Our Mod C assessment for English Advanced was today (last one before trials), and I think I did okay. My integration was a bit clunky and I felt like I was way more focused on my prescribed text than my related, but nonetheless I'm expecting atleast 90, so hopefully that comes to fruition. The English faculty wants to get them back to us before trials, so there's a high possibility we'll get them back sometime next week - lolfuck.
Studying for trials has been debilitating, but unsurprisingly so. I started studying ages ago, so I don't feel too overwhelmed (although that'll probably change once we get closer to the exam dates). So far, I've been focusing predominantly on English, Maths and Legal since they're my first exams (literally right after one another). I have the weekend between for economics, so I'm kinda leaving that for then, which probably isn't a great idea but I'm not super worried about it atm. I've collated heaps of statistics and plans for all topics, so hopefully that'll be good. I'm mainly concerned because I've been adopting more of a holistic approach to my studies, rather than a meticulous one - like I've literally just done mountains of practise essays and short answer questions. It sounds weird, but although I would love to maintain my ranks atm, I'm honestly not too fussed if I achieve a mark below my usual standard in trials. With the amount of studying I've done, it would be difficult to face, but I feel like I can "afford" to fail lol. Like if I get a 70 in my legal trial, my overall final mark will still be 91 because I've done well all year and the same kinda goes to all my other subjects, albeit to a lesser extent. That's basically my mentality rn - it'll be strange to do shit with the amount of study I've done, but it would by no means be the end of the world.
English - I'm prepared for Paper 1 to some extent. I've done millions of practice papers under timed conditions - the only caveat is that I take forever to write out my discovery essay. I have no sense of time when I'm writing so 30 mins into my discovery essay, it's very likely I'll still be on my first paragraph lol. The first time I did it, I legit had 20 mins leftover for creative - which is not good. I can write my creative in 30 minutes though (it's only 1000 words), thankgod - if the stimulus is not atrocious. I reckon I'd be way faster in the actual exam tho - I find myself slacking off when writing my discovery essay (it's just so boring imo) when in actuality the adrenaline would make me fulfil my writing potential (hopefully). Besides time, I'm not really worried for Paper 1 - it's pretty straightforward. For paper 2, I'm quite prepared as well - except for Module C because I haven't really revised my quotes. I've practised a few timed essays for Mod A and B though and they aren't too bad really. Again, the issue lies in timing - I keep taking my time for granted at the beginning when I should be rushing the whole time if that makes sense. ugh.
Maths - I've done quite a few past trial papers so I'm not worried at all for this. I still need to go over a few prelim concepts, but generally I'm not intending to push myself on this one - even the night before the exam - because I reckon just a few more practice papers will do wonders. It's just having the actual willpower to print off a paper, that sucks.
Legal - I've done very comprehensive essay plans for all parts of the crime syllabus except for the international crime section. I really doubt this will be the question, but I also don't want to rule anything out just in case. For world order, I think I'm alright - I just need to do a few more essays to more questions. Although I got full marks in my internal assessment for this option, I really want to expand the scope of my argument because all my essays are 3 fat paragraphs, as opposed to the 4-6 para essays that I often see on here. I definitely feel like my analysis is solid in terms of depth, but idk if I should consider cutting down the details to explore more responses less comprehensively. In my internals, my world order essay took up 24 pages of those HSC wide spaced booklets lmao (I have big writing in exams - the essay was only 1100 words or so). I seriously do not think small paragraphs are viable for me so I'm praying this will be acceptable coming forward into the HSC. For family, my essay plans are coming together well except we haven't completed content so it's a bit hard to further my argument. I've been honing into the nuances of what we have learnt, so I think my points have been quite well developed. Hopefully. lol. I'm going to hopefully learn all my content this weekend in time to do a full past paper on Sunday or Monday or something, because I haven't been able to do that yet.
Eco - Did one practice essay on exchange rates awhile ago. Done essay plans on all the economic issues. I honestly feel like I'm going to wing this exam, which I feel is inevitable when an exam is last in the sequence. I'm definitely lucky that I only have 4 subjects to study for, because handing in my major work on Wednesday was considered my "trial" for multimedia.
On top of this, my cat, Luka, got crashed by a car on Sunday which broke my heart and soul. His back leg was broken into 3 pieces, the poor thing. I was so torn between putting him down; surgery to fix the bones ($9000); and amputation ($4000). The prices are insane, so it was hardest decision ever, if you couldn't already tell. Ultimately, I maxed out my entire savings (and by extension my proposed grad trip overseas) for him to get the amputation because I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I put him to death over just a broken leg, when we would otherwise be perfectly healthy, you know? He is also only 2 years old, so young. I was an emotional wreck on Tuesday and kept randomly crying at school over it because I couldn't come to terms with how cruel and random the world was to such an innocent being - my English teacher gave me a million time outs to cry lol. I legit kept zoning out in my lessons and she had to rexplain things for me a million times because my mind couldn't stop wondering. I still, cannot fathom why this happened. There was no reason for this. I was so emotional that I ended up getting mad at my friend who was compelling to put him down with the justification that she'd pray. My rationale was: how the fuck can you pray when god's the one who made this happen?? Lol. I don't think I realised how much I depended on my cat, until this occurred. I always have been notorious for loving him so much - I legit have a cat instagram for him lol and my friends call him my "son" - but I didn't think it was to this extent. It was so, so hard, because I feel like I owe my cat my life and my heart ached just thinking about the pain he was in as I was making a decision that would either make or break his life. Everytime I imagined him dead, I just wanted to wither away too. Anyways, I put down the deposit for the amputation on Tuesday and I had no moral qualms about it - it was definitely what I wanted in hindsight. It's just so damn expensive compared to the US for example, but he is honestly invaluable. This probably sounds so melodramatic, but honestly, it was a horrible position to be in and the emotions were so hard to deal with. I've been keeping in touch with the vets (I brought him to a vet facility 2 hours away because I cant afford the local vet fees) and the person said that he's out of surgery and still a bit sluggish but very cute, which made my heart sing. My god. I can pick him up very soon, and I'm so fucking excited to see his beautiful face. I love him so much (attached a pic of him for you guys xx)