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March 29, 2024, 01:40:15 am

Author Topic: My QCE Journal -- My Path Towards A Hopefully Decent ATAR  (Read 5869 times)

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s110820

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My QCE Journal -- My Path Towards A Hopefully Decent ATAR
« on: February 24, 2020, 11:19:24 am »
+14
Hi,

I'm kinda new to the whole ATAR notes website but I thought it would be beneficial for me to complete a QCE journal throughout my journey of Year 12. I don't know about you but I've always imagined Year 12 to be some sort of roller coaster (sorry for my bad analogy) -- it's an unexpected ride of highs (positive) and lows (negative) impacts to our future which is why it's pretty daunting. So, for the past few years I have struggled with pretty much everything -- from my health (both mental and physical) to my friendship groups and academics, which is why this year, I would like to try to improve so I can get a decent enough ATAR.

Anyway, the subjects that I am doing are:
General Mathematics
Biology
English
Literature
Modern History

I also did Digital Solutions, but I dropped down to five subjects as I found the workload to be too much for me to handle -- I don't want to sound lazy or anything but as I struggle with my health and academics, I often get overwhelmed with everything and I just found that by dropping the subject (which I didn't really enjoy anyway) would lift an unnecessary weight off my shoulders (and it also gave me an opportunity to have a free study period which is really helpful for me).

My grades, however, I am not extremely proud of. My weaknesses are the 'heavy content' subjects of Mathematics and Biology (which are both prerequisites of my dream university course of a Bachelor in Primary Education). My strengths, however, are the Humanities based subjects of English, Literature and Modern History, which is why a majority of my subjects are essay based.

Unit 3+4 Biology --> Data Test: 8/10 (80%) --> I am extremely proud of myself for earning this result; I studied extremely hard for this test, and I think my efforts really paid off. Scientific Experiment Report: In Progress --> due at the end of term.
Unit 3+4 English --> Persuassive Speech: 10/25 --> I'm not proud of this result; I'm an extremely introverted and shy girl who struggles with public speaking so, although I did practice and rehearse my speech a lot, I could have done better in performance. Public Essay: In Progress --> due at the end of term.
Unit 3+4 General Mathematics --> In progress: my PSMT is due in a week and I also have a Unit 3 exam at the end of the term.
Unit 3+4 Literature --> Analytical Exam: 11/25 --> I'm not exactly proud of this result either; I worked really hard to prepare for this exam but in the end, I do have to remember that analytical is my weakness. Literature Multimodal: In progress --> due at the end of term.
Unit 3+4 Modern History --> Research Investigation: 18/25 --> Yet again, I am extremely proud of myself for earning this result; I worked extremely hard on the assignment, and I think my efforts really paid off. I also have an Essay Exam at the end of term which I am currently studying for.

When I was younger, I always dreamed of being able to help people, and while my grades aren't exactly great at the moment, I really wish that someday I will be able to help people without my grades defining me as a person. I have a multitude of career paths that I am interested in (which I will list below), however, my options of what I will be able to do would be defined by my performance in QCE.

I am interested in:
Being a primary school teacher.
Or A tutor (mainly for the humanities based subjects).
Being a special education teacher -- this one is especially close to my heart as I have Mild Cerebral Palsy.
Something in psychology: maybe specializing in the psychology of learning -- helping people how to learn? Or maybe a school counsellor or a psychologist? I am not sure if I would like to specialise in psychology as a career or if I should just study it as an elective subject in an Arts degree.

Speaking of degrees, the degrees and universities that I am interested in are:
Bachelor of Arts - QUT or University of Melbourne
Bachelor of Education (Primary) - QUT or University of Melbourne
Bachelor of Behavioural Science (Psychology) - QUT
Bachelor of Psychological Science - ACAP

So yeah, that's pretty much everything you need to know about me. Sorry for the excessive amount of information but it was actually really helpful to get the weight of my shoulders, if you know what I mean. I will probably update this journal throughout the year as I get results, as I study for my exams and do my exams etc.

So bye for now I guess.
QUT 2021 - Bachelor of Education (Primary).

Bri MT

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Re: My QCE Journal -- My Path Towards A Hopefully Decent ATAR
« Reply #1 on: February 24, 2020, 12:18:05 pm »
+6
Hey :)


I don't think a rollercoaster is a bad analogy at all & I hope that this journal is a great place for to reflect and be supported through that rollercoaster :)

I certainly don't think that dropping a subject so you can better focus and cope with your workload makes you lazy - I think it takes courage to look at what you're currently doing it and change it to improve your situation. I'm glad you took action to improve your wellbeing and academics.

With your assessments so far, congratulations in particular for your bio mark given it's a subject that doesn't come as naturally to you; it's great that your hard work has paid off.

Doing well in QCE does open more doors but there are always multiple paths to a career (sometimes they may be less direct but they're still there) - these results absolutely won't define you. Wanting to help people is a great drive to have and even if not as many doors open from your QCE results as you hope there will always be paths to do that (kind of repeating myself but I think it's an important point).

Absolute best of luck & you have nothing to apologise for - thank you for giving us a glimpse into your journey!

s110820

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Re: My QCE Journal -- My Path Towards A Hopefully Decent ATAR
« Reply #2 on: March 06, 2020, 04:02:10 pm »
+6
Hi,

I just have another update with how I'm going.

School Stuff:

I have handed in my PSMT assignment which I am extremely proud of, and I hope my efforts pay off well. I have now started my remaining three assignments: my English Public Essay, my Literature Mutimodal and my Biology Student Experiment, and I think I am managing okay.

I have also finished my English Public Essay which is due in twenty seven days. All I have to do now is wait for my teacher's feedback and use the feedback provided to finalize my essay. I will also edit and proofread my essay in this time as well.

In terms of my Literature, I am still writing my monologue which I will record for the multimodal, so hopefully I will finish writing and recording before the draft is due on Monday.

In terms of my Biology student experiment, I have collected all of the data I need from my experiment so all I need to do now is to process the data as well as make a graph and interpret the results, the evaluation, the sources of error, the suggested improvements and extensions, the conclusion and the reference list. I am planning to get most of my draft done before it's due on Tuesday. So will "chunk" what I need to do on Saturday, Sunday and Monday.

Yet again, I still have a little bit to complete for the Biology and Literature drafts that are due next week but I will finish these drafts on the weekend as I have a shift at work tonight.

Other than my assignments, I have two exams this term: a Modern History Essay Exam and a General Maths Unit 3 exam which I have studied both for.

I am fairly confident with my Modern History Essay Exam as it is one of my easiest and best subjects, so I hope I do well in the exam.

However, I am a little bit less confident with my maths exam. I have completed the sample Unit 3 exam paper from the the QCAA website, and my total marks are 32.5/47.5 (this excludes the complex familiar/complex unfamiliar questions as I did not have time to complete the full practice exam at lunch time today).

Anyway, I think that's it from me.

See you next time :)

QUT 2021 - Bachelor of Education (Primary).

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Re: My QCE Journal -- My Path Towards A Hopefully Decent ATAR
« Reply #3 on: March 21, 2020, 02:58:05 pm »
+4
Hi guys! (If anyone reads this)

I got my maths PSMT task back and I am extremely shocked (in a good way) at my results. I got 17/20 which is probably the best result I have ever had in maths. Big shout out to Bri MT who reviewed my assignment and gave me a few helpful hints to improve my response. I appreciated your feedback so much and it definitely paid off :)

I did my Modern History Essay exam this week and I'm kinda lacking confidence in my performance. Yes I tried my best, but at the end of the day, I feel like I could have done so much better. I had an anxiety attack in my Modern History exam -- I was so worried about not getting a 'good enough' result that I actually may have ended up getting a lower result than I hoped for.

Similarly, in my Unit 3 maths exam this week, I am kinda confident in my performance in the exam. I smashed through the Simple Familiar Paper, but in the Complex Familiar/Complex Unfamilar paper I struggled a lot. I practiced lots of these types of questions but in the exam my brain just kinda went on an 'overdrive' -- the best way I can explain it is like a crescendo of all of my thoughts, fears and doubts happening all at once. But yet again, I hope I do well enough.

I have my Student Experiment due on Monday and I am feeling pretty confident in my response. Although experiments/practicals aren't my strength per say, I worked really hard on my assignment and I hope my hard work pays off in the end.

I also have my Literature Multimodal and my English Public essay due in 12 days, but I am still working on editing/proofreading and refining those, but I'll keep you updated if you want :)

Also, my school is planning to remain doing classes for this upcoming week, and then switch to online learning the week after. I feel like I'm going to struggle with this change as I am honestly the type of person that benefits from being in a 'classroom-like' environment. Do you guys have any tips or methods that I can use throughout this week to have an optimal (productive) performance when I work at home?

Anyway, I think that's it for now. I'll keep you in the loop if anything else happens.

Bye for now :)
QUT 2021 - Bachelor of Education (Primary).

s110820

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Re: My QCE Journal -- My Path Towards A Hopefully Decent ATAR
« Reply #4 on: May 29, 2020, 10:47:07 am »
+4
Hi, AN community,

It's me again, back from the dead! I recently got a few of my results back and I think "disappointed" would be a bit of an understatement. For example, in English, I got a 13/25 on my Public Essay which I did not expect as I put so much time and effort into my assignment. However, I need to remember that analytical is my weakness and while it isn't exactly the "best" result I could get for a subject, it's an improvement from the last time I did a Public/Online Essay which I did really badly on oops. I also got my Biology Student Experiment back yesterday and I was disappointed with my result. I got an 11/20 which again, isn't the best result but I did try really hard and put a lot of effort into it so I'm a little bit disheartened with my results.

I have organised meetings with my teachers though to discuss how I can improve my skills in English and Biology for the upcoming External Exams which I am extremely excited about as this year, I am putting a lot of effort into my academics and my work ethic, which I hope, can reflect in my final exams. However, yesterday wasn't the best day for me. It's a bit uncomfortable for me to say on a public forum, but when I received both of my results yesterday, I had an anxiety attack in the girls' bathroom. I'm not trying to gain "attention" or "sympathy" or anything like that but yesterday, I weighed myself down with my self-imposed perfectionist nature and my own pressures to be a "perfect" student.

I won't go into the details as it may be triggering for some people on the forum, but it scares me that it was only now that I realised how much my mindset and my attitude towards my education was affected me mentally and physically. It was only now that I realised that neither my grades do not define me as an individual nor would the university I attend would define my work ethic or employability. It was only now that I realised that I should not define my self-worth over something as insignificant as unnecessary and unhealthy amounts of stress over my ATAR score and my university preferences. It's scary to think about it, especially since I normalised my own "toxic" and "perfectionist" mindset for my entire education.

Yesterday, I felt so insecure in my own academic abilities that I was scared of telling my parents what results I received. But to my surprise, they were actually considerate and understanding of my situation which would definitely be a weight lifted off my shoulders. They understood that I worked extremely hard and put a lot of effort into my assignments so they reminded me that as long as I "try my best" is all that matters, which I think made me feel like I was wrapped in a blanket of love. On the bright side, I got my Literature multimodal results back as well and I got a 17/25 which I am extremely happy about! Seeing that my hard work and effort paid off really brightened my day :)

Furthermore, I would just like to give a massive shoutout to Literally Lauren who helped me out yesterday! I honestly cannot express how much her response to my email meant to me. Yet again, it made me feel as though I was wrapped in a blanket of love. Her advice, reassurance and her kindness were ultimately what got me through the day, so I would just like to thank her so much for her efforts! I extremely appreciated it. Lauren, if you're reading this, I would just like to let you know how much your kindness meant to me yesterday. It's not easy to reassure stressed and anxious students, so your efforts yesterday were truly remarkable and I can't thank you enough for everything that you helped me with!

It's official - I don't have any more assessment until the external exams and I'm kinda relieved as the lack of internal assessment would enable me to focus more on my study and revision. Is anyone else in the same boat? I'm interested in making a QCE Study group for General Maths and Biology if anyone is interested - if you are, please let me know as it would be extremely appreciated. And also, is anyone doing Hamlet for the English external exam and/or King Lear for the Literature External Exam? I can't find anyone who's doing the same text as me which is kinda scary as I have realised most of Queensland (or at least the people I've met) are doing Macbeth.

Anyway, have a great week!

Online, never going offline,

Darcy Dillon.




QUT 2021 - Bachelor of Education (Primary).

s110820

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Re: My QCE Journal -- My Path Towards A Hopefully Decent ATAR
« Reply #5 on: June 04, 2020, 08:06:15 pm »
+1
Hi everyone!

I'm back again with a bit of a small and unrelated update, but I'm excited to announce that I have been chosen to moderate the Quora Teen Rant Space! I honestly cannot express my happiness and my gratitude for this role into words, but it would definitely be an understatement to say that I haven't been squealing for the past hour.

Anyway, have a great week and don't forget to smile to someone as I'm sure that they would appreciate it so much :)

Online, never going offline,

Darcy Dillon.
QUT 2021 - Bachelor of Education (Primary).

s110820

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Re: My QCE Journal -- My Path Towards A Hopefully Decent ATAR
« Reply #6 on: September 18, 2020, 08:21:56 pm »
+5
Hey everyone,

I'm finally back from the dead with yet another update how my life has been since COVID-19 drastically affected my final year of secondary school. I did disappear from ATAR Notes for a little while because I was busy studying for my mock exams, but now that I have finished my mock exams, I'm planning to be more active on the forums :)

Anyway, I received my mock exam results back already and I think it would be an understatement to say that I'm extremely disappointed in myself. I definitely could have done better in not only preparing for the exams, but also my exam strategies within the exam. Before I go into detail about my experience with my mock exams, I'll give you a brief overview of how I went:

General Mathematics - 22/50 = 44%
English - 35/55 = 63%
Biology - 19/50 = 38%
Modern History - 41/60 = 68%
Literature - 33/55 = 60%

As you can tell, I didn't do as well as I thought. While I think I did okay, I know I can definitely do better - a lot better than where I am now. Similarly, while I did study to an extent, I definitely could have studied a lot more and a lot harder as well. Furthermore, as I'm fairly confident that I'll be able to improve in my "writing-based" subjects of English, Literature and Modern History, I'm going to focus on my other subjects of General Maths and Biology, as these are my prerequisite subjects for my desired university courses.

Speaking of university courses, I have also changed my mind a bit in terms of universities and the courses I would like to study. Similarly, I also applied for my ATAR and filled out my university preferences which I'll summarise below, if you're interested in knowing:

1. Bachelor of Educational Studies - Australian Catholic University.
2. Bachelor of Education (Primary and Special Education) - Australian Catholic University.
3. Bachelor of Education (Primary) - Australian Catholic University.
4. Bachelor of Education (Primary) - Queensland University of Technology.
5. Bachelor of Education (Primary and Secondary) - Australian Catholic University.
6. Diploma of Social and Psychological Science/Bachelor of Social Work - Griffith University.

I love a lot about Australian Catholic University, but I also really appreciated its diverse range of adjustment factors. For example, they have adjustment factors for the school I go to and the results that I am aiming to get for General Mathematics, on top of my EAS adjustment factors. I know that I shouldn't entirely depend on these adjustment factors, but ultimately, these factors (including the diverse range of how I can achieve these factors other than sport and academics) really made me feel like I could achieve my dream of university.

Anyway, a bit of a life update but I had my school formal a little while ago! Of course, I was extremely fortunate that I was able to have a COVID-19 safe formal in the midst of a global pandemic, which was a shock to everyone because it was on the verge of being cancelled. But yeah, it was the best night of my life :)

Have a great weekend (and holidays) you guys and see you next time!

Darcy Dillon :)
QUT 2021 - Bachelor of Education (Primary).

Bri MT

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Re: My QCE Journal -- My Path Towards A Hopefully Decent ATAR
« Reply #7 on: September 20, 2020, 06:15:59 pm »
+2
I would really encourage you not to focus too much on your mock exam results - getting a bit more experience in tackling exams can make a bigger difference than you might think in your ability to score well. The most important thing is to learn from this, try to drill down into the specifics of how you lost marks and how you address those points in future.

Also - there is absolutely nothing wrong with using EAS, it's there for a reason :)

It's great that you were able to have a brilliant formal! Happy for you