HSC Journey- From Prelims to HSC

[prickles]

Omg should I be based or creeped out lmao
Where were you sitting? I was sitting on the edge of one of the middle rows (I'm assuming you know that lol)

Yeah haha it sounds very creepy because you are being watched but don't know by who!
And yeah I think you were sitting near the edge, but can't remember that much. I was sitting a bit in front, to your left 

[owidjaja]

Yeah haha it sounds very creepy because you are being watched but don't know by who!
And yeah I think you were sitting near the edge, but can't remember that much. I was sitting a bit in front, to your left 

Hmm I'm trying to think if I remember seeing anyone on my left in front of me. I remember there was a girl to my left sitting in front of me to my left, and I think there was a guy further at the front but I don't remember anyone else.

Lmao I'm so determined to try and figure this out

[prickles]

Hmm I'm trying to think if I remember seeing anyone on my left in front of me. I remember there was a girl to my left sitting in front of me to my left, and I think there was a guy further at the front but I don't remember anyone else.

Lmao I'm so determined to try and figure this out

Haha this is so creepy...I was right on the left side, where there is 4 seats in the row, probably 1-2 rows in front of you?

[owidjaja]

Haha this is so creepy...I was right on the left side, where there is 4 seats in the row, probably 1-2 rows in front of you?

I mean, I'm trying to remember if there was anyone.

Were you at the lecture theatre early? I was around 10-15 minutes early and I remember there was a girl to my left who was at the lectures early as well and she was on the phone. Apart from that, I remember there were two girls in front of me who arrived early as well.

[prickles]

I mean, I'm trying to remember if there was anyone.

Were you at the lecture theatre early? I was around 10-15 minutes early and I remember there was a girl to my left who was at the lectures early as well and she was on the phone. Apart from that, I remember there were two girls in front of me who arrived early as well.

Well no I wouldn't say I was early 
I was so nearly going to talk to you, but I had no idea if it actually was you, and I just kept thinking what if it is the wrong person?! I'd just bowl up to some complete stranger and say "so...umm..hi, are you on AN?" and then it would probably follow with a really awkward silence

[owidjaja]

Well no I wouldn't say I was early 
I was so nearly going to talk to you, but I had no idea if it actually was you, and I just kept thinking what if it is the wrong person?! I'd just bowl up to some complete stranger and say "so...umm..hi, are you on AN?" and then it would probably follow with a really awkward silence

Haha understandable! It would've been really cool to meet you though

[prickles]

Haha understandable! It would've been really cool to meet you though

Same feelings over here 

[owidjaja]

Hey guys,
It's been a while since I've updated. A lot of things have happened in the past few weeks. Can I just say that I currently have no more exams! Well, a have a PIP to do (which is due first day back) and that's been frustrating. I'm so close to finishing my central material but I've spent so much time on my chapters that my intro/log/conclusion/annotated bibliography/appendices/visuals have been left behind. More concerned about my annotated bibliography because I need to fix up my annotated bibliography and annotate more sources and this part of the PIP is so boring lmao. It's also frustrating when my teacher tells me to add more emotion to my intro/log/conclusion- like, sure my PIP was stressful but it's not like I'm gonna be over the moon for things like getting 100 responses to my questionnaire or interview a marriage celebrant. She's also mentioned that I need to simplify some paragraphs- the thing I'm confused with is that isn't my PIP supposed to be an academic piece of writing? Idk, I really don't like using first person in my writings so I'm always uncomfortable in including first person.

History Extension has been handed in! I handed it on Monday and idk how to feel. I spent almost 1 year on History Extension and all I felt was pressure because if I fail this Major Work then I'm screwed since it's worth 80% lmao. Plus, it kinda feels like a waste if I don't really do well in a project where I've spent a ridiculous amount of time on. And, I kinda feel that my History Extension teacher is disappointed in our essay writing. We handed in a practice essay and she was like 'I still see no assessment in your responses' and we're like RIP.

I also got called up for a scholarship interview! I mean, UTS isn't first on my preference list but if there's a uni that's interested in my application, then I'm cool with that. I'm kinda nervous because I've never had a formal interview- I've had Skype interviews before but a face-to-face formal interview is something I've never done so I'm really nervous. I did a mock interview with my career advisor and she also dragged in 2 other teachers since I told her it's gonna be a panel so it was kinda nerve-wracking and that was a mock interview! I'm kinda scared I'm gonna end up repeating my sentences or I stumble so hopefully the interviewers are gonna be chill.

Anyway, I'm kinda tired (even though I almost fell asleep in most of my classes today lmao) so I should go sleep.

See you soon!

- Olivia

[owidjaja]

Hey guys,
Boyyyy has it been a while since I've updated. I've been really busy working on my PIP, especially how it's due on the first day back. To make things better, I have a scholarship interview on the first day back so rip :/

I've been neglecting my other subjects because of my PIP, again. My teacher had to remind me to study for Trials. I mean, I finished my physics notes and I updated my Society & Culture notes. But I really need to fix my creative and write practice essays for English and Modern. I was reminded to do so when I got Mod C general feedback from my English teacher and Susie reminded me to complete a bunch of HSC papers. It's just my PIP has been extremely frustrating that I get stressed and end up procrastinating. My teacher did say my Introduction, Chapters 1 and 2 are almost perfect and there are parts of my conclusion that are better. It's just that my log has been the most frustrating. I cried for two days straight because my teacher keep saying my log is very dry and there's not much there. I had to write a new version of my log so I can have another go at it. She's also roasting my annotating bibliography. Let me just say: ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHIES ARE THE WORST!!! It's so repetitive and boring and dry- it took me three days to finish my annotated bibliography. At around April, I had already annotated 25 sources but when I wrote my chapters, I did some research to fill in any holes I found in my research. I've also been neglecting my appendix. Even though I only need to organise my content analysis and questionnaire, I have a lot of notes to go through. And this is like 3 months overdue lmao.

Despite all this stress, I was able to go out on Friday for the AN meet up! It was cool to meet everyone and get away from the house (even though I spent an hour at Westfields doing my PIP prior to the meet up lmao). I mean, I've already met Jamon and Adam but seeing other AN users such as beatroot, fb3, katie and blasonduo was really cool- let me just say, Rui is ridiculously savage. I always saw him as a scary moderator but he's actually hilariously savage! It was great to leave the house but when my dad picked up my mum and I, he was telling me off for wasting my time in the city ;-;

Anyway, I realised that there's almost one week left until the end of the holidays so I really need to get a move on with Trials preparation.

See you soon!

- Olivia

[owidjaja]

Hey guys,
So two more days until the end of holidays and my procrastination has doubled. My teacher has kinda given up on giving me feedback for my PIP but I still need to fix Chapter 3, Conclusion, annotated bibliography and my appendix for my questionnaire. I'm also getting nervous for my interview (which is also on Monday rip)- like my parents are like "How's preparation for the interview?" and I'm like lmao what preparation. I'm relying on how I did in my mock interview with my career adviser (with two other teachers) as like my 'prepared' responses (even though that was like three weeks ago).

I also haven't done much memorisation with quotes or practice essays- I was looking at the English CSSA Trial paper and the question essentially specified a Yeats poem and I don't remember any of the poem (maybe like the first two lines of When You Are Old and a few phrases from different poems) so I really need to do some practice essays on English, as well as refining my creative. I'm still a bit unsure on how to make my creative 'non-linear' because my teacher has been pushing me to change my creative. Even though I've tried to play with the tenses and tried to smoothly change to present tense my teacher still thinks I'm not doing it right :/ Surprisingly, I did a practice essay and Section I for Modern but it was open book so I'm not sure if I should could that as 'Trial preparation.'

I also need to finish my study notes lmao- I've completed all study notes for Physics but SAC, English, Modern and SOR are still unfinished, which makes it a bit difficult for me to do practice essays and exams. I'm kinda annoyed at my SOR teacher because she promised she will scan a document and I was gonna use it for my study notes but she still hasn't sent it even though I sent her the email- and I'm almost finished with my Christianity notes :/ As for Modern, I really need to organise that and SAC notes are just... there lmao.

Anyway, I feel like I'm kinda using this as a way to procrastinate so I should get back to studying.

See you soon!

- Olivia

[katie,rinos]

Good luck for your interview on Monday! I hope it goes really well!! 

[owidjaja]

Good luck for your interview on Monday! I hope it goes really well!! 

Thanks Ahaha I'm getting nervous just by thinking about it

[Lumenoria]

Good luck with your interview tomorrow girl! Sending all my love

[owidjaja]

Good luck with your interview tomorrow girl! Sending all my love

Omg thanks (so sorry for the late response!)

Hey guys,
It felt a bit weird going back to school today- my career advisor told me off for going to school after the interview lmao. But I finally handed in my PIP. I was a bit worried about the title of my PIP because I'm not the most creative person out there, but she saw the front cover of my PIP and liked it. Seriously though, I had to print out 80+ pages and I think my printer is dead. I spent the last few days printing out my completed notes and boyyy does it feel like I just annihilated a whole forest. Personally, I don't think my notes are too long- my longest set of notes is definitely my AOS notes for English because it's just a series of tables for prescribed and ORT. The rest of my subjects are at least 30 pages per topic, but we need to take into account any diagrams or tables I included since those take up a lot of space. I still haven't finished my notes so I need to really get a move on with Mod A, Mod C, Belief Systems & Ideologies and Social Inclusion/Exclusion notes.

As for the interview- my stomach felt so weird before and after my interview. The student ambassadors are trying to calm us down by providing water and food but my stomach felt so weird I wasn't sure if it's because I was hungry or I needed to vomit. I had to go to the bathroom like 3 times in less than 30 minutes because that's how nervous I was. I even messaged Jamon out of panic because I got so scared if they would make us build something on the spot lmao. I met a lot of girls from different schools but on the table I was sitting at, 3 of them went to selective schools: two went to Sydney Girls and the other one went to North Sydney Girls so I was like rip :/ I also found that I was the only one in my school uniform, the rest were in professional attire lmao. I just found that if I went into an interview with professional attire, it feels like I'm playing dress up with my mum's clothes. Idk if other girls feel like this but I find it so difficult to shop for clothes because we're in that awkward stage where we're technically not adults but we're not kids so we have to find a balance. Boys, on the other hand, can wear the same clothes for two weeks and no one will really tell them off lmao (I can almost feel my inner SJW coming out).

Anyway, so the interview went for about 20 minutes with three people: two from UTS and one industry sponsor representative. It was kinda set up to be in a discussion pod rather than there's a panel of interviewers all sitting behind a desk and you have to sit in front of them. It was kinda chill but my mouth was so dry no matter how many times I took a sip from my water. And I think my voice died halfway through the interview lmao. My mum asked me what questions they asked and honestly it took me a good hour and a bit to slowly remember what they asked. The questions I remembered were something along the lines of:

Where are you from (region-wise)
We had a bit of a laugh about how I have to go back to school after my interview
Work experience (I think they mis-read my application because it was my engineering summer school)
Why I want to do engineering
When did I know I want to do engineering
Asked me about my Instagram blog and articles on ATAR Notes
My input on the importance of teamwork and give an example
Qualities of leadership (I think I talked about communication and one of the interviewers were like 'What about organisation?')
Personal experiences with engineering
They asked me if I've ever done engineering projects or built anything (I said no but now that I think of it, I should've mentioned my physics task rip ;-;)
Why I wanted to study mechanical engineering at UTS
Asked my input on Women in Engineering
Why there are barriers between women and STEM (I think I used my class example how there are only 4 girls in my physics class)
An example of a piece of technology that has improved society (I talked about my physics report on superconductors lmao)
If I had any other questions (I think I asked the industry sponsor what company she's from)

Those are the questions I remember but the whole interview went in a blur tbh so my memory is a bit foggy at the moment. Even though UTS isn't my first preference, it would be good to get the scholarship but according to the student ambassadors, they might contact you in the next two weeks but it really depends because they've opened up the application again so we may need to wait.

Anyways, back to studying.

See you soon!

- Olivia

[owidjaja]

Hey guys,
Just completed my first Trial exam kfhwhfiwhwfiqbg. My neck is so stiff lmao. I couldn't sleep last night, probably a mix of stress, stiff muscles and sleeping in the wrong posture. On top of that, I was suffocating under my hair because it kept sticking on my face- Sunday nights are sheet masks night for me lmao. And I was also procrastinating last night- I did a timed open-book exam and then I spent a good 30 minutes reading about the security breaches in the CSSA conditions lmao. It's funny how I can remember some of the terms and conditions of purchasing CSSA trial papers and can barely remember quotes.

The cool thing about my school is that during Trials, we have a breakfast club so Year 12 students can eat and study. I remember volunteering for the breakfast club last year so it was cool that they're doing it again this year, considering how there has been a change with the vice principal/actual principal. I told myself I should stuff myself with food because I knew I was gonna get hungry but I ended up only eating a cheese toastie. I spent the morning writing my creative over and over again since I only wrote it twice last night. Thank god that there were two english teachers walking around in Breakfast Club so I could ask last-minute questions. Except when I asked questions, I was so scared I was gonna break down.

And here's where the fun part comes in: we were standing in the basketball court and preparing to move into the hall and that's when it started to rain. It was probably pathetic fallacy because I had a panic attack before the exam. Fun. My acting year coordinator offered me to sit in special provisions but I wanted to sit in the hall (I don't have permission to sit in special provisions). We sat outside for a good 10 minutes so I can calm down. To be honest, I wasn't surprised I had a panic attack. I had one last year before the english prelim half-yearlies and I tend to break down after my maths and physics exams. My friend had to move me away from the crowd so she could try and calm me down. It didn't really take out any time from my reading time but during reading time, my breath was still shaky and my eyes were dry. I was already exhausted and the exam hasn't even begun lmao.

The questions and the stimulus wasn't as bad. I'm not entirely sure how much I'm about to say about the paper (especially with the security regulations and the 'security period') but this year's discovery theme was better than last year. I found childhood discoveries too specific and I wasn't sure how to link my creative to childhood discoveries and adult perspectives. The questions were alright and I was able to write a good amount for each question. I was kinda worried I was gonna go overtime with my 40 minute limit but I still finished Section 1 on time. Section 2 I managed to finish early- not entirely sure by how much but I think I was able to put in an extra 10 minutes for Section 3. I'm paranoid over my creative because I'm not sure if I explicitly addressed the question. Section 3 I'm also a bit paranoid because I couldn't remember one of my quotes exactly and I'm severely scared of not remembering my quotes exactly because I did this in Mod C and the teacher who marked my paper roasted me with capitals saying 'NOT EVEN CLOSE.'

I remember a teacher saying that the whole point of Trials is to practice our timing for the HSC but I managed to finish 20 minutes early. I'm pretty sure I wrote enough because I took up at least 5-7 pages and my handwriting is medium size. I spent the remaining time editing and making sure I cross my t's and fix my s's.

So yeah, I'm writing this in my school library because I'm waiting for my mum to pick me up. I'm pretty sure when I get home I'm gonna curl up in a foetal position and sob whilst binge watching kpop videos lmao.

See you soon!

- Olivia