Sarangiya's 사랑하는 VCE Journal

[sarangiya]

Omg I was told the same thing by my methods teacher today lol, she just dumped my sac in front of me and said "why is it that you could correctly answer the hardest question on the entire SAC (which only one other dude in the year level also got right) while completely missing the point of the easiest questions?" (which apparently only I stuffed up RIP)

I'd like to think that our brains are just so advanced and so developed and we're just such Einstein-levelled geniuses that we can't be bothered wasting our times on simple questions that peasants can solve. Or maybe both of us just need to work on reading the questions more carefully

Looking forward to your next update! Have a good week 

Hahahaha omg YES
I'm sorry but those easy questions just aren't worthy of my brain power Hahaha

Thanks!! You too

[sarangiya]

We are now 2/3 through the academic year!

English Language
I was right - all my issues have been addressed and I'm finally feeling like how I should in this subject. I found out on Friday that I am rank 1, which is a huge relief and encouraging to hear. We have our resit tomorrow, so hopefully I can smash out the score I should have got originally
We have also finally started on Sec C writing. I'm quite happy to finally be writing proper essays.
Also looking forward to the ATARNotes lecture. I'm going on the 15th!

Methods
Now that the SAC is over, we are finally getting our hands dirty with circular functions. It is pretty good so far but apparently it gets much harder. I'm not too worried; I'm usually okay with the more complex areas (and mess up the easy parts).
Our practice exam is on Wednesday. I'll have placement on Tuesday but after that I should have time to revise.
I'm going to the ATARNotes lecture on the 7th (afternoon session).

Chemistry
We are still going back and forth between the practical investigation and Unit 4 content. Not much new. I imagine, coming to the end of the term, I am either rank 1 or rank 2ish. I'm fairly confident I'm pretty high up there, but am not sure of how others are comparing. I guess I will find out in time.
The practice exam is on Thursday and the 7th (morning session) for ATARNotes lectures.

Psychology
We finished our results section last week. I was a little cheeky and decided to go out for lunch with some work friends in my double free before the SAC but it was okay because it wasn't such a difficult section. I am rank 1 for psych ending this semester.
I have the exam on the Thursday and the afternoon ATARNotes lecture on the 15th.
I should have time after methods to study for both Chem and Psych
Probably not the greatest idea to be cutting studying so finely but I wasn't exceptionally concerned (it is a practice after all). Plus, SACs obviously take priority.

UMAT etc.
These holidays will basically be UMAT preparation. I've got the lecture on the 1st, and after that I'm throwing myself entirely into all of the practice exams I said I would done by now (haha).
I was lucky last week to have seen oral maxillofacial surgery. I saw three wisdom teeth extractions. I actually had a really good chat with the anaethestist (who I learner after was one of the best in the area).

Chemistry in Medicine (Anaesthetics)

I was super excited to see a direct application of chemistry in medicine. I know chemistry is super important for med, but I always thought it was primarily needed for understanding the underlying logic.
The patient that came in to have their wisdom teeth extracted had a recorded anaphylactic reaction to a local anaesthetic called lidocaine (also called lignocaine). This is difficult for the anaethestist because apparently most local anaesthetics, including lidocaine, have an amide functional group. It might not be what causes the allergic reaction, but in any case, all of the locals are similar in chemical makeup. He decided to test an alternative, slowly and carefully. She had a small reaction (histamine release observable through flushing of the skin). But, he also decided not to use adrenaline. Adrenaline is injected to induce vasoconstriction (construction of the blood vessels). This makes the bleeding easier to deal with for the surgery. There might be other uses, but they didn't seem too concerned to not use it.
It led me to two questions: did they not use adrenaline because it also has an amide group? (Does it?? Idk)
If she did have a anaphylactic recation, isn't adrenaline the go-to treatment? What would she have instead?
Anyway, super interesting.

I enjoyed watching the surgery as usual. But I have realised that I think I'm better suited to delicate procedures. Things like teeth extraction, orthopedics or other specialities that involve a fair amount of "manpower" seem difficult for a someone like myself. I'm sure after training and practice I could do it, but I think I should play to my strengths. I don't have much strength, but I have dexterity and am light-handed. So, I thought, something like opthalmology, vascular surgery, plastic surgery etc. are more "my thing". We shall see!
Anyway, it was great.

I have let loose ending this term lol. I'm not only bingeing Korean Dramas, but actually watching three simultaneously lmao.

If you're curious

Lawless Lawyer, What's Wrong with Secretary Kim? and Are you Human Too? lol
I like Lawless Lawyer best (but then again, it's almost finished). AYHT is weird but good... the male lead is great and his character is cute, I have to admit. WWWSK is a bit cringe but ofc cute. Can't resist lol.

I've also had a few 18ths recently, with even more during the holidays. Not to mention needing to start planning my own.

Hope you all have a great last week/first week!

"Everything will be okay in the end. If it's not okay, it's not the end."

[Quantum44]

The chemistry of medicine is certainly very interesting. Whenever I look at the pathology and pathophysiology for my cases, I always go deeper into the cellular and molecular mechanisms that are occurring to cause the disease, because it’s incredibly intricate and fascinating.

Regarding your talk about anaesthetics, from my admittedly limited understanding of anaphylaxis, the danger is cardiogenic shock due to severely reduced venous return so it would make sense that adrenaline, a potent vasoconstrictor, would be administered, however I’m sure the anaesthetist had a very good reason for not using adrenaline.

As always, I’m loving reading your journal entries and good luck with your UMAT preparation over the holidays!

[Maya24]

I liked WWWSK even though it was a bit cliche and predictable.
Good luck with Umat prep

[sarangiya]

Regarding your talk about anaesthetics, from my admittedly limited understanding of anaphylaxis, the danger is cardiogenic shock due to severely reduced venous return so it would make sense that adrenaline, a potent vasoconstrictor, would be administered, however I’m sure the anaesthetist had a very good reason for not using adrenaline.

As always, I’m loving reading your journal entries and good luck with your UMAT preparation over the holidays!

Thanks so much!

I was reading about it (of course). Apparently lidocaine is usually prepared with adrenaline anyway (like, in the same solution? I guess). Hmmm.
It was actually a nurse who pointed out that they wouldn't use adrenaline so I think it's pretty common. When I asked her about she didn't seem to know exactly why though. If I can get an answer I'll make an update haha.

Thanks for your reply

I liked WWWSK even though it was a bit cliche and predictable.
Good luck with Umat prep

I really like it so far hahaha. The kind of 'mystery plot' throws me off but Park Seo-Joon <3 hahahhaa
Definitely cliche, but it's really cute. Having something light like that really takes the stress off!

[sarangiya]

Welcome to the Term 2 Holidays!
I've had a couple of parties, many hours of lazing around and a few spent cleaning to kick off this long-awaited break.
What have you all been up to?

Last week, we had our practice exams. To be honest, I can't even remember too much about them (lol).

how did ur exams go?haha

Methods, from memory, was okay. I had a bad morning in terms of transport, and forgot my notes (I didn't end up needing them, thank God). There were a few questions I couldn't do, which is a pity. From my very hazy recollection of it, I think my impression wasn't too bad. On the other hand, chemistry was way harder than expected. A rude wake-up call, to say the least. I got spooked because I thought my teacher was sitting behind me (as a "kind-of" invigilator) and I was so ashamed and embarrassed thinking of him correcting my exam.
Our English Language "exam" was a partial resit of our first Unit 3 SAC. I managed to bump my mark to one that is in the range I'm happy with. With that, all my qualms with English Language have been resolved. I now just have to regain confidence, get reinspired and try my hardest. Fingers crossed. Psychology was pretty manageable. I think there was a MCQ I was a bit unsure about, but the rest seemed pretty okay? Thinking about it now, I didn't take much notice of mark allocation. Fingers crossed for that too.

in light of that, I think most of my holidays will be dedicated to chemistry and methods (after UMAT prep, of course).

so what are you doing for the holidays??ha

I have some "holiday homework" for each subject. I'll hopefully get them done as a minimum, and then delve into Unit 4 Chemistry a little further, and revise what I can in methods. As for EL and Psychology, I'll be doing more exam-based study and perhaps Unit 4 work for EL (psychology is already done and dusted!! Feels good).
But, the biggest priority is UMAT. I don't want to waste too much time on it but I will be kicking myself I do badly and find fault of not trying my hardest to prepare. I do have to confess: I didn't go to the UMAT lecture on Sunday (today). I had two friends going, and asked them to send some notes. From what they described, it sounds very similar to a lecture I went to by the same company some time ago.
Instead, I have begun "moving out" (lmao). I've looked through my stuff that has been in storage and sorted through it. Next will be my clothes. But that will more be sorting through and refreshing my wardrobe in general, rather than packing things away to take at the end of the year.

Alright, enough boring tangents. This is my plan for these holidays. I will be marking my progress, so I am really planning to stick to it (sigh).
I've made two accomplish-able tasks per day, with an "else". Its purpose is to act is an alternative to one of the tasks I don't feel like doing, or as an extra task that I could do. For example, I have put part-time work for when I told my employer I'm available, but there's no guarantee I'll actually get the shift! In that case, I'll follow the "else" case.
Other points for clarification are "UMAT Study" and "U4". "UMAT Study" refers to drills, practice questions on the Internet, redoing past questions I got wrong or other things that don't have time constraints. It's essentially a buffer so I'm not doing exam after exam with little improvement. "U4" refers to Unit 4 work. That could be prereading, note-taking, Unit 4 practice questions, Edrolo, whatever... as long as its unlearned content. I'll leave the revision to the holiday homework tasks (maybe).


I don't know how much I'll have to reschedule based around friends and social commitments. I don't have anything planned yet but things never end that easily lol. Oh well, that's what holidays are for, right?
Oh, and also for watching dramas of course. I have managed to start a 4th drama (which I will probably finish by tomorrow or the next day tbh). One of my others will finish tomorrow. Will I find another to fill its place? Probably.

What are your plans for these holidays? I hope that they are as productive as they are fun
Best of luck!!

If you get tired, learn to rest, not to quit.

[sarangiya]

The first week of the holidays are over rip

Overall this week, I have been "resting". I worked part-time Wednesday, Thursday and Friday but haven't been to the clinic so far. I'll have to do that in the second week of holidays. The burden of having to 'make-up' hours as actually more than I thought. I know that I'll enjoy it once I'm there, but being honest I just don't want to on the precious few holidays I have.

ACU Experience Day

You might be wondering: why did you go to ACU? It's true: I have no intention of going to ACU, actually. But a fair majority of my friends do. So I decided to go with them and check out what activities they had to demonstrate their courses.
Physiotherapy
I must say I am surprised at the competition for admission to this course. It's no joke. For the activity, we had a scenario in which a high-school netball player sprained her ankle. We went through three workshops simulating 'how a physiotherapist would think'.
My first rotation was with a first-year student who showed us anatomical models of the ankle. He showed us representations of ligaments on both sides, which helped us conclude that the sprain is most likely over-stretching of the lateral ligaments of the ankle, since there are fewer ligaments than the medial side that keep the joint stable. We then did some assessment by doing a triple jump and balancing on each leg (with and without eyes closed).
The second rotation was with a pressure mat runway. It assessed the cantor, length of stride, width of steps etc. to assess the walk and run of our group members. Apparently it can give clues to injury in that if one side has a longer time on the ground, the other side may be injured. Or that wide steps may indicate less stability, or perhaps an overweight or elderly person. Those kinds of things. I found out that my stride is average to fast-paced and my feet are close together as I walk (indicating good balance, but also a possible explanation as to why I tend to kick myself while walking lmfao).
Finally, a third-year student taped one of our group members' ankles. I really wanted it done (lol) but I was wearing tights. I actually thought it was like a bandage she could just put over the top and then remove, but it's actual tape. See in action: my exceptional(ly poor) athleticism.
Overall, I actually had a good time. Physiotherapy looks interesting and I thought the activity was engaging for prospective (and non-prospective lol) students.

Nursing and Paramedicine
The workshop was split into two halves: nursing, and then paramedicine.
The nursing rotation first involved proper hand-washing technique. Having traumatic flashbacks from weeks upon weeks of assignments about hand hygiene at VET, I reluctantly put my knowledge to good use. Feeling clean but ultimately defeated, we returned only to be met by UV lights. This was more exciting. I stood proudly under the blue light with squeaky-clean hands (bar a mark from having to touch the bin as I disposed of the paper towel). Even when they went "what about her wrists!" I knew I had one-upped them thanks to my specialized VCAL-level classes. My friends were less lucky and more grubby, especially around their fingernails. All the years of childhood obsessive-compulsive hand-washing and current obsessive-compulsive hand-sanitizing have paid off!
Something interesting to note is that moisturized hands are also a part of good hand hygiene. Dry skin has less of a barrier and is therefore more susceptible to harboring bacteria. I thought the moisturizer was next to the hand sanitizer at work purely because frequent sanitizing can feel uncomfortable.
After that, we played around with stethoscopes and oxygen-saturation monitors. Good fun. I thought listening to a heart beat would be ridiculously hard but it's surprisingly loud through the stethoscope.
The paramedicine rotation was largely a student panel. I have to say, paramedicine doesn't seem that great at all. I'd always had suspicions, but the way the course coordinator and students spoke confirmed it for me. Apparently trauma cases are relatively rare in the field, and most cases are the elderly falling in their homes or false-alarm calls (aka "frequent fliers" apparently). It requires a good level of physical fitness, and unlike nursing involves larger occupational risks like that from needing to 'lift' people off the floor etc. In nursing, there are 'no-lift' policies which seem more desirable. I thought that paramedics are admirable people, because the job isn't all the excitement most people would think it is, and requires a lot of patience, training and physical sacrifice. In saying that, it is definitely not the area for me.
We got to look inside a training(?) ambulance which was cool. They somehow piled the whole group inside, so I didn't get to see much. My general impression is that it is a lot smaller than what one would think.
Overall, I enjoyed the nursing rotation and found the paramedical rotation a genuine demonstration of reality as a paramedic, rather than a marketing ploy. Pretty good.

The ACU Experience Day was great in my opinion. Free food, marketing foods, snacks, activities and something different to a regular Open Day. Would recommend.

ATARNotes Lectures

I went to the chemistry and math methods lectures on Saturday.
The chemistry lecture was pretty good, although didn't cover much of what I didn't already know. I am still stuck at analytical techniques in my note-taking, so I thought that part of the lecture would be helpful. I thought the lecture did I great job explaining it, but I still felt (and assume others also felt) totally lost. I still would not have substituted that part for amino acids or something though. I thought it was a good lecture with good, clear explanation and overall well thought-out.
Methods was another story. I enjoyed the probability part because it seemed easy. However, our school hasn't even touched integration yet. So I was totally lost through the first part of the lecture (it was quite brisk as well, which didn't help). After a while, the probability also started getting integrated?(idk) which was beyond me. We decided to go since we had to catch a V-Line back anyway. I also nearly tripped so if you saw that idiot, it was me (hi). I'll definitely be consulting the PowerPoint later, but the lecture really wasn't aimed at my school's level. It would have been great if integration or some difficult concept was taught slowly, but I have been told integration is Unit 3 anyway. Shows where my school is at rip.
From what I did stay for though, the lecturer seemed very knowledgeable and did explain things well. A bit too quick at times, but maybe that's because I'm slow haha

Great as always, ATARNotes!

Yes, so, I haven't followed my plan. Do I ever?
As a consequence, I'll add 1x UMAT exam, 1x UMAT study 1x EL exam and chem and methods homework to this week's list.
In lieu of actual productivity, I have started yet another drama, read The Barefoot Investor, taken advantage of the $50 energy comparison thing and compared insurance policies for my Mum (including unnecessary ones in her super). Make sure your parents aren't paying for two life insurance policies unknowingly (smh).

Have a good week everyone

Not all of us can do great things, but we can all do small things with great love

[Joseph41]

This is such a good journal. Nothing productive to say apart from "I'm really enjoying this" haha.

[sarangiya]

This is such a good journal. Nothing productive to say apart from "I'm really enjoying this" haha.

Thank you so much!! Means a lot coming from you
It’s literally 10 days until the UMAT.
I don’t know why I wasn’t more aware of it being just on my tail but wow it’s soon.

This week was slightly more productive than last week. Slightly.
I worked two days during this week from 8am until 8:30pm. No theatre time, unfortunately.
Progress on homework and any practice exams is non-existent. Although, I’ve done a bit of a UMAT practice exam, done some drills and watched a few videos.
I was also going to go to the ATARNotes lectures today, but I didn’t have enough money to travel to Melbourne. Lucky we have the powerpoints to refer back to
On the bright side, I can see some improvements in my health. My skin is looking good, I don’t feel tired all the time, and I don’t have the aches and pains I used to get during the term. I don’t feel all that stressed and have been having fun these holidays.
Maybe when I read this at the end of the year, I’ll resent my decisions. But at the moment, I feel good.

There are also only 22 days until the Monash Open Day (Clayton/Caulfield). Which means there are 23 until VTAC applications open. The Open Day planner has been released, so I decided to use it. This year, I will probably go to Monash only.

5th August Plan

First I'll go to the Caulfield campus. Yes, just like when I went to ACU, you might be wondering: why? 1) I've never been to the Caulfield Campus and it looks pretty nice 2) art is my secret interest/hobby and my mum's life (lol).
So, we will visit the Fine Art Market first. Depending on how long we stay, we will then either go to the Fine Art exhibition or straight to a Fine Art workshop. After, we will go to a printmaking workshop.
Then, we will catch the bus over to Clayton and have some lunch. The main priority will be touring residences and Mannix College. If we have time left over, I'll make my way around the “What is Medicine like?” And “Medicine in Regional and Rural Victoria” booths.
Then maybe some dinner? That'd be nice.

Have you thought about what you'll go to? Or what university you'll visit? Any recommendations for me?

I’m not looking forward to next week. I think we have our chemistry poster SAC on the second day back, which sucks. I’m also starting a new subject that is about ethics and morality. It’s a throwback to philosophy, hopefully somewhat relevant to med interviews (provided I get one oops) but more than anything an absolute nightmare. I don’t mind engaging in moral discussions with people of my choosing but oh boy have I been in a few junior English/Humanities classes that made my blood boil.
Oh well. We take it in our stride. I have this feeling it will all be okay in the end. Maybe I am just complacent (...exactly what I said I wouldn’t be in my first entry rip).

Enjoy the last of your holidays all and keep working hard!

“Be grateful for what you already have while you pursue your goals. If you aren’t grateful for what you already have, what makes you think you would be happy with more.”

[Joseph41]

Shame you couldn't make it to the lectures! Hope you find the slides useful, though.

[not.yet.a.nerd]

How are you feeling about umat at the moment? Are you going to the morning or afternoon session? I've been trying to watch the acer video solutions but the speakers are all so slow and I miss my usual video 2x speed 

[sarangiya]

How are you feeling about umat at the moment? Are you going to the morning or afternoon session? I've been trying to watch the acer video solutions but the speakers are all so slow and I miss my usual video 2x speed 

Absolutely relatable lmao. I'm becoming concerned that I watch so many videos at 2x that I'll begin speaking that way too hahah. 3 minutes? Try one, squid. lmao
I'll be going to the afternoon session in Melbourne!
There are three sleeps until the big day. You'd think I'm counting down to Christmas.

How am I feeling about the UMAT?

I definitely feel that I dropped the ball in terms of preparation. Hopefully before Wednesday I will have done 4 full exams and 2 half-exams.
Look, honestly, I don't think that's too bad. I know I could have done more, and I occasionally feel that I should, but it will be what it will be.

In terms of emotions, I'm not going to lie. I'm not exactly excited for Wednesday. But I don't have any feeling of dread or defeat. I'm looking forward to getting it over with, and just giving it my best shot.
I don't feel like I will get something amazing like 100th or 95th percentile, but I feel confident that I will get enough. Do I think that realistically, I'll probably get low 80th? Yes. But will I walk into that room determined to smash every question perfectly and demand from the ACER gods a 99th percentile? Absolutely.

My stars sing to a different tune though:

07-23-2018 to 07-29-2018
Early this week, you might not be able to keep putting on that brave or happy face, Virgo. So why not let yourself feel what you're really feeling? The passionate Sun is swirling through self-expressed Leo in your twelfth house of closure, compassion and healing. That alone can dredge up intense emotions, but on the 25th this heavenly heavyweight squares off with volatile Uranus in your candid and self-reliant ninth house. After weeks or months of putting up with an increasingly intolerable situation, you might hit a breaking point.

...great. Luckily, it's Venus opposing Neptune etc so hopefully this is more about relationships than it is about academics!

The game plan

My best section by far is section 2. During reading time, I'm going to read all the passages/questions and then blitz through them first while still fresh in memory.
Next, I'll take on section 3. My section 3 scores are comparable with my section 1 scores, but non-verbal reasoning isn't as agonising and takes me less time to get through. Keeping a close eye on the time, section 1 will be the last stretch.
I'll leave five (or more) minutes at the end to guess any questions I haven't yet answered, or to check over. Maybe both in 10 minutes of I have it?

Section by section is a bit daunting but I think it's not such a bad idea. Let's hope it works out.

For all UMAT participants

GOOD LUCK this week. Remember that as you decided to take this test, you decided that you are good enough. You had confidence then, you had determination. Keep that fire burning and remind yourself once in a while that you deserve this, that you are smart and good enough for this. Remind yourself that everything will be okay: trust in yourself - trust the part of you that said "I can do this" when you signed up. You can and you will!

Chemistry
I am disappointed to say I wasn't awarded for chemistry this semester. I'll be following it up though, since I do have some suspicions... stay tuned.
Practice exam marks were not so good. Oops. "Enough correct for now"... I do love my teacher bahaha.
My practical investigation was a scary experience and I was super nervous. My introduction was far too long which sent me right of balance for the rest. Luckily, my score was quite pleasing and consistent with my previous marks.

Psychology
I was able to get the award for Psychology as I had expected, so that was nice. We got our practice exam marks back and though mine was good, my teacher warned me I wouldn't be happy with it. I wasn't. I've got a bit of fine-tuning to go before the final exams.
We are in the final stages of practical investigations. Feeling good.

English Language
Award here too, which is nice.
I haven't done the practice exam yet because I was lazy and "because of the UMAT".
Our SAC is coming up soon. I'm feeling grossly underprepared. It's a Sec A and Sec C... I haven't even written one section C yet this year... Yikes!

Methods
No awards here, and I wasn't expecting any lol. SAC marks were pretty similar to chemistry. Does that mean my Chem exam was particularly bad, or that my methods exam was particularly good? I'll let you decide.
Circular functions test is coming up. Also not quite prepared for that.

Overall, the term has come to a clumsy start but all will be well. They say this term is the killer. And, yes, having done year 12 since what, Year 9? I know that to be true. But I think we will survive this. I've still got some fight left in me.

Good luck this week everyone and keep working hard!!

And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men

[Maya24]

Congrats on all the awards and good luck for the Umat!

[sarangiya]

The UMAT is finally over! The next thing I'm counting down to is the VTAC registrations opening, which is in 8 days from today!
For anyone who did the UMAT, congratulations! Let's hope the wait won't be too agonising.

The UMAT
I thought I'd give a quick overview, and a really in depth one below in the spoiler tag for those really interested.
I started with Section 2, which honestly speaking, I thought was easy as pie. I couldn't believe it when I started, and thought wow I might have a chance!
Section 3 came next and it is was… hard. Slow and painful. I thought I was okay at non-verbal reasoning but yikes. It was like nothing I had ever done before. Section 1 was more pleasant, but after that scare I wasn't feeling as confident.
I wasn't too nervous in the morning, and actually had a good time. I was quite excited, and felt somewhat “important” being in a hall with all those people and such tight protocol.
Overall, the UMAT was generally harder than expected. But for some reason, I don't feel like I completely bombed it. I don't really think I did that well, either, but I'm keeping my head high with the hopeful thought that things probably were okay.

The Day, in Detail

Apparently the morning sessions start at 8am. Initially, the afternoon sessions were starting at 1pm. Tickets were released a week before the test, and had the arrival time listed: 1:30. On the day, I went down early by train with my mum. We had brunch in the city, and shopped for a little bit before going to Flinders St Station en route to Caulfield. We walked to the main gate (23) and all the kids from the morning session were leaving the grounds. It was really intimidating to watch their reactions and I felt stupid for having arrived an hour early. In the end, I was happy I arrived early. I went to the bathroom, found my zone, and waited with my mum until a loudspeaker announced it was time to enter. Everyone crowded at the door, with two stations of two invigilators checking ID and tickets. People formed two lines, and went in slowly. My mum looked on from afar, but some people's parents waited in line with them. Some took photos of their children entering, which is against protocol, as they discovered.the invigilators were pleasant and checked the documents well. We received a small, coloured, entry pass and followed another two invigilators to our seats. The seats were not assigned. They were in chronological order based on time of entry. It was only 1:30 after I had been seated, and we sat in silence listening to the invigilators, filling in the entry sheet, playing with ID (lol), going to the bathroom freely if needed, and not doing much until the exam actually started at 2:14 (I think). That means we were there until 5:14. I made it back to the station at 5:40 which suggests we were kept in for a little while after finishing.
Overall, the atmosphere is tense. People are visibly nervous and the mood isn't great. People gossip outside about what's right and wrong, how much they prepared etc… pretty toxic. I was glad I could sit and chat with someone who genuinely supported me and encouraged me instead of instilling fear.
But I think it is what you make of it. I didn't listen to those people, didn't look at others to see how nervous they were, or care about anyone else except for myself. A girl and I even had a chuckle together while the exam room when the invigilator made a mistake speaking. It was definitely the hardest test I've taken, but the experience wasn't all bad.
If you have any questions, do post a reply or shoot me a PM. More than happy to answer

VTAC
I'll be heading to Monash this Sunday. The day after, VTAC applications open. I don't know why I'm so keen but I already sorted my preferences and done the “demo” applications on the website. Maybe it's because the end seems closer? Or graduating and moving on feels more real?
If you're interested, my preferences are as follows:

Preferences

BMedSci/MD (CSP) @ Monash
BMedSci/MD (ERC) @ Monash
BMedSci/MD (BMP) @ Monash
BSci (CSP) @ UoM
BSci (CSP) @ Monash
BA @ UoM
BA @ Monash
BBSci @ RMIT

Bit unsure about whether I should put ERC or BMP first. I put BMP after because I figured it might be super inconvenient for me to have to honour that bond 10-15 years down the track. I don't want to inflict a burden upon my future self, even though I think working in a regional setting is probably something I plan on doing myself anyway.
I'm also not sure about BSci at Monash or UoM for 4th. If there's an opportunity to get into Monash Med via transfer (highly doubt it) then Monash… otherwise, UoM has always been my university of choice.

Chemistry and Psychology
I am still in the midst of gathering Intel about the award. I've got pretty good reason to believe that the recipient wasn't actually rank 1, but in the end it looks like I'll have to embarrass myself and ask the teacher. Other than that, nothing much is happening in chemistry. In psychology, we just started Mental Health. We finally finished our scientific posters, but no results yet!

Methods and VET
I have my circular functions test at home which I have to complete today (lol). We started integration which is fine. It looks somewhat straightforward. I hope I'm not in for any nasty surprises.
I didn’t go to VET last week because we had a school event, which was lots of fun as the graduating class. I also didn't go to placement because I dedicated that Tuesday before the UMAT to studying. The course is going well, but is super repetitive. I've never had to write so many hazard and risk assessments in my life.

English Language
I have to write a practice Sec C today as well. We have our practice SAC over Tuesday and Wednesday (?) this week, and it looks like the real SAC isn't being pushed back even though she did suggest it.
My hatred for EL continues to burn, and I really don't know how I'll go. I'm going to have to get really good at these essays in the short, short span of a week… sigh.

I presented at a Japanese SL lecture this morning run by the teachers association. It's my third time doing so, but I was super happy to do it again. I hope I can keep doing so next year but there's no telling. I was nervous but I think (and hope) it didn't show!
I've also got a debating thing this week (I don't debate, I'm just an emergency/assistant) and Parent-Teacher Interviews.
What a week

Wish not for others’ failure, but for your own fortune

Yes, I decided to be a little poet today. I thought I should, since I came to think this recently. A lot of people ask me whether I would consider myself a competitive person. I think I am. I like to win, I try hard and I never settle. But when someone said to me “I hope you beat her” in regards to the UMAT, this idea sprung to mind. In fact, I didn't care what “her” performance was, or what she was doing. I only knew that I wanted to do great for myself. I would have much rathered  “I hope you do well” to “I hope she does badly”.
I hope you guys, especially in Year 12, upon hearing such toxic and unkind words, remember that only your success – not someone else's failure – is your success.

Stay kind and have a great week !

[cookiedream]

As always, love all your entries and I'm glad the UMAT went relatively well!!

Also, an FYI, you can't apply for a BMP separately for Monash. The only two undergrad med options are the 'Medicine: School Leaver Entry' (which includes both CSP unbonded and CSP bonded) and 'Medicine: Extended Rural Cohort School Leaver Entry' (which is also CSP). If you get a 'Medicine: School Leaver Entry' place but end up in the bottom 25%, you'll be given a BMP. Also, a BMP isn't as long as it used to be, since it's now a contract for only one year in a place of need rather than 5-6 years as it was previously.

I think they changed this a few years ago..? I double-checked the VTAC website, and it seems like the two options remain for this year too.