Beansprout's Year 12 (VCE) chronicles

[beansprout]

I was laying in bed a minute ago and I couldn’t sleep because I was worrying about what I’m gonna do when I graduate, will I get an offer for my first preference yada yada regular year 12 stressors… it’s still term 1. I need to relax, honestly. Other than that, I had my chemistry sac and wow was it an event. When I first opened that paper I was so grateful to God and my chemistry teacher for how EASY it seemed. The sac was almost entirely focused on a ton of stoichiometry which was a breeze. I answered every question but I know that some of it was just fluff especially for questions about structure..cloud point or  hygroscopity and just anything in that realm. Even my teacher was like, “just memorise it” and I couldn’t even do that  . Nonetheless I walked out feeling relieved. I thought that I could definitely scrape a decent score. For me though, ‘decent’ in chemistry is significantly lower than what I would consider decent in my other subjects. Then I went home and facetimed my friend who also had the sac and we discussed how we thought we went. We both initially had high hopes and thought it was an easy sac until we started to compare answers. Turns out we got completely different answers for a few questions and we have no idea whether one of us got them right or neither of us did. My friend was frantically searching up the answer for a multiple choice (I forgot the question) and it turned out we both got that one wrong. After that we sat in silence feeling sheepish. Then we hung up. Then we went to school on Tuesday and sulked about it some more. I’ve already gotten over it though and I’m just going to focus on the next topic. Now onto some good news. I received my psychology results back and I was extremely happy and surprised. I got 49/50 (98%)!!! I was GOBSMACKED. The fact that I only lost one mark when I was convinced that I had lost 3 or 4. All of the revision that I did really paid off and I did a LOT. I was already enjoying psych but being able to enjoy it and do well? It’s just the perfect combo. Just when I thought this endless cycle of SACs had come to an end I was  reminded that I still have my biology and further sacs this term. No relaxation for me, how fun. But seriously I’m not stressed for further at all. We did a practice sac and I got 96% so no worries there. I’ll definitely revise though because I don’t want to get cocky and make silly mistakes. The biology sac is also not a big deal as it isn’t a test apparently. Not sure what the exact structure is though but I do really well on written tasks for bio and they have always been where I got those 90s. I hope I get my literature results soon.. even if I don’t I’m sure that my psych result will keep a smile on my face for the rest of the week lmao.

[beansprout]

The one teacher I wouldn't bother about taking their time with marking decided to mark within three days and therefore I received my chemistry results and I'm so ashamed I don't even want to reveal it.

Spoiler

So....... I got 60% which isn't entirely terrible but is also so revolting and I nearly burst into tears when I first saw it. However, it is definitely within the range of what I had predicted but seeing it on paper made it hurt so much more.

Today I completely immersed myself in redox and galvanic cells questions in order to avoid any other disappointing sac performances. So far, so good. Redox is very straight forward in comparison to fuels and nowhere near as tiring, the questions are more difficult but all it requires is a lot of practice. I want to get deep into further revision soon as the SAC covers chapters 1 to 6 so it’s quite hefty. We just finished chapter 5 and at first I couldn’t decide whether or not I should finish all of the exercises before I start doing revision but I’ve decided to start revising 1-5 whilst also doing exercises for ch 6. Turns out my biology sac is a bioethical issue analysis. Whatever that is, it sounds easy peasy but of course I’ll study for it (it’s on DNA manipulation). I feel bad for nucleic acids because the second I found out we aren’t assessed on it I kinda ignored it. I know it’ll be on the exam so I have to work on it to some extent, but I can’t find it in me to prioritise it right now. Maybe over the holidays. It’s not like I don’t know it at all, I wrote my notes weeks ago and have performed well with the practice questions my teacher gave us but the chances of me forgetting all of it is very high. In terms of literature, I think we’ll be starting learning our next area of study next week which is a creative response. We’re studying the Emily dickinson poems. I’m terrible with poetry so it takes multiple rereads for me to pick up what’s actually being said, but once I do understand it I don’t dislike it. I will update when I actually read one of Dickinson’s poems though. Psych is lovely of course. Before I begin wrapping my head around operant conditioning I’m going to finish practice questions on classical conditioning first. I’m starting to get the knack for wording answers for psych questions and it is so rewarding. I’ve basically instilled so many templates into my head and so long as I carefully read the scenario and know exactly what’s being asked of me it’s great. At this point knowing all of the content comes naturally. From AOS1, I can already recall all the steps I had for an unconscious response, regardless of the stimuli. I’m very grateful for the day off on Monday as I’m in dire need of a day to just relax and watch some tv. It has been WEEKS since I’ve watched anything besides one episode of Euphoria on Monday night which is finally over (I loved the mess though).

To whoever’s reading this, enjoy your long weekend

[sodacat_]

The one teacher I wouldn't bother about taking their time with marking decided to mark within three days and therefore I received my chemistry results and I'm so ashamed I don't even want to reveal it.

Spoiler

So....... I got 60% which isn't entirely terrible but is also so revolting and I nearly burst into tears when I first saw it. However, it is definitely within the range of what I had predicted but seeing it on paper made it hurt so much more.

60% isn't bad! As long as you tried your best on it and as long as you work really hard on your other SACs/Tests/Things, I'm sure you'll be just fine! Be proud of yourself, try not to stress too much.

[beansprout]

 ~sodacat~

Spoiler

60% isn't bad! As long as you tried your best on it and as long as you work really hard on your other SACs/Tests/Things, I'm sure you'll be just fine! Be proud of yourself, try not to stress too much.

Hi Sodacat, thank you for the kind words 

Hi AN,

I can already feel how hectic and stressful these next two weeks will be for me as I have FOUR upcoming SACS. I spent the majority of the weekend playing Roblox and procrastinating because I went to bed at 2 every night and then I woke up in the afternoon and only started studying at around 6. Luckily for me I’m not behind in anything, but all that revision time is just wasted (I’m so embarrassed).

The sacs that I have are:
- Further on Monday (Data Analysis)
- Chem on Tuesday (Redox/Galvanic Cells/Fuel Cells)
- Bio on thursday (DNA Manipulation Bioethical)
- Psych on Tuesday in the week after (Learning)

All of them are after school 

In terms of excitement in descending order I feel most excited for Psych, followed by Further, Chem and Bio. I never in a million years thought I’d be more excited for Chemistry than Biology but here we are. Redox is just amazing and I actually do the work and put in the extra effort at home without losing interest. I feel very prepared already for Psychology and Further Maths just because I was consistently practicing after learning the content in class. I think for the rest of the week we’ll just be doing revision in all my classes except for Literature now. Speaking of Lit we have started the creative response and studying Emily Dickinson’s complete poems and they just - make - no - sense. I’ve never done a creative before so I’m not sure what I’ll do but my teacher suggested a new poem which is absolutely not my forte but we will see. I also have more than a month for trial and error so all is well. I have not received my adaptations and transformations results yet because my teacher is apparently very busy.

I cannot wait to get these sacs over and done with and I'm so looking forward to the holidays. Mainly to go to the city for food. But also for the freedom to work through everything i've learnt at my own pace... the pure bliss i'm going to experience. I already know exactly what I need to do for chemistry (everything on my first sac  ) not sure about everything else yet but I plan to solidify my understanding of everything I've have been taught this term and then I'll be able to get ahead for term 2. I cannot believe this term is nearly over though! It's practically flown by.

until next time

[beansprout]

Term 2

It’s been so long since I’ve written on here. A few days after my last post I suddenly became really “ill” as in I was extremely weak and dizzy. In retrospect, it was most likely because I hadn’t eaten properly and had gone to school without food on multiple days. Although I didn’t really feel that I could perform at my best I still went ahead and sat all of my SACs anyways. Obviously I came out of all of my sacs feeling like I performed horribly and failed all of them. Turns out, I actually did really well in biology and psychology and not terribly in chemistry. Idk if they are reflective of what I would’ve gotten if I was in good health but I’m really relieved because I genuinely thought I bombed all of them. I also got my literature result and I did slightly better than on my practice but it wasn’t the huge improvement I was hoping for and I’m kind of disappointed with it. I considered lit to be among my best subjects but I’m starting to question it- especially with the creative sac coming up which I’m barely prepared for.

During the holidays my friend and I went to the library on a few days and got ahead in all of our subjects. Oh my god it has been such a confidence boost to sit in a chemistry class and already know everything that’s being taught. So far, after school I just go through my success criterias and make flashcards (I succumbed to flashcards again) and complete some practice questions. I have loads of questions now since I have study clix and checkpoints, however the only subject I’ve successfully managed to complete every single question for before a sac was psychology. Everything else is like a work out and when you get several questions wrong you can feel your motivation gradually decreasing, at least that’s how it is for me. I have a ton of sacs this term but I feel really excited to tackle all (excluding chem) of them. My next chem sac is worth 8%  and I am NERVOUS. It’s worth more than my previous two sacs and it’s also assessing the hardest topics I’ve learnt so far; electrolysis, rates of reaction (to be fair rates is pretty easy)  and extent of reaction. I started practising during the holidays and my sac isn’t until the twenty somethingth of may … hoping for the best.


On another note I heard that exams are in 6 months! I did not realise they were that soon… I don’t know where in hell I’m gonna find the time to revisit term 1 content. I ended up prioritising getting ahead and only had time to briefly revise chemistry and psychology.. can you imagine. I’ve already forgotten a lot. Anything that I was told wouldn’t be on a sac was automatically removed from my memory and I have to relearn it . I went on a rampage trying to find videos on how to revise a year’s worth of content to no avail, so I guess I’ll be relying on flashcards… again. I don’t think I ever truly learn from my mistakes, this is like a repeat of last year even with me listening to the same music on my way to school as I did last year. However, I’ve been sure to make a really small deck of cards with only the most important information so I’ve learnt something!

see ya

[beansprout]

hello atar notes it’s me beansprout againnn

i think it’s been well over a month since my last post. i haven’t been busy but i attempted to go full study mode (no  electronics 💀) but that was a mistake. this term has been EXHAUSTING it felt like i had a sac every single week and my stress levels were just sky high throughout. luckily for me there are only two weeks left of school and i officially have no more sacs! i’m well into unit 4 in all of my subjects which doesn’t feel real, unit 3 went by so quickly. overall i’m enjoying unit 4 a lot better than unit 3. in terms of revising unit 3, i’ve only done flashcards so far which i’m trying so hard to do daily but it’s so tedious. i do them three times a week max. a lot of my teachers have given me unit 3 resources though which i’ll also use during the holidays. my first exam, biology, is 138 days away… 138. i made countdowns for all of them thinking they would give me motivation to study but i kind of just stare at them silently screaming.. idk. 138 days is so close as well.

as an update for how my sacs went
- haven’t gotten back chemistry
- haven’t gotten back biology
- psychology 96%
- literature 86% (i hated that creative)
- just did my further sac so no results yet

i won’t get my hopes up for chemistry because there are two questions i know i stuffed up. when i walked out i immediately checked my data booklet to see if water, was in fact a stronger reductant than ag like i wrote on my sac and i was WRONG. it was right in front of me and i got it wrong?? yeah i was so upset with that, and it’s only one mark but it also means i got the voltage wrong too so that’s like.. 3 marks. anyways i’m not expecting perfection in chemistry.. theres no chance.

i’m gonna go have smoked salmon and cream cheese on some cruskits goodnight:)