VCE Stuff => Victorian Education Discussion => The VCE Journey Journal => Topic started by: addictwithatextbook on May 23, 2018, 08:49:31 pm
Title: Addict With A VCE Journal
Post by: addictwithatextbook on May 23, 2018, 08:49:31 pm
Hello! I don't post here often because I'm not so good with talking to and with people, but it's time I should post, with a VCE journal. I've always considered starting one since before the school year, so I don't know why I've only begun it now!
Wed 23.05.18 With the release of the VCE Exam Timetable for 2018, I'm happy to see it hasn't drastically changed from last year. I'm quite happy with the spacing of my exams so that I don't have to cram so much information in a few days. It goes: English and Psychology on 31.10 and 01.11 respectively, both Methods exams on the 7th and 8th, and Chemistry and Legal Studies on the 13th and 14th, respectively.
There was an excursion to La Trobe Uni today about VTAC, course, and pathway information and I collected a stack of university info and undergraduate course booklets from a range of universities. While the event helped me to narrow down my courses, I'm still not sure exactly what to choose as my university course. I'm currently thinking of having a law based career specialised in science somewhere, so possibly a double degree. I'm going to have to research a lot during the holidays.
I also received my English results yesterday which I am super happy with. It was my highest SAC score over the year, and I'm proud it came from my weakest and least liked subject. But next week is going to be a nightmare. I've got three SACs: Methods, Legal, and English, only if you don't count the research project for Psychology! Not only that, the Methods spans over five hours and 50 minutes, with 150 of those minutes coming straight after the Legal. Literally all the SACs (except for Chem) are clustered in that week. While I didn't have any SACs this week, this week has been the hardest so far, juggling preparation with normal schoolwork. Methods is also my highest priority subject this year, and I really need to do well on this first SAC. Help me do More than Survive next week!
In non-school related mumbo jumbo, I'm excited for the Survivor Season 36 finale tomorrow. I'm a huge fan. Although the South African version is (heaps) better.
I guess that's all for now. Who knows if I'll even update this in the future and that this might be my only journal entry. I might... :)
Title: Re: Addict With A VCE Journal
Post by: addictwithatextbook on June 01, 2018, 05:25:54 pm
Fri 01.06.18 Hell week is finally OVER. 5-lesson Methods SAC is over, insanely long Legal SAC is over, English Language Analysis SAC is over. It feels like the start of a new period.
I actually enjoyed the Methods SAC despite the last part draining my already exhausted brain (because of Legal). All students in my class were mentioned in the SAC as engineers or swimmers, and I was a swimmer and had a huge part in the SAC questions. I can't swim, though. Within the last two parts of the SAC we had a break, and although we wee not allowed to speak to each other about the SAC, all the boys crammed in the bathroom and shouted in our discussion. :P The teacher already had marked it all within two days but since I have no class I did not receive my result. In contrast, after two weeks of waiting my Chemistry results finally were revealed today, and I'm really happy with it. I got rank 1 in the class, but I'm only rank 2 overall for Unit 3. Improving :)
The Legal SAC took place immediately before the last two parts of the Methods SAC and it consisted of a 10 mark question that was revealed beforehand, so it was a matter of preparation to receive the 10 marks. I full marked it, but because of the length of my response, it was the expense of other answers and marks. I was disappointed to find out I dropped 4 percent from the SAC on Criminal law, yet receiving equal highest mark of the class of 92%. However, after calculation errors, I double-checked with the teacher and ended up receiving 94%, surpassing the student ranked 1 in both Legal classes. I'm extremely delighted, since I only joined Legal this year.
The English SAC was an absolute mess. I could never finish language analyses on time, and it wasn't different in the real SAC. The fortunate thing is that most students in the cohort didn't finish either. I'm happy with the quality of analysis, though. I'm expecting at most a 34/40. I really need to practice more on English, but I barely ever have the motivation, it's a struggle. In spite of this, I believe I'm ranked 2 or 3 in the class, and I'm happy with that.
Today we practiced our experiment for the Psychology SAC, in a group that was only ever completely present at school once out six lessons. I'm the group leader, and I'm terrified of having to conduct the experiment on the serial position effect in front of Year 12s who we're taking out of their study period. My biggest challenge during the real thing is to keep a straight face while Dr. Jean's Guacamole Song/Dance plays on screen for twenty long seconds.
Unit 4 content begins with English, Methods, and Legal. Two more SACs left for this term: a POV Oral on African gangs (English), and the Psychology Experiment. It's going back to normal. There's also less than two weeks until the GAT :O and exactly four weeks until the formal :D. The maximum people on one table is 10, but we wrote 11 names on ours? So I'm not sure how that's going to work, but I hope they keep 11. Meanwhile, I am not ready for the GAT. I couldn't finish the writing tasks in our practice lesson. Also, South African Survivor is SO GOOD.
I'm surprised I updated this journal. Hopefully I update it in the future.
Title: Re: Addict With A VCE Journal
Post by: AngelWings on June 01, 2018, 10:36:35 pm
How does patent law sound to you? I hope you do too. :)
Just looked it up :) and it definitely sounds cool! Thanks very much for the suggestion, as I've never heard of it before. I'll be considering it as one of my top options so far ;) You know much about it?
Title: Re: Addict With A VCE Journal
Post by: addictwithatextbook on June 08, 2018, 05:08:31 pm
Fri 08.06.18 The end of Week 8, and I thought after last week this week would be easier. Boy, am I wrong. While Legal Studies and Chemistry toned down in terms of homework and study, Methods is so laborious (as usual), the Psychology research SAC is draining and English... oh English...
We've begun Integration for Methods, but not before we received our SAC results, and I am so, so pleased. I received 115/120 and Rank 1 :D :D Only 5 people in our class got over 50% (which is unfortunate) :( Anyway, it was back to 3-5 exercises per week and plenty of theory and homework, yet I still enjoy the subject the most so much???
We conducted our Psych experiment on Tuesday, and while the conduct went well, the results were... off. I figure you know what we did next. Next Thursday is the final report write-up, but I'm not sure about anything about the moment. I received feedback to lengthen my already 400-word introduction by possibly another hundred or so words. Our method is already 300 words long and discussion is a predicted 500-words... I'm not going to be able to write this all up in one period!
Yesterday in English we presented only a fraction of our POV on African gangs. I literally wrote the whole thing up the night before and so I had no time to memorise. So I winged it (someone who didn't even know me laughed at me and I wanted to slam a table) and I faltered many times, yet I still received good enough feedback. On Wednesday I received my results for Language Analysis, and I was more surprised than anything. I think I was more happy with the result than for Methods, despite it being my lowest SAC score over the year. I hadn’t completed the analysis yet I tried to incorporate as much of the criteria in there, and this gave me equal rank 1 in the class!!!
Alongside, we received a booklet with tasks for Exam revision, for the practice exam in the last week of term. This includes language analysis essays, Medea or After Darkness text response essays, planning responses, sheets of essay components, etc. All this with the POV draft being due in the background. Without the long weekend and the Friday off (and half of Wednesday) next week, I wasn't sure if I was able to last. In other news, we played Kahoot in Legal and I didn't know Emojis could work as your name. Nobody figured out who the watermelon was until the 20th question. Who won? The watermelon.
Something that doesn't concern me at all yet I'm so stressed with is Further Maths. The classes had their Recursion and Financial Modelling SAC yesterday afternoon and today, and I get stressed hearing about it. It's a 70 page long SAC of 11 stages that literally tells you to manage a person's financial life from birth to death. It's been the talk for the last few days and EVERYONE is confused. Some come to me for help but it's too hard for me to comprehend. Basically, the teachers sent their SACs to VCAA last year and were told to make them harder, but they made them TOO hard. As far as I know, nobody got past 85% last SAC. They are also unstructured and require a lot of writing like English, except with calculations. People say it's because of ME (see why in signature) and if it is because of me, I'm genuinely so sorry. Back to this SAC, only one person I've asked reached stage 11 (but didn't finish), two reached stage 9, and the rest only reached stage 7 and 6. Someone told me that during reading time, people were actually crying in the corner. I was so concerned for them. After reading time, they haven't finished reading the third page. I have a lot of friends in Further. I couldn't believe it this year. The best move of people were to do Further last year or to have dropped it transitioning from Year 11 to Year 12. The SACs also really disadvantage the EAL kids and is really unfair. They should petition to VCAA.
In other news, I'm not ready for the GAT. I received results from the Practice Writing tasks and I received 7 out of 10 for both. It was average as it sounded like 60% of students received the same score. My friend literally wrote 7 lines for the second writing task and got a 7 (maybe he would've gotten 10 if he wrote 3 more lines?). Also, everyone was literally at the reception paying and bringing their notes for the formal as this is the last day :P I still need a shirt. I've also planned to attend five open days (Swinburne, La Trobe, RMIT, ACU, and Melbourne) and I hope it will be good.
Today was also a good day overall. Weirdly, each period I had to wait at least 1 minute to wait for a teacher, especially my first period, where the teacher came after 14 minutes. It was short of a 'If the teacher doesn't come in 15 minutes, we are legally allowed to leave.' I'm also not good with people at all, yet I managed to talk to a lot of people today and I'm glad :) I'm so awkward and shy or over-hyped in real life. I also barely go out with friends as I was always so uncomfortable - I'm more of a family person. But I seemed to improve my social skills as I actually wanted to head out to dinner in the city with some friends that I'm comfortable with today, but today is my dad's birthday and my parents wouldn't let me go. Wasted "opportunity" :(
I was going to tell more about myself and my goals, but the post is getting too long I think. I'll do it next week when there's only two and a half days of school. I didn't think this post would've been that long, but it's good as it indicates that I'm more invested in this journal. It's no doubt that I'll be updating it regularly now :)
Title: Re: Addict With A VCE Journal
Post by: Joseph41 on June 08, 2018, 05:15:08 pm
Love the investment! ;D Have enjoyed this thread so far - really glad you decided to go for it and post a thread.
Re: GAT, I honestly don't think anybody would ever really feel that prepared haha. It's really difficult to study for - I'd wager most people just wing it.
Title: Re: Addict With A VCE Journal
Post by: addictwithatextbook on June 08, 2018, 05:23:47 pm
Love the investment! ;D Have enjoyed this thread so far - really glad you decided to go for it and post a thread.
Re: GAT, I honestly don't think anybody would ever really feel that prepared haha. It's really difficult to study for - I'd wager most people just wing it.
Thank you heaps! True with the GAT :D Nobody is really saying anything about it, not even the English teachers. I only received a 29 (scaled) for the written part last year winging it. I have more understanding this year so hopefully I get higher. I'm only looking forward to the multiple-choice tbh
Title: Re: Addict With A VCE Journal
Post by: AngelWings on June 09, 2018, 04:12:09 pm
Just looked it up :) and it definitely sounds cool! Thanks very much for the suggestion, as I've never heard of it before. I'll be considering it as one of my top options so far ;) You know much about it?
Fun fact: I don't. I actually learnt about this because careers advisers have told me about it and recommended me this as a potential career.
Title: Re: Addict With A VCE Journal
Post by: rani_b on June 13, 2018, 04:51:52 pm
Fri 08.06.18 The end of Week 8, and I thought after last week this week would be easier. Boy, am I wrong. While Legal Studies and Chemistry toned down in terms of homework and study, Methods is so laborious (as usual), the Psychology research SAC is draining and English... oh English...
I'm also not good with people at all, yet I managed to talk to a lot of people today and I'm glad :) I'm so awkward and shy or over-hyped in real life. I also barely go out with friends as I was always so uncomfortable - I'm more of a family person.
Judging from your entries, you seem like you would be great with people! :) But yes, I relate - at least my dog and fam are used to my awkwardness/weirdness. :P
Title: Re: Addict With A VCE Journal
Post by: addictwithatextbook on June 13, 2018, 07:14:24 pm
Judging from your entries, you seem like you would be great with people! :) But yes, I relate - at least my dog and fam are used to my awkwardness/weirdness. :P
My Psych SAC is TOMORROW and I'm not ready at all hehe The good thing is though we have two lessons to write it up. Don't stress, whatever time you have, make sure you understand everything that will go in your report. Remember your draft.
I could say the same with you! But it's different behind a screen then in person :) I think I'm improving - I smile constantly and talk to more people, but I'm still very awkward around certain people that I get intimidated by for being extroverts.
Title: Re: Addict With A VCE Journal
Post by: rani_b on June 14, 2018, 09:54:00 am
My Psych SAC is TOMORROW and I'm not ready at all hehe The good thing is though we have two lessons to write it up. Don't stress, whatever time you have, make sure you understand everything that will go in your report. Remember your draft.
I could say the same with you! But it's different behind a screen then in person :) I think I'm improving - I smile constantly and talk to more people, but I'm still very awkward around certain people that I get intimidated by for being extroverts.
Good luck!!! Yes I would never go up to people in public but here I am replying hahah
Title: Re: Addict With A VCE Journal
Post by: addictwithatextbook on June 14, 2018, 06:57:43 pm
Good luck!!! Yes I would never go up to people in public but here I am replying hahah
Thank you! All is well so far. Good luck with yours!
Thu 14.06.18 Another week done (no school this Friday for me) and for some reason I feel different, like I'm less motivated to deal with school? I think it's because I changed my sleep schedule.
This week was only a three-day school week, and two-day class week (because of the GAT). Speaking of the GAT, I think I did alright. Well, Writing Task 1 I found easier than Writing Task 2, as usual, but Writing Task 2 felt a lot harder this year. I have the unpopular preference at school of favouring Writing Task 1 over Writing Task 2, because really I don't like myself writing about my opinion. I just cringe at myself and what I write for some reason. I ironically live in this political world unopinionated, ha. Anyway, I timed myself incorrectly for the writing tasks. I took 45 minutes to do Writing Task 1 (and I STILL wasn't finished) and I was happy with it, but I only took 15 minutes to do Writing Task 2 because I struggled - I literally just wrote about anything and after one page I just moved on. I didn't include the gatchphrase in the writing because I didn't know what it was until after the GAT. I probably wouldn't have included it anyway. Depends on my mood, if I wanted to do something for the lulz
With the multiple-choice, I think did well, actually. I reckon I only got 3 questions wrong for the Maths/Science questions, and at least 5 for the Hums/Arts ones. I ran out of time so I just guessed the Field question (and apparently I got 2 out of the 3 questions I guessed omg). I also changed my answers for the painting question during the very last MINUTE and I'm glad I did. I don't like how it can all be very subjective, though. I totally interpreted the Eileen one wrong and I feel stupid. I didn't know she was in the kitchen. Oh well. I sat at the front row, which I didn't really like. I feel like I perform better in the middle or at the back, where seeing all these people intimidates me and therefore motivates me. Also, the supervisors were right in front of me and they couldn't stop walking and stopping right in front of me and I feel my IQ just drops 50 points. And I literally shaded a bubble as casually as possible after the supervisor said 'pens down' and another supervisor was right in front of me. I like how he didn't even do anything. He probably didn't even see me. Overall, the GAT felt easier this year.
What a coincidence! We We wasted three hours of our life too! Okay, but it wasn't a waste, because the best thing to come from the GAT is the MEMES. I don't have Facebook, but thanks to PhoenixxFire on the GAT discussion thread and my friend, I was literally DYING at the memes. I actually wanted to bring grapes, cucumbers, and roast duck to eat for lunch today. They're all so funny i shriek i scream i cri i am deceased
So with subjects, I didn't have any Chemistry or Legal lessons this week, so I have nothing to say on them, except I looked at spectroscopy for Chem and it's so hard to understand. Took me three reads and notes to understand the concepts. I only had one Methods lesson, in which we covered three exercises. Thanks to the Queen's birthday and the GAT I get less homework than usual for Methods.
We had THREE sessions for English, and it was pretty ordinary. I rushed my African gangs POV draft to hand it in on Tuesday. We started looking at I Am Malala on that day and today as well. Then we began our statement of intention for the POV. That and the final draft is due on Tuesday for the presentation on Thursday, for which I must rehearse and memorise, as well as revision for the practice exam in week 11. So much work. And Psych literally took so much of my time this week. Today was the first lesson on which we could write up our report for the SAC, and I got everything down except the discussion section. I'm going to have to memorise most of my Discussion draft so it becomes good. The report draft is 1800 words overall by the way (funny the logbook said no more than 700).
That's basically it but I should say more about myself. I did Further Maths last year and did not expect my study score to be that at all (50). I thought my SAC scores not being perfect stopped me from getting that + a mistake I made in Exam 2, but nuh uh uh I get it. I never felt so happy. I wonder how I'll feel this year. This year, I dropped Bio for Legal. I didn't feel Bio was for me and I had a lot of friends in Legal + I liked it in Year 10 so yeah. Methods is my favourite and priority subject this year, though, followed by Legal, then Chem (they both were swapped but I ended up liking Legal more), then English as priority but least favourite, and Psych as least priority but second-least favourite. I don't have many hobbies relative to other people. All I do is watch Survivor and follow the Tennis tbh. I don't watch TV shows or many movies although I'm a second hand fan of many shows and movie series (MARVEL) because of my sisters. I have a ukulele I want to play but school gives me hardly any time.
Bye ;)
Title: Re: Addict With A VCE Journal
Post by: addictwithatextbook on June 23, 2018, 03:28:51 pm
Sat 23.06.18 Hello all :) One more week of school left until the "holidays"...
The Psych research SAC is finally, FINALLY done. I wrote the discussion for the second lesson of the write-up on Tuesday to finish off the poster. I thought I did well on it. I had to squeeze one of my discussion paragraphs to fit it in the poster because I didn't want to write just one paragraph on another sheet of A3 paper. Anyway, it felt a bit jarring starting to learn the Unit 4 content on consciousness, since the SAC went on for more than a month. As for consciousness, I quite enjoy the topic. I'm more excited to learn about sleep, honestly, since my sleep schedule is not going so well.
Not much to say on Methods, Legal and Chemistry, average week. Only have applications of antidifferentiation to go for Methods, finished division of law-making powers in Legal, and completed Chapter 11 for Chem on properties and reactions of organic compounds. For Chem, we're going to skip Chapter 12 on spectroscopy (it is HARD - I had to read some of it up to like 5 times to finally understand it) and do Chapter 13 on chromatography (which looks like a piece of cake compared to Ch. 12). Also, our class last year didn't go through chromatography at all last year so it will be fairly new to us.
English, though - even though the Oral Presentation SAC is done, there is still so much work to be done for the Practice Exam next week. How'd I go on the Oral Presentation? Worse than I expected or wanted or what I had done when rehearsing, since I looked at my "cue cards" often, but still not so bad. Like half the class, I didn't volunteer, and I finally presented fourth-last in the class. I thought I did quite well in comparison to the class but then my friend presented straight after me and absolutely DEMOLISHED me. He grabbed a knife, (GRAPHIC) stabbed me in the throat, then stabbed my ribs several times and punctured my aorta. He was that good. He killed it. He was an angry Liberal. I heard good stories about other classes too. Someone actually dressed like an African refugee with headwear. Quite a lot of people had PowerPoint presentations to accompany. I hope I did enough, though.
In other English news, we watched Made In Dagenham for the comparative SAC next term, and I really like it, like the other films we had to study for English over the years (Bend It Like Beckham, The Shawshank Redemption, Remember the Titans, Gattaca). I just enjoy how the British speak and their expression. Also, a burden is placed upon all of us for the aforementioned practice exam on Thursday next week featuring a Text Response and Language Analysis. We all have to revise, because I'm pretty sure we all forgot who Medea was or how to analyse an argument.
There's also only one week left until the formal, and I'm all ready to go. I can't dance haha
On the holidays, though, there's going to be practice exams for the rest of my other subjects. There's also going to be homework. There's also going to be ATARNotes lectures. Going to be busy ;)
So many people in my school talk about the World Cup. Someone in my classes always looks so tired in class after watching all matches of the World Cup during the nights. I only follow it (like tennis) without watching it (but I'd watch tennis if I could), and apparently Australia was robbed with the one against France. :( Tbh I might only follow it because I find countries interesting. Every time I see a map and try to see what it means. It's knowledge that I gained when I was like 7 that I'm almost barely using now. Also Panic's album just released and I'm
Title: Re: Addict With A VCE Journal
Post by: addictwithatextbook on July 10, 2018, 05:51:14 pm
Oh my, it's been a long while. More than two weeks? A lot has happened since then, so I have a lot to cover this time.
The English practice exam went way better than I expected, but still not good enough if I performed like that in the final exam. Instead of having just 2 hours to write a text response on Medea (or After Darkness) and a language analysis on #BantheBag, we had an extra 15 minutes. I blew it by using 1 hour and 20 minutes on my time doing the language analysis on #BantheBag and left the rest on Medea. I didn't even finish both the language analysis on #BantheBag and the text response, but I ended up writing five and a half pages overall which is the most I've ever done, so I'm quite happy with it. But when I went to my teacher for my POV SAC results, she lectured me on not finishing, because she expects high of me. Also, I struggled to choose a prompt for Medea, and I was worried that I wouldn't be able to pick one and be satisfied, but my teacher told me not to do one of them and I was relieved.
However, for the Oral Presentation on African gangs, I did worse than I wanted. I pretended to be happy but I was disappointed inside. I felt I was misled, because I thought I did pretty well, a lot better than my past presentations in Year 10 and 11 where I received perfect scores, so to do what I've done for the past few years, slightly better, hurt me. It's not worse than 90, though, which is fine.
After the English practice exam it felt liberating. There were only two days of Term 2 left with no more SACs to prepare for (except for methods of course) and the Formal to look forward to. With that being said there were only like half of the students in Year 12 at school on the last day, the day of the formal, and it felt really weird. Instead of being forced to study in Study Hall, we all spent half the lesson talking with the teacher about the formal - about how girls have to wear a different dress for every occasion, have all these make-up appointments, have their eyelashes done or extended, whereas boys can reuse the same suit over and over again (I heard someone had a $900 dress?) - and the other half of the lesson actually doing work, but I was out of class printing for the whole damn time because printing practice exams took so long (plus none of the printers except one furthest from my class worked). Chemistry was the only subject that felt normal, because at least more than 50% of the class came. Psych ended up being FUN, because we just watched videos of hypnotism and sleep deprivation and discussed stuff about dreams. I thought hypnotism was fake, but when we watched a video to get stuck in our seat by being hypnotised, I full on freaked out because I actually was. I wanted to be hypnotised and it worked omg Legal felt like a morgue because so many people died (6/18 lived). And Kahoot was weird because only three people were in the game and it was in the same order for every game for 7 games.
I realise I'm just drabbling on too much. Anyway, it was time for the formal! I was so excited to get there, in fact I was so excited and nervous I couldn't stop shaking for a full half an hour arriving there. I don't know why. It wasn't even cold. I couldn't hold the menu still. Some people went so hard they went in a limo, and one of them lost their voice from singing and dancing too much in the limo (he was full on sweating when I pat his back to say goodbye at the end of the night). Funnily enough two people on our table came so late they arrived when main was being served (and apparently one of them were late because he just finished buying a suit at Highpoint. Inventor of the sport of procrastination tbh). Some people pulled me over to dance but I just feel so mechanical and uncomfortable I regret moving after two seconds. Overall it was a really fun night, the photos I took with so many great people I'll cherish forever, and I'll never forget it!
Anyway, this is going to be very long if I keep going (+ I have to study), so I'll make another post tomorrow after I finish my Chemistry and Methods practice exam. Peace :P
Title: Re: Addict With A VCE Journal
Post by: addictwithatextbook on July 11, 2018, 05:13:00 pm
So its been around one a half weeks into the holidays, and I can't believe how much work I've done. So much homework and revision tasks needed that I've barely had any time to do anything else. It's the most work I've ever done in a break and I'm so exhausted, but this is Year 12, I guess.
I spent the first Saturday just reminiscing about the formal, then got to work and honestly, the first week was full of work, writing notes, and exam revision and it flew by so fast. Then on the weekend I attended three ATAR Notes lectures. On the Saturday I went to Chemistry in the morning, and the consolidation of Unit 4 Area of Study 1 was helpful. After going over spectroscopy (especially NMR which is probably going to be the death of everyone in my Chem class) three times, I finally got the hang of it. In the middle content block, we played Kahoot (and I was one dotty boi) and I started off good being first and second during the first four questions then I just fell apart and ended up in 18th. The last questions that I couldn't read because I was near the back I got correct by guessing. I thought I was wrong because the reaction didn't work, when the question specifically asked which reaction wouldn't work :P Also, it felt pretty funny when people laughed at seeing 'ONE DOTTY BOI' on the screen. I found Meth-anal so much funnier though.
I went to the Methods lecture in the afternoon (is it just me or does the lecturer remind me of Chris Evans) and we went over probability. That was the most overwhelming thing I've ever done.
Anyhoo I went to the Psychology one on Sunday afternoon, and I was surprised to have gone over the whole Unit 4 in the three hours, and it seems pretty interesting! For each Kahoot for each content block, I got 22nd as 'NREM Stage 4' but was second until the fourth question (then I just died in the fifth and final), I did so bad in the second I didn't see my score, and for the third I actually got second overall as 'dont leave', but I heard someone at the front saying they got second and stole my chocolate? I have receipts because I screenshotted my final score huns
And then there come the practice exams, with Psychology coming first, and it was a STAV 2018 Unit 3 Trial Examination paper, and it was so difficult I don't even want to talk about it. I don't even want to talk about any of them. Anyway for the Psych I didn't finish the 10 mark question but I answered everything else. This means I lost a guaranteed 10 marks out of 90. I don't know if its unfair, but we only had 90 minutes writing time for each practice exam, and from what I remember, the actual exams for the science subjects are 2 hours and 30 minutes writing time each for 120 marks? I think we didn't have enough time to do them (there wasn't a time allocation on the STAV front covers too). Some multiple-choice questions were so hard, too, and the short-answer questions required like, four lines of writing for one mark. The Legal Studies one was written on its own, but the teacher had said beforehand it would be so long nobody would have been able to finish it, and it's true. I lost 23 marks out of 100 from not completing three questions (or 22 since I wrote one sentence for a 10 mark question, probably?). It was even worse for Chemistry and Methods today. I skipped 18 marks worth of questions for Chemistry, out of 93, and then 11 marks off for Methods. We all agreed that the Methods was the hardest test we have ever done in our history of Methods, too. That was relieving, because I was beginning to think my performance is becoming awful - I never managed to leave a question blank for Methods!
That's all so far. A nightmare of a holiday. I'm coping, but I'm afraid for Term 3 becoming a clusterduck of crammed Unit 4 work. I want Croatia to win the world cup for somer eason, but it's probably going to be one of the other two
Title: Re: Addict With A VCE Journal
Post by: addictwithatextbook on July 20, 2018, 04:36:33 pm
I can't believe I still have the motivation to continue this journal. I'll just be brief this time.
Literally the night on the day I posted, twenty one pilots released two of their new songs and I was ecstatic for a few days. I like them so much I'm going to my first concert to their Bandito tour this year. I don't know how a concert is going to feel. Bad? Good? Regardless, I'm excited.
Croatia also lost the World Cup and I was :(
With school, all subjects just quickly went back into content and it went all back to normal. We're currently learning about I Am Malala for English, but I read the booklet and I found Made In Dagenham is easier to analyse for me, so I need to improve my analysis for I Am Malala. We also received our Practice Exam results, where one of my practice exams was marked externally as well. In sum, Text Response: Assessor - 8, Teacher - 7-8; Language Analysis: Assessor - 7, Teacher - 9 (which was the only scoring she mucked up on in the whole class). Pretty happy with it, but I need to aim for higher for a better study score.
Legal's good. Chem's good. The spectroscopic techniques are so much easier to understand once you've gone over them 3 times prior to the lesson. Methods = stressful. We've started probability, but we have a Modelling SAC for Calculus next week (which goes over the time allocation VCAA gives pretty sure). Probability's good thanks to the lecture. For Psych, we're going so fast, it's hard to keep up with notes. My teacher's planning to do a chapter a week and finish it all by Week 8. He also gave us a practice exam to do on the topics we've covered by Week 3.
Not only Term 3 is so high with schoolwork, it's so critical for our tertiary study. I read through the booklet by VTAC all for year 11 and 12 students and I find it also daunting. I've researched quite a number of courses and selected around 4 so far for my preferences. I also plan to apply for SEAS, Category 1 for being in a disadvantaged school (so all the students in the school tick that box) and Category 2 for disadvantaged financial background. I was so lost and didn't know you didn't have to write anything for Category 2 if you have Centrelink family benefits. I also plan to apply for scholarships but I don't know which ones yet.
That's all for now. I just notice how really awkward I am at school and I hate it and I want to talk to people but I don't because it's the fear that I'll be awkward
Title: Re: Addict With A VCE Journal
Post by: S200 on July 20, 2018, 04:39:17 pm
That's all for now. I just notice how really awkward I am at school and I hate it and I want to talk to people but I don't because it's the fear that I'll be awkward
Have you tried making really bad puns? Then you can be awkward and it just adds to the humour of the situation...
(of course, you have to be comfortable enough to laugh at yourself...)
Title: Re: Addict With A VCE Journal
Post by: addictwithatextbook on July 20, 2018, 04:47:48 pm
Have you tried making really bad puns? Then you can be awkward and it just adds to the humour of the situation...
(of course, you have to be comfortable enough to laugh at yourself...)
I only do them with some of my close friends haha. Once instead of shaking someone's hand but because he was holding a drink bottle I just groped the back of his hand and it was embarrassing and awkward and he was also with his friend and I felt like banging my head on the locker but I laughed about it with my friends (so maybe I can laugh about me being awkward but people see me as the quiet guy). I also find it hard to carry a conversation.
Title: Re: Addict With A VCE Journal
Post by: S200 on July 20, 2018, 04:53:49 pm
I only do them with some of my close friends haha. Once instead of shaking someone's hand but because he was holding a drink bottle I just groped the back of his hand and it was embarrassing and awkward and he was also with his friend and I felt like banging my head on the locker but I laughed about it with my friends (so maybe I can laugh about me being awkward but people see me as the quiet guy).
Lol. I wonder who felt more awkward?
Quote
I also find it hard to carry a conversation.
I used to be like this. I could never start a conversation and I just felt really dumb just standing with a group of semi-friends with no-one talking. But gradually, I have gravitated to starting the convo's, and being more at ease in the presence of strangers.
I think the easiest way to get over this fear is to do the lay down challenge... :)
Title: Re: Addict With A VCE Journal
Post by: addictwithatextbook on July 20, 2018, 05:54:10 pm
I used to be like this. I could never start a conversation and I just felt really dumb just standing with a group of semi-friends with no-one talking. But gradually, I have gravitated to starting the convo's, and being more at ease in the presence of strangers.
I think the easiest way to get over this fear is to do the lay down challenge... :)
Oh wow, thanks for the video! All the things he said at the beginning felt so true to me, and yeah, I think part of my fear is because I exposed myself to many situations on the public very little.
What a great video and great motivation! Thank you very much! I liked how Psychology was linked with this. I'll try lie down next time I go to the city hahaha
Title: Re: Addict With A VCE Journal
Post by: S200 on July 20, 2018, 08:20:41 pm
What a great video and great motivation! Thank you very much! I liked how Psychology was linked with this. I'll try lie down next time I go to the city hahaha
Anytime.
Make sure you post a video of you doing it on here! :D
Title: Re: Addict With A VCE Journal
Post by: Joseph41 on July 23, 2018, 03:03:25 pm
Just with the talking to others thing - not talking to more people is probably one of my big regrets from school. Like, I don't have any contact with certain people now because I didn't develop a relationship with them at the time. Really recommend taking the chance if you can. :)
Title: Re: Addict With A VCE Journal
Post by: addictwithatextbook on July 24, 2018, 04:38:41 pm
Just with the talking to others thing - not talking to more people is probably one of my big regrets from school. Like, I don't have any contact with certain people now because I didn't develop a relationship with them at the time. Really recommend taking the chance if you can. :)
It's difficult when my mind is very focused on work, but I sure will (I won't try to create any regrets!). I've talked to significantly more people this year than any of the previous years, so I think I'm getting better and better :)))
Hello again. It feels like a Friday.
Just a quick one today. We finished our Methods SAC which went over two days and three lessons, and was out of 83 marks. I was so disappointed in my performance during the first lesson, because I wasn't even a third of the way through the booklet by the end (we had two lessons) and so I went into next period (Legal) really sad, and answering questions half-heartedly. I ended up being the only one in the class who got the answer right lmao how But for the lesson after school, I ended up finishing that part of the paper relatively confident, and so I'm happy (but that was after everyone talked to everyone about what was on the rest of the SAC and the correct methods and answers for each). The second part, which was today, however, was super hard. I didn't get to do a two mark question and so I'm expecting a low(er) score for this SAC. There's also a Chemistry SAC test next week on 5 chapters, and a Psychology SAC the week after. Yay.
Today we also had an assembly, and gave awards for each subject in each year level. Until it went to me, nobody was receiving the Chem, Legal, Meth, Psych, and English awards. I ended up getting all of them and I was so surprised. I didn't expect for Rank 1 in each subject, especially for Chemistry, Psychology and ENGLISH. I'm happy and I appreciate it and all, but there's a little part of me that feels bad, like I stole awards of other people and hogged them all. Also, I crave recognition but I despise attention, but I don't know if that makes any sense?
That's about it. Also on the UMAT, I only know one person from my school who is doing it, so good luck to her, and good luck to everyone else tomorrow! :D random thoughts at the end, i still wish i took more photos in the photobooth at formal, and im still waiting for the photos a teacher took of us including one with me in native indian headwear
Title: Re: Addict With A VCE Journal
Post by: addictwithatextbook on August 01, 2018, 05:08:57 pm
Wed 01.08.18 Wow. It's already August.
Sat 21.07.18 Writing about this day is a bit late (and not that related to school) but I literally spent around 6 hours watching a 12 hour gameplay of Detroit Become Human, and I don't regret it! I never felt so disconnected from school since last year. It was a break at the perfect time and the game was so cool. I wanted to dress as Connor for celebration day because the costume is so cool but yeah. Also, there was a huge birthday party of someone from school and it looked like half of the year level was there. It felt like I was there when I was just watching the snapchat stories at 1:30am (after I finished watching the DBH gameplay, and I never stay awake by this time either) and it was so wild.
Sat 28.07.18 I've never been so stressed during this day and the coming days. There was so much work I did but so much English homework I didn't do. Also, a Chem SAC that was coming up (which was today).
Sun 29.07.18 I went to the Swinburne Open Day, and it was pretty good. I got a (free!) shirt XXXL size when my shirt size is small or XS. I went to the law and engineering/science areas and asked questions (I really need to do more of this to build my social skills! i awkwardly say 'oh' when someone introduces themselves). Free stuff was pretty good too. I almost missed the train home because I was almost going to stay on the train that would take me to Belgrave (other side from where I live).
Mon 30.07.18 Stress was at an all time high this day. I also received CFAT results for Legal. I got 92% but expected higher. I'm noticing my teacher marks a lot more harshly now. Need to practice for the SAC next week.
Tue 31.07.18 Stress disappeared by the end of this day. I finished the English homework and realised all I needed to focus on was Methods and the Chem SAC. My teacher also hasn't finished marking the Methods SAC because she claims she does so much work! I feel bad for her doing so much stuff more than other teachers would. Thanks miss. Also found out there is ANOTHER English practice exam on the day before my Legal SAC during the day of Parent Teacher Interviews and I'm URINED
Wed 01.08.18 Studying for 2 hours the night before for this SAC, claiming to have all 5 chapters of the Area of Study in the test, the SAC was pretty underwhelming. It was only 30 marks with one mark given to everyone (it asked to give the name of an ether compound - not in the study design) and it didn't even include Chapter 13 (chromatography) and 14 (volumetric analysis), and apparently all of us studied these two chapters for no reason. The SAC was easier than we all thought (some people finished 30 minutes early) so if I get below 94% I'll be pretty upset. Some questions were also a bit confusing (one asked to draw enantiomers of this complex molecule but it was only one mark). Methods is going really good, too. I love the class and we only have three chapters to go. We also have to hand in a baby photo by the end of the month and last night we took a trip down memory lane looking at the albums <3
The girl in our school who did the UMAT apparently did not have to do the UMAT at ALL. She was counted as a domestic student in high school but an international student in university (I don't know how) and so she has to do the ISAT or something as well. That means she wasted all that time studying for the UMAT and missing school! And a Methods class! Don't forget the COST! She has to pay for the ISAT too...
That's about it ;) Also found some Spanish bangers by a French dude I'm listening to right now
Title: Re: Addict With A VCE Journal
Post by: addictwithatextbook on August 12, 2018, 08:00:15 pm
Sun 12.08.18 I have barely had any time to update this journal. It's just been so full on!
Psychology Practice Exam Results + More Practice Exams - Thu 02.08.18 I got 72 out of 90 (80%) for the Unit 3 Practice Exam we did on the holidays, which was higher than I thought it would be! I only lost five marks on multiple-choice as well as 3 marks from short-answer, of those that I did answer (didn't answer 10 mark question). I'm pretty pleased and I hope I just keep improving from here. My teacher's also been handing out Practice Exams (two so far) to do not under timed and closed book conditions yet, and he tells us not to answer the questions about mental health and disorders and phobias but I just try because why not.
Chemistry SAC Results - Fri 03.08.18 I received my results for the Chem SAC that was on the Wednesday (compare two days with the 4 weeks she took to mark the other SAC) and I was at first, quite disappointed. I received 87% for what seemed to be an easy test (then bumped up to 90%), rank 2 and equalling my lowest SAC mark this year. Then the teacher emphasised that percentage was not that important and marks and the exam were more important. I need to get that into my head.
La Trobe University Open Day - Sun 05.08.18 I went with my sister who was a former La Trobe student to the university and it was really good! I didn't expect to like it that much as I was hoping for somewhere closer to the city, but the atmosphere was really great. There's lots of food to eat (my first HSP), activities to do, the library was massive and the open space was really peaceful. Definitely considering coming here as one of my top picks. However, like the Swinburne one, I never had much time to explore most of the campus and activities because I only arrive at like 1:00 or 1:30 from going to church. I really don't want to miss out on church either - I volunteer there. It's also why I wasn't able to go to the Monash open day on the same day when I wished to go there as well (it takes around more than 2 hours for me to get there I think?). This is also an issue with the ATARNotes legal lectures. They're always in the Sunday mornings but I really want to attend Legal as well! About the volunteering, the careers teacher came to one of my classes recently to ask who wants to apply for the Aspire program. I put my hand up but she didn't see me and I didn't write my name so I never bothered.
Methods SAC Results - Mon 06.08.18 I am super happy with my results for methods! I thought I was going to get lower. Overall I got 92% but this bumped up to 24/25 marks going to VCAA because I lost one mark in each of outcomes 1 and 3 so it still counted as like 8/8 and 7/7 when rounded for both outcomes, but I lost around 5 in outcome 2. I maintained rank 1... hopefully I can do better in the next SAC - probability! Which I found surprisingly underwhelming in terms of difficulty.
English Practice Exam and Parent Teacher Interviews - Tue 07.08.18 I blame some of my performance in the Legal SAC on the Practice Exam that took place the day before. Took a lot away from my revision time. I don't really see the point in lumping an English practice exam in the middle of many SACs, which means nobody will even take the practice exam seriously (unless they spent heaps of time revising). The one on the last week of last term was an appropriate time, because SACs were done for the term, but not this time, no, no. I didn't do that well in this one, too. I left out a whole body paragraph for Medea and awfully wrote my language analysis. For the last parent teacher interviews for probably the rest of my life, it was quite shorter than usual and it was just the similar comments all around. I also received my results for the rest of the Unit 3 Practice Exams - Legal was 69% ;) Methods was 70% and Chemistry was 58%.
Legal SAC - Wed 08.08.18 I cried. I never cry over a SAC or SAC result but I cried at the end of the Legal Studies SAC. I had to excuse myself from Methods and the teacher gave me a pep talk afterwards next to the other class doing the Legal SAC. My methods teacher is so great. The reason I just broke was because I didn't answer a 6 mark question and lost at least one mark from an unfinished answer of another question. Time ran out. It was such a long SAC.out of 50. I prepared myself but not enough I guess. The 10 mark question is given before the SAC and we have time to prepare an answer. I didn't memorise my response in time so I spent too much time on it. In addition, the teacher told us we had to answer the questions for the significance of High Court cases like this: Case name, facts, issues, Section of the Constitution, outcome, and significance (important). But the marks were only out of three or four for each case and only five lines were given? (My practice responses prior were at least 10 lines and got full five marks). It was a tough day, but by the end of the school day I felt determined, then sad again going to sleep.
RMIT and ACU Open Days - Sun 12.08.18 Today I went to both universities with my sister again (and then another sister in ACU as she was a volunteer there) in city campuses for only around 1 hour each because of church and travel, as mentioned before, so all I had time to do was ask things and walk around. Both unis were good, but RMIT didn't have an ideal double degree with law, so if I ever plan to do just science and/or engineering I might prefer it.
VTAC Applications I've made a VTAC account but I haven't applied yet. With four universities I've been to and the information I've gotten in mind, it will be really difficult for me to find my eight courses and put them in order of preference. There is one more university I will go to (Melbourne) but even for a shorter time than the other unis since something special is happening at church, so after that it's crunch time. There's so many things to take into account though, such as travel times, atmosphere and utilities of the university, fees and scholarships involved, and of course the courses and teaching. Life is moving so fast...
Subjects and Goals Time to list some of my goals as of this moment (they're pretty high and I'm expecting less because they probably won't be achieved, but why aim low when you can pursue your ability to get higher): Methods: 48+ (formerly 45+) and don't lose more than three out of 120 marks in both exams Chemistry: 45+ (formerly 43+) and don't lose more than twelve out of 120 marks in the exam Legal: 45+ (formerly 42+) and don't lose more than five out of 80 marks in the exam (formerly 15 marks) Psychology: 46+ (formerly 41+) and don't lose more than eight out of 120 marks in the exam English: 43+ (formerly 40+) and don't lose more than five out of 30 marks in the exam Further: Achievement Complete - 48+ (formerly 47+ and formerly 45+) Meanwhile almost everyone in my school aim for 50% in every task they do. If I took a LOTE, I would choose Spanish or Italian, or possibly even my nationality's language which I can't speak but can only understand a bit.
A lot today, but that's it. |-/ <3 <3 <3 Watching the third (or fifth, whatever) season of Australian Survivor is taking up a lot of my time but it's a challenge