How have you been, smallbean?
Hey Snow Leopard, thank you for reminding me to update this journal as I've taken a hiatus due to exams. I've been pretty stressed these past couple of weeks, but made it through exam season. The light at the end of the tunnel has finally been reached.
12 November 2019A few hours ago, I walked out of my last exam. Some of my friends who haven't finished exams yet have been asking me how it feels, and honestly it feels surreal. I almost immediately started opening my books and started studying as soon as I got home before realising that I have nothing left to study.
I'll give a quick run-down on how each of my exams went. Buckle up, because this is going to be a long one haha
English:I'm quite disappointed with my performance in English. My teacher had told me that I was Rank 1 in my cohort and I'd genuinely believed that I could score over 45 with all the hard work I put in. Even though the Argument Analysis was quite bland and easy and Section A was the exact same topic as one that I'd done a few days before, the Comparative lead to my demise. I just had a complete mind blank when I saw both topics for Section B, one we had never touched in class and the other for which I barely had any quotes for. I scribbled a meagre essay that was definitely lower in standard than my comparative SAC. On the bright side, walking out of the English exam was like coming out unscathed from an obstacle course. Here's to 3 hours of my life that I won't get back.
Methods:I'd done decently in my Methods SACs this year, but Exam 2 will definitely be dragging down my study score. Exam 1 actually went quite well, as I managed to solve every single problem (don't know how much I got right though) with a few hurdles here and there. Nothing about Exam 1 really surprised me though. Exam 2 should have been better because I had a calc and notes but I just didn't get any of the questions, save for a few of the multiple-choice. It was kind of funny that VCAA misprinted the last question, as the supervisor made us change the question from "horizontal" to "vertical" axis before reading time, giving me a sneaky peak at the questions. Changing the question was no help at all however, as I wouldn't have understood the question anyway. At this stage, I'm honestly hoping for a 25 that will get me into my desired Commerce course.
Revolutions:To be honest, the questions on the Revs exam were quite straightforward and easier than the 2017 monstrosity of an exam. I'm not quite sure how to feel about History, but I feel as though I'll get in the low to mid-30s as I had a mind blank in the exam and couldn't remember any dates for the 20 mark essay which was on a topic I had done in one of my SACs. If only I'd revised that topic before the exam, I would have aced it. My short-term memory loss definitely cost me a lot of marks, but tearing off the pages of Revs notes and dates I had on my wall was the most satisfying feeling ever.
Chemistry:Oh Chemistry, the cause of many tears in Year 11 but ended up being one of my most favourite subjects to study in Year 12. Trust me, Chemistry is worth keeping as a 3/4 subject as its quite interesting once you get past the basics. I finished the Chemistry exam this morning with only five seconds to spare to skim over my last answer. All in all, Chem wasn't as bad as I was expecting, just really really long. The multiple choice questions I surprisingly understood, but the short answer questions were quite difficult and I had to skip a few of them. I'm hoping for at least a 25+ in Chemistry, a 30 would be amazing.
Legal:The Legal exam was absolute butchery. Legal was one of my favourite subjects this year, another in which I was Rank 1. This exam today was by far the most difficult in the last ten years and the long names on the case studies that we had to rewrite in our answers gave me a stroke every time haha. It was also very time-limited, and when the supervisor announced that there was only "5 minutes left", my heart literally jumped out of my chest because I still had a 6-marker left to do. I literally wrote the fastest I've ever written in the entire 17 years of my life, like it was almost as if steam was coming out of my ears. After finishing the exam, two of my classmates walked out in tears because the exam was just so much more difficult than we'd expected. People who would have memorised the content instead of understanding it would have aced last year's exam, but this years exam was the opposite. I'm relieved that I managed to finish at the last second.
I've been looking forward to this moment since the start of VCE in year 10. I'm going to catch up with some friends in a while and actually leave the house because I haven't left the house other than to go to school in ages. I'm definitely not going to stay idle and will try and get my Learners to learn how to drive. I'll also try and find a job to keep my mind busy instead of stressing about my ATAR everyday. In exactly a months time, my results will be revealed. In the meantime, I'll enjoy the pure bliss of ignorance.
It'll be a while before I update this journal before results day. See you guys soon!