Blooom's VCE Journal

[Blooom]

Hello world! This here is my vce journal which I hope will act as some great nostalgia inducing material when I am older and a place where I can engage with others as I share some of my thoughts and experiences going through vce (and high school life). This is pretty spur of the moment but I'm hoping writing this journal can serve as my method of relaxing between studying and school, hopefully meaning I can spend less time procrastinating doing other things. So without further ado, onto my

Introduction
I turned 17 in August this year and I'm currently studying year 11. My interests include my dog (Nutmeg), anime/manga/light novels, vtubers (pretty much just hololive), classical/romantic music and video games. Outside of school I'm part of a piano (me!), cello and violin trio and used to do scanlation in my free time.

My goals and hopes and dreams which will inevitably blow up in my face:

2020
Chinese SL ~40
Music Performance (on piano) 35+

2021
English 42+
Methods 42+
Spesh 37+
Chemistry ~40

So what have I been up to in year 11 up till now?
Well I'm doing two 3/4s this year alongside starting my other four 1/2s. So I believe this year has been the busiest year of my school life since ever. I personally enjoyed the freedom afforded in online learning and believe I managed to do pretty well in spite of all the covid changes but I'm certainly glad we're back to face to face learning. Besides that, my school also has an early commencement program so I'm already onto my year 12 schedule and let me tell you, having 8 spares a week does wonders for your workload. As for each subject specifically,

Chinese 3/4
I've done pretty well in my Chinese sacs throughout the year, topping my class for a few and generally placing in the top 3. I was quite happy with my oral performance as well since oral is definitely my strong point, now I'm just nervously awaiting the written component as I toil away writing essay after essay . Honestly, I know learning Chinese will be extremely good for my future but right now I just can't wait to take a break from it. The workload has been great (not in the good way) however reviewing the work I've done this year has really helped with keeping me motivated/feeling accomplished.

Music Performance (piano) 3/4
I think this subject has been the most heavily affected by covid out of all my subjects; unfortunately, 8 kbps audio just doesn't quite convey that half dim chord that well. Restrictions have also meant lessons with my piano teacher had to be stopped so all in all not the best year for music 3/4. I think I've done fairly well for my sacs throughout the year but I'm not expecting anything amazing (I hadn't expected this subject to be in my top four anyway). At this point I've resolved myself to just try my best and see how I go. I still think music performance is a great subject and really good for anyone interested in music, I really like their focus on aural (despite it being my weak point) and I can say I've definitely come out of it a better musician/music lover. Also much love to my music teacher, she is one of the best, most supportive teachers I've ever had.

English 1/2
I don't there's much to say here, my essay marks were alright this year and I believe with some extra work this coming year I can do fairly well in 3/4. It definitely helps that I've already seen Persepolis before in year 10 literature and that I personally find this work very interesting. I've already read through it once now alongside some critical analysis of it I was able to scour from thesis' found online. We are also now going through it in class. I admittedly don't know anything about my other texts (much ado about nothing, the longest memory and the seven stages of grieving) but here's hoping they will be good.

Methods 1/2
I think I'm pretty strong in maths so I've found methods this year fairly straight-forward, managing to average ~95% for my tests throughout the year and doing a bit worse (~87%) in the exams due to focusing on my 3/4s. Despite that I know 3/4 methods is still difficult to do well in so the plan right now is to make sure I get the proper prep done by starting early with those pesky, more difficult extended response/application questions.

Specialist 1/2
Personally, I enjoyed specialist more than methods. I found proofs and mechanics particularly interesting because being able to prove some of the equations we use so often with various different methods is pretty amazing. Marks wise I think I'm going alright, sitting at the top quartile of my cohort-ish. Hopefully, if I 'put it in the work' as my spesh teacher loves to remind us, I will be able to do well next year.

Chemistry 1/2
Despite putting it last, I think chemistry might've been my favourite subject this year. If spesh proofs is interesting because we can learn the origins of various formulas, chemistry is like that but x10 (I mean it's like proving real life!). It's pretty damn satisfying when everything in chemistry just clicks together, I enjoy how much everything just makes sense. Here I think I also have to send love to my chem teachers for their teaching and support this year; especially catering to my horrible sleep schedule with those late night 12:30am responses.

Conclusions
So that has been my subjects this year. Outside of that I was able to travel to Japan with my family before covid restrictions, and fall down the rabbit hole of vtubers. Unfortunately, all my MSO tickets this year have gone to waste but I'm looking forward to their performances in the future when we can pack ourselves into performance halls again. Hopefully this has been at least somewhat interesting for you guys and gals and I hope to update this fairly consistently with my thoughts as I journey through a post-covid world into my final year of high school!

Thanks for reading and much love!
Blooom

PS any tips for finding volunteer work around me? Being a bit introverted, I have no idea where to start asking

[lm21074]

Hey Blooom!

Welcome to ATAR Notes! Great to see you've created a journal

Your dog is so cute! I'm guessing it's an -oodle breed?

Do you have any plans for after high school?

re: volunteer work - there are some great websites that post volunteering opportunities like volunteer.com.au and govolunteer.com.au. There are also volunteer positions at op shops like Vinnies and the Salvos. I personally am a St John Ambulance Youth Member, which involves learning first aid skills and then going out on duties to provide first aid - it's a really great opportunity to make friends!

All the best with your upcoming exams!

[homeworkisapotato]

Hey Bloom! Welcome to AN! Your dog is SOO cute how old is he/she?
AWW I'm soo jealousss going to Japan is a DREAM for me! Where did you go in Japan?
I also want to join volunteering- especially St John Ambulance
Looking forward to more updates!

[The Cat In The Hat]

Your journal sounds interesting! I actually considered doing Music Performance with the piano, back before VCE started, but decided I wasn't good enough... however! I'm very curious about it and your other subjects! I also am an introvert who loves music. Will be interested in future updates!