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Hi Natalie!
Good to see that you've mad a journal and I am looking forward to not only seeing more journal updates but also seeing you around the forums elsewhere!
Good luck on your unit 3/4 subject this year aswell as on those 1/2's.
If you are finding bio and psych tough, don't hesitate to ask for advice and help in understanding topics on the psych and bio question threads (just make sure you have a go at answering questions and finding info yourself as they are important skills to develop :))
Trying not to stress to much in VCE is a very good goal and certainly something that I think will help you maximise your performance throughout the year.
Just a little side note
when you are replying to people on the forums, its best to include your multiple replies to people in the same single post rather than making multiple seperate posts (this just makes it a bit more organised). This can be done by clicking the reply button on the thread and scrolling down from the text box that pops up until you see the messages from other useres that you want to quote/respond to. To quote this (to include it in your message as a blue box), you can click the "insert quote button" that apears on the top right of the message you want to quote. This can be done multiple times within a single post to save you from making multiple posts. Hopefully this makes sense - the forums can be pretty tricky to figure out how to use at first)
consider dedicating a 80/20 effort allocation for your subjects this year, i.e. 80% for the 3/4 and 20% for the 1/2s. Obviously if you're confident you're gonna smash your 1/2s without considerable efforts, 95/5. However, having a solid foundation for Bio and Pscyh can arguably be helpful.
I just want to briefly voice my opinion that I don't think approaching your workload for VCE like this is a particularly good idea. While it is important to put more effort into your unit 3/4 subjects compared to your unit 1/2 subjects as your 3/4 is ultimately contributing to your ATAR, it’s also very important to not disregard your 1/2 subjects. I say this for multiple reasons: 1) like you mentioned, it’s important to properly understand 1/2 content to make life easier when you get to your 3/4 subject - otherwise your workload in year 12 will be much harder to manage. 2) it’s important that you actually pass these 1/2 subjects - while you are technically allowed to fail some units, it is not a wise idea to allow yourself to do so. 3) when you neglect your 1/2's you will struggle to keep on top of the workload and to understand the subject as well. When you are in this position, you'll likely grow a distaste for the subject which does not set yourself up for success. I also dislike the idea of applying a 'ratio' to determine how you allocate your efforts. Just as your workload changes from subject to subject and from week to week, I believe that your effort should too. I found that while I was in year 11, some weeks I barely touched my unit 3/4 work as I was meeting the demands of my unit 1/2 subjects as there was no pressing year 12 work, just in the same way that there were times when I devoted all my time to my year 12 subject (as too there were times where things were more balanced). It’s all about identifying what work/study needs to be done and prioritising it - something that is a very dynamic process and (in my opinion) is not benefitted by being preoccupied by trying to stick to a 80/20 effort allocation rule. That being said, this is just my opinion from my VCE experience and others may indeed find applying these 80/20 rules as something that helps them. This brings up the importance trying out different study techniques and reflecting on what worked/didn't work and developing your own systems and habits based on what help you learn effectively and achieve good results.
Good luck and enjoy the rest of your holidays