Login

Welcome, Guest. Please login or register.

March 29, 2024, 08:16:26 am

Author Topic: Martin's PIP Nightmare  (Read 5585 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

martinstran

  • Adventurer
  • *
  • Posts: 16
  • Respect: +8
Martin's PIP Nightmare
« on: July 06, 2019, 06:26:32 pm »
+9
Hey everyone! Relatively new ATARNotes member here!

With my Trials and PIP due date coinciding, I've decided to vent about the (possible) nightmare that the next month or so will be. Hopefully, when all my exams are over, I'll be able to look at this journal and realise that it really wasn't too bad  ;D

So my name is Martin (if you couldn't guess from my username), and I go to the agricultural high school that isn't James Ruse. My really weird combination of subjects and my ranks in them are:
English (Std): 3/30
Maths Ext 1: 10/101
Maths Ext 2: 1/54 (fluked the tests lol)
Economics: 2/54 (fluked that as well)
Society and Culture: 1/11
Studies of Religion I: 2/7

I don't wanna 'flex on y'all', but I feel as though I winged most of the previous tasks and don't deserve my good ranks. I really don't have an aspiration in life in terms of career/uni degree, so I'm just trying to do okay in terms of ATAR so I have a few options available. That being said, I'm underprepared for trials and am attempting to strike a balance between study/preparation, mental health, and of course, my PIP.

Although I kinda hate SAC at the moment, I'm pushing through with it (otherwise I'll have like 9 units). Being an Asian that has mostly lived in 'white' neighbourhoods, I decided to do my PIP on ethnic enclaves and their effects on identity development etc. Right now, I'm feeling a bit sick of my topic, but I guess there's no turning back at this point in time. At this point in time (less than one month to go), I've written my introduction and most of my central material, but I haven't yet touched my annotated bibliography (bad life decision, I know). Recently, the 'Interest' part of the PIP has completely gone out the window, so I'm really unmotivated to finish it at the moment. The only thing that is pushing me atm is the inevitable Band 1 that I'll get if I don't hand it in  :-[

Hopefully in the coming weeks I'll be able to update you with some substantial PIP progress!
If anyone has any questions (or wants to read my PIP), feel free to ask  ;D
HSC 2019
ENG (Std) 89 | MX1 98 | MX2 99| ECO 89 | S+C 94 | SOR 1 44 | ATAR: 99

fantasticbeasts3

  • NSW MVP - 2018
  • Moderator
  • Part of the furniture
  • *****
  • Posts: 1180
  • Im Moment studiere ich kein Deutsch :-(
  • Respect: +864
Re: Martin's PIP Nightmare
« Reply #1 on: July 06, 2019, 09:14:35 pm »
+2
Welcome!! Best of luck with motivation for your PIP, I’ve heard quickly approaching due dates are very motivational 😂👀 Looking forward to more updates (and maybe after your PIP and trials too)!
HSC 2017: English (Standard) // Mathematics // Modern History // Legal Studies // Business Studies
2018-2022: B International Studies/B Media (PR & Advertising) @ UNSW

beatroot

  • HSC LECTURER
  • Honorary Moderator
  • Part of the furniture
  • *******
  • Posts: 1491
  • Respect: +1566
Re: Martin's PIP Nightmare
« Reply #2 on: July 06, 2019, 11:12:54 pm »
+3
Hello! Welcome to AN!

So sorry to hear about SAC! Admittedly it was my least favourite subject during my HSC though the PIP was actually the one thing that kept pushing me through. I had seen the top PIPs displayed at the State Library of NSW and thought how amazing they looked- so I used that to motivate myself to get my PIP done. We do have some SAC resources right here! Hopefully they can help in some way.

Wishing you good luck with the rest of your Year 12 studies :)
Which will hold greater rule over you? Your fear or your curiosity?

Please note that I am no longer active on the forums.
If you need any assistance, please message an admin or a natmod instead.

angewina_naguen

  • HSC Lecturer
  • HSC Moderator
  • Part of the furniture
  • *****
  • Posts: 1257
  • Musical Theatre Tragic And Ultimate Pun Generator
  • Respect: +1026
Re: Martin's PIP Nightmare
« Reply #3 on: July 08, 2019, 09:45:28 am »
+1
Hey, martinstran!

Bit late to the party but we're always happy to welcome more SAC students on the forum  ;D Excited to read your journal and see how things come along. I'm loving the topic by the way!
-HSC 2018-

-ATAR-
97.50

-UNI 2019-2022-
Bachelor of Music (Music Education) at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music

martinstran

  • Adventurer
  • *
  • Posts: 16
  • Respect: +8
Re: Martin's PIP Nightmare
« Reply #4 on: July 08, 2019, 10:34:24 pm »
+2
Thank you all for your encouraging comments! It's great to hear that my topic is somewhat interesting to others, because I feel as though it's quite dry compared to the other PIP topics in my class.

Right now, I'm stuck on what to title my PIP. All my classmates have these really fun and catchy titles (e.g. Take it Yeezy [for streetwear], The Brown and the Beautiful [for colourism]) but I'm stuck for words. Turns out that ethno-geography and acculturation don't exactly lend themselves nicely to punchlines  :-\ Hopefully something will pop up in my mind, but I guess that the title is the least of my worries at the moment.

I checked out some of the feedback my teacher gave me, and to my surprise, it was quite positive! I was expecting him to rip apart my interpretation of my primary research (it's really mathy and graphy and takes up a lot of space/explanation) but he enjoyed how it's reflective of 'me on a page'. Going forward, I'm going to try to convey a bit more personality into the central material, so it's a true Personal Interest Project. Thankfully, I was lazy all year so I've got plenty of extra word count (about 1300 words) before I reach the limit.

Today I spent a bit of time figuring out my UAC preferences, but I'm honestly quite stuck at the moment. I know what I'm not keen on (*cough* med... I gag at the sight of blood), but I'm really not too sure about what I should pursue. The main ideas coming into my head are either business oriented or Education based. I love learning, and I think teachers have the power to change lives every day, but then part of me wants to get out of school for a bit. On the other hand, I'm really interested in econometrics (a maths/econ hybrid), and data analytics/statistics, but I feel like the business world and its focus on $$$ isn't right for me. All that plus parental and peer pressure are making this a really tough decision. I don't know if it's just part of the 'selective school culture', but many of my peers act as if anything that isn't medicine/actuarial studies isn't a real degree. Like I'm glad I go to a school that has a bit of that competitiveness, and the people are really amazing, but sometimes it's just hella invalidating. At least these holidays, I'll have a bit (or a lot) of time to myself to have a good think about everything.

So yeah, that's my ramble for the day  :D
If anyone has any advice or suggestions drop a comment!
HSC 2019
ENG (Std) 89 | MX1 98 | MX2 99| ECO 89 | S+C 94 | SOR 1 44 | ATAR: 99

martinstran

  • Adventurer
  • *
  • Posts: 16
  • Respect: +8
Re: Martin's PIP Nightmare
« Reply #5 on: July 30, 2019, 11:40:55 pm »
+6
So my PIP is sorta due tomorrow...

Although the NESA mandated due date is next Monday, my teacher wants to collect a copy of our completed PIPs tomorrow before my school's exam period starts. That being said, we're free to resubmit it right up until the due time (3pm).

Yeah so I'm kinda half screwed. My content is pretty much there, like I've satisfied all the requirements, but my response isn't that great, so bye-bye Band 6 :( Hopefully on the weekend, I'll be able to clean up any loose ends and really polish this thing up. As they say, shit happens, and my PIP, well, happened... It's kinda sad, knowing that I had big aspirations at the start, now, it's just really another assignment to me. For me, the nail in the coffin was replacing my name with my student number. I know it's a minor thing, but it's made me feel detached from my research and 9 months of (not so) hard work.

Inspired by r1ckworthy's series of posts, I think I'm gonna make a "PIP: Lessons I've Learnt" Thread. Not gonna lie, it has been a somewhat rewarding task to complete, however, I'm sure my life would've been made a lot easier if I had a game plan from the start.

Anyway, I hope the next time I post here, this whole PIP burden will be off my shoulders  ;D
HSC 2019
ENG (Std) 89 | MX1 98 | MX2 99| ECO 89 | S+C 94 | SOR 1 44 | ATAR: 99

martinstran

  • Adventurer
  • *
  • Posts: 16
  • Respect: +8
Re: Martin's PIP Nightmare
« Reply #6 on: October 04, 2019, 01:54:21 pm »
+5
(Very) Long time, no post!

Being honest, I kinda forgot about this journal during trials, and never bothered to keep track of it. Lots of things have happened since then, so I just wanted to give everyone that *might* read this a little update.

So… PIP related stuff:
Since, my last post, I’ve resubmitted my PIP 4 times (yes, not even joking). On our school’s designated “hand-in day,” I had to redo the PDF quite a few times, just because of the small things, like accidentally including my own name, or not deleting teacher comments and all that stuff. I ended coming back during my trial period to give my teacher a final copy (20 minutes) before NESA’s final due date. Needless to say, I was pretty proud that I actually was submitting something that I was content with. I can’t really judge the quality of my PIP, it all seems so subjective, but I found it somewhat rewarding. Turns out it wasn’t as much of a “nightmare” than what I predicted it to be.

Now, onto Trials. My school had a relatively early trial period (late July-early August - coinciding with the PIP), and decided to cram every exam into 2 weeks, so it was a pretty hectic time for me. I sorta neglected some of my subjects in trials, so I was pretty surprised with the results. I’m gonna recap my thoughts on each subject, so this might be long…

~ English Standard ~
Ok, somehow I did wayyyy better than expected. Paper 1 and 2 were my first exams, so I was probably underprepared.

Paper 1 was tough… Comprehension was quite difficult, but the extended response wasn’t all that bad.
My biggest challenge was balancing my time. I started with comprehension, so I ended up sacrificing the quality of my answers by rushing through, so I would have more time on the essay. In the HSC, I’ll probably do the opposite - I’ll give comprehension a bit more time, because I know that I can quickly wrap up an essay, whereas scrambling to finish a short answer is more difficult for me.

Paper 2 was interesting to say the least. In terms of the questions, it was pretty good, and I got lucky with Mod A (they didn’t specify a poem), however, my experience of sitting it was not. For some reason, the exam supervisors insisted that standard got one less booklet than advanced, so we were left without a designated Mod A writing booklet. Our grade let the supervisors know, but one of them told us that for this paper, the question booklet had answer space. So the reading time started, and lo and behold… there wasn’t any answer space in the question booklet. Instead of dealing out extra lined paper, or letting us write in a different module’s booklet, the supervisors stopped the exam. After about 15 minutes, our English Head Teacher came down to the hall, and just told us to write on extra paper. Even though it didn’t cause any disadvantages the stress the situation induced made me a lot less confident in my writing.

I ended up getting 93/100 (34+59), which was the 2nd highest mark in Standard. (I’m still in shock tbh). Selective school culture really looks down upon those that drop to standard, but I can say that it’s one of the best decision’s I’ve made. I was getting triple digit ranks in advanced last year, so I’m happy that I’ve seen some solid improvement.

~ Maths Ext 1 and 2 ~
My school (Hurlstone) writes their own trial papers, which tend to be quite a bit easier than the HSC, so I did quite well (better than expected). However, mechanics (my worst topic) was excluded from the trial, so I definitely won’t be getting these marks in the HSC for sure.

For Ext 1, I got 70/70. Quite a few people got full marks on this one, but there was a big spread of marks (some of my mates neglected 3u to work on their 2u, fair enough).

Somehow, I got 99/100 in Ext 2 (top rank!). My school’s trial wasn’t awful, but it was certainly challenging in some aspects. We had a pretty high average for 4u (high 70s), so I’m 100% not expecting to get something this high in the HSC. Still kinda pissed at myself for the mark I lost - I got the right answer and my working was mathematically correct, but not physically correct - it was a shell volume, and my shell thickness was a negative number.

~ Economics ~
Well, I did shite (77/100 = Band 4), but that was to be expected. I actually quite like the mechanics and maths of economics, but the exam is a different story. I ended up making a lot of stuff up that was kinda just sitting in the back of my memory, so I can’t even be mad at the mark. For the HSC, I need to brush up on the little things, so I don’t lose marks for simply not knowing basic terms and definitions.

At the end of the day, I got carried by my earlier tasks and ranked 5/45 overall. I’m super happy with it, but idk, something isn’t sitting right with me. Eco will only count for 1 unit, so I’m not expecting much for the HSC, but I’d hate for my rank to drag other people down as well. I’m not an expert on moderation and scaling, so I don’t even know if that will happen, but I’d rather be solely responsible for poor performance, than affect someone else as well.

~ Society and Culture ~
Ok, not gonna lie, S+C is a cursed subject, it’s hella vague, and half of my class hates the content, but it actually ended up being on of my best marks and ranks (2/11 overall). I got 56/60, with majority of my marks being lost in the Belief Systems and Ideologies section - I need to brush up on Buddhism!

My teacher is amazing, don’t get me wrong, but sometimes I feel like he gave us depth studies that didn’t suit the interests of the class. But then again, doing things that aren’t passions might make for less biased essays, so that might be a plus. Hopefully, my PIP gets a decent mark, and I can squeeze in a band 6 for the HSC.

~ Studies of Religion ~
My school is public, and I’m not religious at all, so I’m shocked that I ended up keeping this unit. I did pretty well, (47/50, 1st/6), so I just need to replicate this going forward into the HSC.

I had my graduation and formal on the same day, so I guess that closes a chapter of my schooling life. I’ll really miss school, but I’m excited for new beginnings.

However, such new beginnings have not yet revealed themselves to me. I still have no idea as to what I want to study at uni. I keep getting ideas, but I never stick with them, somehow I always find more cons than pros. I keep thinking about business oriented careers, but I'm not too sure about the ethics of 'hustling money' ya feel? I didn't do the UCAT, and I squirm at the sight of blood, so that rules out anything health related. I did have an inkling towards orthodontics, as I really enjoyed getting my braces done, but I know I won't get into dental courses this time round (no UCAT) and I don't relaly think its my dream. I really love the idea of becoming a maths teacher, but both of my parents heavily object to it. I've also heard that it's hard to get a job as a teacher, as there is excess supply, so I'm still unsure about that as a career. Engineering has crossed my mind, but I'm horrible at physics (I did so poorly that I dropped it after prelims), but I'm particularly interested in humanitarian engineering, to help with infrastructure for those in need.

A part of me wants to do a gap year program with Year13 and teach English in China, take a break, and reset, but my parents would never let. So I'll probably try a Bachelor of Science and Bachelor of Arts, and figure the rest out along the way. I know I'm capable of getting into a BSc somewhere, so I just need to make it happen!

And to anyone who might stumble across this, good luck for your HSC! I know that you’ll no doubt earn every single mark you get.

Martin
HSC 2019
ENG (Std) 89 | MX1 98 | MX2 99| ECO 89 | S+C 94 | SOR 1 44 | ATAR: 99

Fluffysama_

  • MOTM: June 20
  • Forum Regular
  • **
  • Posts: 72
  • happy n free child~
  • Respect: +39
Re: Martin's PIP Nightmare
« Reply #7 on: June 15, 2020, 05:12:47 pm »
0
Thank you all for your encouraging comments! It's great to hear that my topic is somewhat interesting to others, because I feel as though it's quite dry compared to the other PIP topics in my class.

Right now, I'm stuck on what to title my PIP. All my classmates have these really fun and catchy titles (e.g. Take it Yeezy [for streetwear], The Brown and the Beautiful [for colourism]) but I'm stuck for words. Turns out that ethno-geography and acculturation don't exactly lend themselves nicely to punchlines  :-\ Hopefully something will pop up in my mind, but I guess that the title is the least of my worries at the moment.

I checked out some of the feedback my teacher gave me, and to my surprise, it was quite positive! I was expecting him to rip apart my interpretation of my primary research (it's really mathy and graphy and takes up a lot of space/explanation) but he enjoyed how it's reflective of 'me on a page'. Going forward, I'm going to try to convey a bit more personality into the central material, so it's a true Personal Interest Project. Thankfully, I was lazy all year so I've got plenty of extra word count (about 1300 words) before I reach the limit.

Today I spent a bit of time figuring out my UAC preferences, but I'm honestly quite stuck at the moment. I know what I'm not keen on (*cough* med... I gag at the sight of blood), but I'm really not too sure about what I should pursue. The main ideas coming into my head are either business oriented or Education based. I love learning, and I think teachers have the power to change lives every day, but then part of me wants to get out of school for a bit. On the other hand, I'm really interested in econometrics (a maths/econ hybrid), and data analytics/statistics, but I feel like the business world and its focus on $$$ isn't right for me. All that plus parental and peer pressure are making this a really tough decision. I don't know if it's just part of the 'selective school culture', but many of my peers act as if anything that isn't medicine/actuarial studies isn't a real degree. Like I'm glad I go to a school that has a bit of that competitiveness, and the people are really amazing, but sometimes it's just hella invalidating. At least these holidays, I'll have a bit (or a lot) of time to myself to have a good think about everything.

So yeah, that's my ramble for the day  :D
If anyone has any advice or suggestions drop a comment!

bruh so true! I hate that mindset about aspirations
Class of 2020: Advanced English, Japanese Beginners, Economics, Music 1, Visual Arts