you're particularly interested in?
How are you finding taking notes as a study method?
Good luck for the SAC :)
Hey miniturtle!
I'm actually School Captain this year, so I'm pretty keen to initiate a bunch of ideas at the school that are new, or have been brought back from previous years alongside my other leadership team members. Soo many great ideas, but namely some fundraising, starting some student led study groups among some increased extra-curricular stuff around the school. It's only early in the year, but the signs are good. :)
I love taking notes, but it's something I wish I was quicker at doing. :-X Online is quick for me, but my teachers love handwritten stuff so it sorta puts me in a difficult position. Just need to hurry, I guess. Hopefully I'll be done by the weekend and be able to do a practice SAC or two for Legal.
Thanks!
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Sorry for the extended delay for an update, All! I have reasons, I promise. :'(
So a few weeks back (starting Sunday 24th); I got really ill so I missed pretty much a week of school, including my Legal SAC ...and a heap of work, as you could imagine. I got back last Monday, and followed up with an English Language SAC on the Wednesday and then my Legal alternate later that day. Safe to say, it's been a week of madly rushing to try catch up. I don't think either went too badly, but considering the state of mind I was in I won't be sure until I get the results back.
My first Philosophy SAC is this Wednesday, and then Global Politics on Friday. Relatively unprepared for both after missing that much school, but I'm doing my best to claw it back today (yay public holidays!) and tomorrow. I'm also out coaching Year 7 Sports on Wednesday, so I'll technically have the day to keep my mind off school things and when I get back to school, I'll be able to do my SAC relatively fresh (hopefully!).
The workload is really annoying me, because it's taking me out of my good patterns from last year. Back in Year 11, I'd handwrite notes and then redo with thorough summaries on tech, but trying to keep up and revise whilst doing that has been a serious struggle. Other than Legal, where I've maintained that, my other subjects have been either writing full notes and making brief revision summaries on tech (EngLang) or writing revision summaries and using technology to analyse/evaluate/type more detailed notes (Philosophy, Global Pol). I'll eventually type up my EngLang stuff, because it's mostly just theory and metalanguage but the Philosophy & GP stuff I think I'm just gonna have to rely on scribbles on paper and being as quick as possible on my computer to make detailed notes, then put them into revision sources such as Quizlet and do practice questions.
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Update!
I got my Legal & EngLang results back, and I was really happy with them! Both put me near the top of my cohort thus far, and I was particularly surprised with EngLang, a really tough SAC that I managed to figure out by the looks of it.
Global Pol.1A went pretty solid, A+ but I made some really silly mistakes to lose the marks I did, nonetheless considering I just picked it up I'm pretty happy. Philosophy was worse, well down on last year's performance and I'm just not enjoying this area of study right now. Mid-Cohort in that after SAC1A.
I got sick again last week, missing a few days which is so frustrating. Methods on Tuesday, EngLang 1B on Wednesday & Philosophy on Friday is this week's schedule. Trying to claw back the missed work, feeling great for Methods as I was ready to do it last week before getting sick and am now feeling almost normal for the first time in a while, EngLang & Philosophy is today's job. :-X
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Update!
I got my Legal & EngLang results back, and I was really happy with them! Both put me near the top of my cohort thus far, and I was particularly surprised with EngLang, a really tough SAC that I managed to figure out by the looks of it.
Global Pol.1A went pretty solid, A+ but I made some really silly mistakes to lose the marks I did, nonetheless considering I just picked it up I'm pretty happy. Philosophy was worse, well down on last year's performance and I'm just not enjoying this area of study right now. Mid-Cohort in that after SAC1A.
I got sick again last week, missing a few days which is so frustrating. Methods on Tuesday, EngLang 1B on Wednesday & Philosophy on Friday is this week's schedule. Trying to claw back the missed work, feeling great for Methods as I was ready to do it last week before getting sick and am now feeling almost normal for the first time in a while, EngLang & Philosophy is today's job. :-X
Nice one! What made the EngLang SAC so tough?
Sounds like you're smashing it.
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Nice one! What made the EngLang SAC so tough?
Sounds like you're smashing it.
The text was a transcript from a radio morning breakfast show which was a touch confusing in terms of outlining functions, changes in attitude throughout etc. and some of the concepts we needed to discuss (ie. face needs, semantic use of non-fluency features, topic management etc.) didn't go too well for a lot of us. I think I got a little bit lucky with that one in all honesty, especially considering the amount of class I missed.
I won't give a thorough update now since it's almost midnight here, but since I've been up for the last 4 hours chatting philosophy with a mate to revise for tomorrow's SAC, I thought I'd pop in here and say hi. As a little precursor, it's fair to say this week's SACs have seen the good and the ugly, let's hope tomorrow is the second coming of good.
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(Also, on my screen apparently I upvoted your post so hard I downvoted it twice, and I am so sorry, I don't even know HOW I broke it that badly-)
Not your fault! This is a really weird glitch that happens from time to time. We've looked into it and can't really work it out yet! I can re-store the upvotes to what they should be. :)
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Stopping by to wish you luck for the SAC today! Hopefully you're able to get some better rest tonight. Take care of yourself!
(Also, on my screen apparently I upvoted your post so hard I downvoted it twice, and I am so sorry, I don't even know HOW I broke it that badly-)
Thanks cat, and seriously don't worry about it. In summary of last week; EngLang: Good, Methods: Ugly, Philosophy: Ok-Good. I got Global Politics 1B back and got a B+ for the essay, apparently it was just small things but it will drop my rank a little I'd imagine.
EngLang was great, I was able to outline the AC really well and got a solid 3 pages down. Methods was awful, I had a mini panic attack midway through the Tech-Free and missed like 5 marks because I somehow lost all memory of the theory :-[ still managed a C overall and no resit, so I guess reset and reload for our next one which isn't for a while anyway. Philosophy on Friday went solid, I did rush my essay a bit but got 2 and a half pages down when I honestly thought I was gonna run out of time. I was just glad my week from hell was over tbh.
The weekend has comprised of full on Legal study, all the theory pretty much done so hoping to get some practice questions done tonight. The SAC is Wednesday, so I'm just leaving my other subjects for a few days to put everything into this. I've got the whole holidays to make up the rest. I've also got some leadership & debating commitments this week too, alongside trivia on Friday against the teachers so I'm psyched up for that!
How are we all going?
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My ATARNotes Summary Course Notes + Topic Tests arrived today! I'm so happy, all my subjects included except Philosophy thanks to the new inclusion of Global Pol. Weird thing is we're doing Australia as our Asia-Pacific state, so some of the China based stuff isn't entirely applicable but useful nonetheless. :)
Studying for my Legal SAC has been rough though, I'm so stressed because everyone did so well last time and although I'm Rank 1, I'm only a slip away from falling way back.
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Hopefully having a strong legal cohort can help you prepare for and do well on the exam - and rankings don't matter as much if a bunch of you ace the exam :)
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Hopefully having a strong legal cohort can help you prepare for and do well on the exam - and rankings don't matter as much if a bunch of you ace the exam :)
Hopefully, but there's not many in our cohort that are overly confident as it is so that might be a bit of a stretch. :-\
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Term 1 done!
Legal SAC went alright, feel like I aced every question except one regarding court delays and even that is negligible so hopefully a good result transpires. Attended an ANZAC Day schools service on Wednesday with a few other Year 12s which was nice, before debating on Thursday & trivia on Friday. Really nice ways to end the term.
Bit of a chill day today, attending the Methods & Legal lectures tomorrow which I'm super excited about!
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First Holiday update!
The lectures were awesome, attended Methods & Legal Studies and both lecturers had a plethora of kahoots, memes and valuable content to keep me very much engaged. The Vic meetup yesterday was amazing, thanks to all the people that made it so enjoyable :) Was working this morning, and getting stuck into some study now.
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First Holiday update!
The lectures were awesome, attended Methods & Legal Studies and both lecturers had a plethora of kahoots, memes and valuable content to keep me very much engaged. The Vic meetup yesterday was amazing, thanks to all the people that made it so enjoyable :) Was working this morning, and getting stuck into some study now.
Was great to meet you!
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Was great to meet you!
You too!
Worked the last couple of days, so I really need to get back on track with my holiday homework. :-X
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You too!
Worked the last couple of days, so I really need to get back on track with my holiday homework. :-X
All about the balance. Bit by bit. You'll get there. :)
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Hey All! Sorry I haven't been active this past month or so! Been super busy, Methods & Legal SACs last week, EngLang & Philosophy SACs tomorrow and Thursday.
Going pretty well, getting some good preparation in for our SAC week which is in a few weeks time, got some results back from the end of last term and they were all positive. Fingers crossed for tomorrow!
I'll be sure to give you a quicker update next time around.
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Hey All! Sorry I haven't been active this past month or so! Been super busy, Methods & Legal SACs last week, EngLang & Philosophy SACs tomorrow and Thursday.
Going pretty well, getting some good preparation in for our SAC week which is in a few weeks time, got some results back from the end of last term and they were all positive. Fingers crossed for tomorrow!
I'll be sure to give you a quicker update next time around.
Good luck for today dude! Let us know how you go. :)
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Hey All,
I'll go the long way around this time. VCAA timetable came out last Wednesday and safe to say I was *over the moon* to see EngLang on the 31st...I mean it's like a few days after my birthday which sucks but I'm so rapt it's not in the corridor of uncertainty that would've been that third/final week of exams. I kept scrolling and got mighty annoyed seeing Methods #1, Philo & Methods #2 in back to back days, but since they're currently my two worst subjects I guess I can just smash out the other three? Then week breaks between this, Legal & Politics. Safe to say, I'm not looking forward to prepping for two exams on the same day as dense as Philo & Methods #2, I struggle enough with two SACs on the same day! However, it could've been worse so I'm sorta grateful.
Good luck for today dude! Let us know how you go. :)
A+ on the AC :D I was super happy with how it went and it feels good to know the result showed that. Legal went well, Methods did not and Philo was in between.
Now, back to the present. SAC week has arrived! EngLang Essay tomorrow, we know it's on register but nothing else, I've written a practice essay and done some practice plans/intros. Hoping to spend all of tonight touching up on my examples/quotes/article evidence, fingers crossed I can put another good essay on paper!
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Congrats on getting through that chunk of SACs and for your results - particularly that A+ analytical commentary. That's awesome, really well done. :) Sending good vibes for tomorrow!
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Congrats on getting through that chunk of SACs and for your results - particularly that A+ analytical commentary. That's awesome, really well done. :) Sending good vibes for tomorrow!
Thanks! I'm looking forward to it. Any tips for an Essay? Currently correlating my evidence, register as a topic is so broad it could be anything!
Methods is Wednesday, Legal/Philo double Thursday, then I have the whole weekend for Politics. :)
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Thanks! I'm looking forward to it. Any tips for an Essay? Currently correlating my evidence, register as a topic is so broad it could be anything!
Methods is Wednesday, Legal/Philo double Thursday, then I have the whole weekend for Politics. :)
I think broad preparation like what it sounds as though you're doing is good. Don't want to get too caught up in a specific topic and then get thrown a real curve-ball on the day. :)
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Thanks! I'm looking forward to it. Any tips for an Essay? Currently correlating my evidence, register as a topic is so broad it could be anything!
Methods is Wednesday, Legal/Philo double Thursday, then I have the whole weekend for Politics. :)
Hi Jimmmy,
Would you have any tips on what you should pre-study for Philo, what demeanor to use in class and how to study for assessments? I'm entering Unit 2 Philo in two weeks and some advice would be appreciated, especially someone like you who's currently doing the new study design.
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Hi Jimmmy,
Would you have any tips on what you should pre-study for Philo, what demeanor to use in class and how to study for assessments? I'm entering Unit 2 Philo in two weeks and some advice would be appreciated, especially someone like you who's currently doing the new study design.
Hi Nathan! Good to see another Philosophy face around here. :) I've got a couple of things to mention, so I'll do it in list form;
1) In relation to demeanor in class; ask lots of questions, but make sure you have thought the question through. Philo is very dense, so sometimes you might ask a question that, if you had thought about for a few more minutes, you could've answered yourself. It's probably one of the few subjects where I'd give that advice, but it's definitely beneficial. This year (for our class at least), our teacher has left us a lot to our own devices to research and come up with arguments/rebuttals, so getting into that habit early puts you a step ahead.
2) In terms of study? I found Y11 very different to 12 in that you don't study set texts in 11 but do in 12. I'd suggest practice (as I've listed in (3)), and if you get bored of the set texts for next year, I'd highly suggest David Armstrong's 'Nature of Mind' if you have spare time. In Philo, the more you read, and more understanding you accumulate, the better you'll go.
3)3&4 Philosophy has set texts, and only those set texts that you must refer to in each AOS. There's not much, but it's quite dense so if I were you, I'd start investigating those texts and getting a grasp of them before next year. It's something I would've done, but the *annoyingly* new study design coming out late ruined that. Make sure that by next year, you know the set texts like the back of your hand.
4)The next step, EVALUATION! The majority of Philo marks (extended response, essay) require your own arguments, ideas etc., now this is where people get a bit confused. You can use philosophers who aren't listed in the study design in evaluations and critically compare questions, despite the fact they're not technically 'your arguments'. Considering that, after taking a look at the set texts, I would highly suggest browsing some rebuttals, and counter-arguments to the set texts that you can discuss in detail. Think of the set texts logically, there's always going to be holes. Like a philosophy teacher once told me, 'if any of these philosophers had solved any of these problems, they'd have nobel prizes'.
5)Make sure you like Metaphysics! In Year 11, we did Epistemology, Metaphysics, Logic, Ethics and even touched on Aesthetics. Year 12 is strictly Metaphysics, with Logic being sort of 'pre-required' knowledge. I was always a big knowledge fan, so in all honesty I'm not enjoying Year 12 quite as much as last year. That said, it's still a wonderful study design and some may find it much more enjoyable.
I hope that was somewhat helpful, and if you have any other questions please ask :) Always up for a Philo chat.
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Thank you Jimmy :D, I'll make sure I get Metaphysics down pat by the end of this year. In terms of argument analysis, a teacher at Distance Ed sent me this link: http://philosophy.hku.hk/think/arg/ that supposedly teaches you the techniques of reasoning needed. Honestly, quite skeptical about this link because of the bad rep about the resources suggested by DECV(not sure about Philo there). Would love some altruism here aha.
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Thank you Jimmy :D, I'll make sure I get Metaphysics down pat by the end of this year. In terms of argument analysis, a teacher at Distance Ed sent me this link: http://philosophy.hku.hk/think/arg/ that supposedly teaches you the techniques of reasoning needed. Honestly, quite skeptical about this link because of the bad rep about the resources suggested by DECV(not sure about Philo there). Would love some altruism here aha.
Honestly, resources are so hard to find for Philo. I highly suggest linking up with some other schools you know do Philo and trying to brainstorm ideas that way. I'm fortunate my cohort is pretty good with class discussion generating ideas.
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Hey All!
Been a long time in between drinks, but thought I'd finally get back around to this! In reality, nothing much has happened since my last post on June 16. The SAC week was the weeks prior to it, and only had a Methods SAC first week back this term and a Philosophy SAC today!
SAC week results went well, all but Methods sorta being a pain. Everything else was at expected, or exceeded expectations. EngLang Unit 3 Essay went great, Methods was meh but considering how I felt about the theory at the time that was accepted, Legal was pretty straightforward, Philo I thought I did better straight after than my results showed, but still happy and despite GloPol being littered with a few silly mistakes, but still very good.
My holidays were 'relatively' productive. You know how you always feel like you should do more, despite getting it all done? That's how I felt.
I'll hold off on making any 'mid-year' predictions, as I don't want to jinx my two very important SACs tomorrow, but Legal, EngLang & Politics predictions have all definitely gone up. I really have high hopes, but I'm going to just keep working as hard as I can and hope the results show. Philo probably the same, and Methods, despite my best mark yet on the last sac which exceeded my last 'best' result by a grade (A!), I still want to keep conservative and just make sure I get the prerequisite of 25 to keep my options open.
I'm caught in a bit of a whirlwind right now, lots of SACs this term, lots to do, and despite wanting to keep my notes 'nice and orderly' as I have done for all of my subjects except Philo tbh, I need to prioritise my SAC performance too. They go in conjunction, but only to a limited extent in my eyes.
I feel like I'm going to have to spend the whole Term 3 holidays basically 'patching up' and metaphorically 'sticking together' all my notes and ideas.
Will 100% put up another update sooner than the last!
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Well, this update is still sooner than the last :P
I'm just gonna summarise my subjects in a sentence or so (or a phrase/word), and most likely put up a more comprehensive recap tonight.
Methods: Good, then very bad, but practice exams show on the way up.
Legal: Perfect.
Philosophy: I'm very tired of this.
EngLang: Scary but then it was good, work does pay off sometimes.
GloPol: Underachieving.
;D
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Lectures today! Super fun, Legal and Politics, definitely valuable information and a good summary.
Done a few scattered practice exams in the first week, been a bit everywhere to be honest. Getting caught in that no mans land between revising/touching up notes and doing practice exams.
Aiming to get a sizable amount done in this next 7 days!
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Aiming to get a sizable amount done in this next 7 days!
Respect the grind brudda
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Respect the grind brudda
Thanks Dude, appreciate it!
Been hectic. Organising school magazine articles, meeting with teachers for leadership and just generally life.
More to come!
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Thanks Dude, appreciate it!
Been hectic. Organising school magazine articles, meeting with teachers for leadership and just generally life.
More to come!
Looking forward to hearing about it all. :)
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Been a pretty intense few weeks! Lots of studying (naturally), but also trying to keep up and do as many practice exams as possible. I'm not really sure how intrinsically valuable they are, but they're (sorta) keeping my peace of mind at bay. It's as if having the ability to tick off practice exams is giving me a sort of therapy.
Additionally, the last few leadership meetings have been pretty emotional, getting all our class pictures. It's a surreal feeling. Not really sure how to approach it. We've got Graduation early this week alongside our final day, so writing a speech for that has been almost overwhelming, then EngLang is in roughly 11 days. Done 8 full, timed practice exams for it and am hovering around the 75-80 in the last few. Hoping to boost that to the 85-90 range by this time next week to feel really prepared for exam day.
Can't believe it's (almost) over, not necessarily because it's always been sunshine and daisies, it hasn't, but just the fact that an experience where I've learned so much is finally coming to an end. Being at school has really been like a family, you don't always get on, with some people sometimes rarely, but the appreciation of our shared journey is not something I've taken for granted.
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Definitely know what you mean about ticking off the practice exams.
Soak it all in. 👊
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EngLang:
Short Answer was mostly fine, Essay Q6 was okay, discussed the range of ethnolects/sociolects and indigenous Englishes and influence/use in adding/detracting from the 'enrichment' of AE.
But...I basically ran out of time and rushed the AC and despite getting 3 odd pages down, I spoke mostly about Hughesy & Kate's Aussie Identity and purposes of getting people to call in, a phatic function, building rapport through typical Aussie characteristics and also transitioning to inform at the end.
Not much Entertainment analysis (if anything) at all.
I'll see myself out.
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So I got really sick on Friday night.
Which makes me think I wasn't that well on Wednesday or Thursday either because I was coughing and sneezing but I thought it was just hayfever.
Wonderful times.
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So I got really sick on Friday night.
Which makes me think I wasn't that well on Wednesday or Thursday either because I was coughing and sneezing but I thought it was just hayfever.
Wonderful times.
Crappy timing. Hope you get much better soon!
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On the eve of my final exam, a quick recap;
I recovered, Methods #1 went solid, Philosophy went swimmingly, Methods #2 went average, but considering it was on the same day it was to be expected. Legal went well. It's all on Politics tomorrow! The very chance of getting a 95+ ATAR hinges on it.
I've done less practice exams than I would've liked (5), but I've done a lot of practice questions outside separately, and I did like 12 for Language, so by no means are numbers a good indicator. My last two I hit 74 & 75 out of 80, so if I can surpass the 70 mark tomorrow I'll be pretty satisfied.
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How did it end up going Jimmmy?
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How did it end up going Jimmmy?
Hey Laura! Sorry for the delay, honestly just spent the last two weeks playing so much sport and contemplating life :o
The Politics exam was interesting, it's a surreal feeling knowing it's the last time you'll be sitting a high school "test". The worst feeling was looking at the exam in reading time after remembering a practice exam I'd done on the Friday before. For those who aren't familiar, the Politics Exam is 60 marks Short Answer/Extended Response, and a 20 mark essay, where you get a choice of four prompts. Essentially, I'd gotten a prompt in the practice along the lines of 'global governance assisting security and stability of states', didn't choose it but thought it was interesting so did a brief plan with my teacher for it, but because of time restraints I neglected from doing it fully and getting it checked. Anyway, it came up on the exam :-[ and the other Area of Study that I was most confident with threw up an absolute howler of a prompt, so I did the one I did do a brief plan for. I didn't feel too bad about it, but just the speed benefit of having done THE EXACT PROMPT beforehand would've given me a massive boost that I missed out on, so that sucks. I actually went over this exam with my teacher last week, and even assuming I butchered the essay, we agreed I can't have lost many more than 12-13 marks total, so I *should* surpass 40, fingers crossed!
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Okay, I'm finally back here.
Last week was hectic; leadership conferences, presentation nights, and that *magical* score that came out for all us Year 12s...the ATAR. After presenting to politicans, teachers and researchers...most of whom are completing a PhD, waking up on Thursday morning didn't feel too bad! I woke up around 6:40, walked out into the family room to grab my phone (I rarely slept in the same room as my phone, superstition sorta thing), and turned it on to open my results on e-mail/app on there. I didn't dare use my PC, at least if bad news came through it'd mean I'd use my phone less, and not be turned off using my computer!
The email came early (6:41 to be exact), and I honestly thought it was some prank initially. Then I checked VCEDS and saw others getting their results, so I knew it was probably legit. So there I was still in bed, about to open my results. I wasn't nearly as nervous opening them as I was opening Business at the end of 2018 (oddly), maybe I was just over it all and knew the score was a bit of a dodgy marker anyway? Then I opened the email, and thought the email was even dodgier, because the scores seemed...well odd at first look. I'll do through it subject by subject:
English Language: Jan 2019 Goal: 42, Pre-Exam Goal: 42, Post-Exam Goal 37.
I really thought I bombed this exam, so getting a 39 was an absolute shock. The statement of marks did put me at some ease, the essay ultimately carried me heavily.
Philosophy Jan 2019 Goal: 40, Pre-Exam Goal: 31, Post-Exam Goal: 35
The whole year in Philosophy was pretty painful, but after taking an extended break off it from the end of Term 3 to (basically) the week before the exam did me the world of good, I got an A in the exam, and frankly if I'd done it at the midyear break or earlier, I might've hit that 40 I was aiming for, but I nailed my prediction with 35.
Methods: Jan 2019 Goal: 38, Pre-Exam Goal: 33, Post-Exam Goal: 30.
I found Exam 1 enjoyable, albeit I knew I made one silly mistake. I thought Exam 2 was an absolute trainwreck after Philosophy though, so landing a 32 was quite the (happy) surprise.
Legal Studies Jan 2019 Goal: 45, Pre-Exam Goal: 50, Post-Exam Goal: 50.
I know predicting a 50 seemed unreasonable, but I was coming off perfect scores in SACs, and I felt good coming out of a notoriously difficult exam, so coming away with a 43, albeit a score I'm content with, was a huge surprise. I did get my statement of marks for it, and the discrepancy between Section A & B is quite odd. Maybe the Examiners didn't like the fact I used cases as evidence in Section A? :P
Global Politics Jan 2019 Goal: 40 raw, Pre-Exam Goal: 42, Post-Exam Goal: 39
I was basically heartbroken after the exam, knowing I could've had a 20/20 essay had I DONE THE RIGHT PRACTICE ESSAY PROMPT >:( turns out I got a 15/20 for it anyway, which wasn't awful, but one large question in the short answer was my only blue there, so a 41 is reasonable enough. I dropped 15 marks (out of 120, so 7.5 technically) in the short answer, so it turns out my previous post was quite pessimistic!
Ultimately, I felt very safe with getting into my course both before and after seeing results, so albeit feeling a little bit lost after receiving that email and thinking 'what was it all for?', there was some satisfaction. I still don't necessarily think the work I put in was entirely worth the 'score' I got out of it, but it was beneficial in other ways. I received my offer for Law/Arts at Monash on Wednesday morning, so I was very happy! Had been my first preference for a while, and despite some thoughts of switching it up, I went with my gut and stuck with it on Friday and Saturday.
It's a ridiculous feeling having to totally reorganise your life from the end of school to uni, and that's the biggest challenge I'm finding. Some people seem to detach really easily...I'm not one of those people! The extracurricular(s) have both helped and hurt me, they've strengthened my bond with my school and particular people I know there, which made this year a hell of a lot easier to cope with, but putting so much effort into 'exams' at the end and then just 'leaving' like leaving the house to grab some milk at the shops just doesn't feel right.
This probably won't be my last post here, so stay tuned for a final edition. :) I hate endings, so it might take a bit.
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Congrats on the great scores!
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Well done and well deserved. Looking forward to a great last post! Would love to hear about your plans for next year and what you're doing over the long break. ;D
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Congrats on the results! Youve done amazingly - best of luck for the future!!
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Congrats on the great scores!
Well done and well deserved. Looking forward to a great last post! Would love to hear about your plans for next year and what you're doing over the long break. ;D
Congrats on the results! Youve done amazingly - best of luck for the future!!
Thanks for the well wishes guys :) I find it fitting that I joined the forums on the first day of the year (and essentially started the journey), and am now ceasing on the final day of the year.
I'm not sure how to start this to be honest, every year that passed felt emotional, but none more than this, not just because of the advance of time and another year of memories, but there being no doubt that it was the most eventful year that I've encountered.
Started in a stressful way, got sick early, recovered and managed to enjoy my studies for pretty much the whole year. Embraced being school captain, and getting involved or running every school event I could. I hope along the way, I was able to help others too! It doesn't always work out as perfectly as you envision, it certainly didn't in 2019, but I was proud of what I was able to contribute to in the end.
With regards to the January goals, I didn't quite manage that 11:30 sleep time slot, nor did I totally separate myself from being the uber-organiser throughout the year (the Year 12 'memories' pull really did exacerbate his photo/memory collecting nature), but I managed to fall into a perfect groove.
That's what I want to keep doing in 2020, helping out wherever I can with those who need in, supporting those going through their final years of schooling and staying active in the community, both school and externally. Playing lots of sport, immersing myself in Uni life (offer locked and loaded, here I come Law!) and meeting a lot of great people is on the horizon. I certainly don't feel like I've had enough time to fully absorb 2019, but that's life. You live once, things go at a million miles an hour most of the time, and rather than trying to slow down, which I partially attempted this year, you need to really enjoy the ride and let it be what it is. You can't control everything in life, and I think that attitude did end up helping me. :)
So, that's it! I got the 'Outstanding ATAR' I was hoping for, got into my course, did as much as I could in terms of extra-curriculars, and really 'embraced the grind'. This journey has come to a close, but look out for the Uni (basically life) journal that'll be coming soon. ;)
It's been a pleasure all! :D