The CASual Journey to the End | Ashmi's VCE journal アシュ

[ashmi]

✯Hi everyone!✯

I'm Ashmi! I've been really inspired by these journals recently that I've finally decided to start my own. Totally not to procrastinate at all haha

*~~2020 Introduction~~*
-------------------------------------------------
Hi everyone and those that are new to this journal! I'm Ashmi, but really everyone calls me Ash. This year, I'm going into year 12 as the class of 2020 (Honestly, the best number to have on your Year 12 jackets).

Fun/interesting facts about me:
✯ I love anything with choc mint!
✯ You will never see me without my CAS, Pocky or an iced coffee at any point in my life.
✯ Pastel colours are my fav, but I also like the black and red combo~
✯ I have really bad grass allergies.
✯ I moved schools for one VCE subject.
✯ I have played every Pokemon game that has existed. (I love my Dark type Pokemon)
✯ I'm addicted to collecting artbooks/character-design books from video games.
✯ I'm terrible at drawing traditionally but can somehow draw digitally.
✯ Surprisingly, I'm a cosplayer and photo-editor.

~Subjects for 2020~
Next year, I'm doing Product Design and Technology (PDT), English, Physics, Chemistry and Methods!
 
Wait.....PDT?

Yep, PDT seems like the odd subject out of the bunch. A lot of people think I'm a maths/science-based person, but really I've always have been passionate in the arts/design subjects. (I'm just really put off doing more thanks to VCAA's terrible scaling)

~Plans after school and goals for 2020~
Now this is exactly where things get complicated. I'm being pulled in multiple directions by Mathematics, Science and Design but after much debate, it is looking like the middle ground would be engineering? It is really the only thing I could do that has enough Design, Mathematics and problem solving all in one! I'm pretty interested in Electrical engineering, but I also have my eye on mechanical with aerospace, biomedical and mechatronics

My dream course at the moment is Bachelor of Science at Melbourne Uni/Masters of Engineering. The ATAR I'm aiming for is anything above 96. Will I get there? I honestly don't know, probably not. Am I going to try? Absolutely!

On top of that, I would also really love to get into Top Designs for 2021 (or at least shortlisted). Just the idea of having your folio and product up on display in a museum sounds pretty cool and I would really love if I could get my costume up there one day!

In terms of subject goals, I sort of made a bet with a friend that if I don't get at least a 47+ for PDT, I will be thrown into an ice bath. (I'm going to hope I do well enough for this not to happen. I really dislike the cold).
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Below is the 2019 version of this Journal
----------------------------------------------------------------------
*~A little quick introduction about myself!~*
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
✯I'm currently in Year 11, specifically the class of 2020.
✯Currently doing 3/4 Further Maths, 1/2 Methods, 1/2 English, 1/2 Physics, 1/2 Chemistry and 1/2 Product Design!
✯I love to sew costumes in my spare time as well as do a lot of cosplay photography.
✯I'm a chocoholic and is easily influenced by a cup of coffee (Iced lattes all the way~).
✯I don't know how, but I can magically make CAS calculators that refused to work with their owners work normally all of a sudden... (Aunty Ash loves ALL CAS Calcs   )

My goal for the end of the year is to get a 45+ study score in Further (hopefully that will happen)
I've always dreamed to study science/mathematics, specifically mathematical physics, engineering or statistics at Melbourne Uni. (But Med also sounds quite tempting too). Aiming for a 96+ ATAR here
Welcome to my journal, and I hope you stay to watch the messy journey that comes forward

[caffinatedloz]

Hey ashmi! So exciting to see another journal! Costume sewing; very cool. Do you sew regular clothes as well?

[ashmi]

Hey ashmi! So exciting to see another journal! Costume sewing; very cool. Do you sew regular clothes as well?

Hey Laura! Yeah, I do sew some regular clothes every once in a while! It's very rare though, usually when my closest needs a new makeover . I like designing and sewing more elaborate costumes as it helps me learn some new techniques (and also useful for Product Design).
Hope you stick around to see some more weirdness come out of this journal

[Geoo]

That is so cool that you design costumes for cosplay!

I can really appreciate people who can make and design their own costumes! What do you cosplay as?

An welcome to the journal thread!

[ashmi]

That is so cool that you design costumes for cosplay!

I can really appreciate people who can make and design their own costumes! What do you cosplay as?

An welcome to the journal thread!

Oh there are a lot of things I cosplay as . I love to design and make Gijinkas, which are like humanised versions of a certain character, for example, Pokemon or Toothless from HTTYD! I'm thinking of doing this for my final 3/4 product design next year.

I mainly cosplay from Japanese Video Games (RPG style) because they have really nice, fantastic designs which would demonstrate a variety of sewing skills! I have a separate page elsewhere that I post progress pictures of my sewing and designing process. I possibly might include a bit into this journal?

Sewing costumes is a very fun but exhausting process, but the final product, in the end, is definitely worth all the pain

[ashmi]

Hi Ashmi, amazing choice of subjects! I’m also in yr 11 doing a VERY similar set (how rare is it to see people doing PDT! I’ve only done 3/4, what is unit 1/2 like?)

Can’t wait to read your future updates!

Finally, someone that does PDT! . It's so rare to see some lurking on the AN forum, especially people doing maths/science-based subjects too. Unit 1/2 is actually exactly the same as 3/4, the only difference is that instead of making one product for the year, you make one product each semester! (So thats two products in one year!).

PDT needs much more love than it gets, it such a fun subject. I most likely will post some photos of my folio on here. (to stop me from procrastinating as much)

[ashmi]

☆Term 3 - 5/09/2019☆

Time for an update! I've been super unproductive this week. Just recently I've finished my last 3/4 SAC which is a miracle and a disaster in a way. I love the subject so its going to be a bit sad there is no more content to learn. This month so far has been quite good, except that it's spring and I have massive allergies with grass....

On the plus side, my future SACs are all spread out, which saves a whole pack of stressing out in the future. Holidays are really close now and that means filling it with last minute revision lectures!

☆Further Maths~☆
Finished my last 3/4 SAC two days ago and just got my results back really quickly. We had it on our last module Matrices and another 100% which is exciting. Things are going pretty good in this subject and I love my CAS to bits (and it's slowly dying on me). The Further team is now making us start a mammoth amount of practise exams, about 10 minimum to be done before the holidays. It's really nice to know that all the content is done and we have a lot of time to practise before the exam in 57 days.

☆Product Design~☆
One of the easiest and most fun subject! We handed in our folios last week so right now we are finalising our production plan and getting ready to finally start sewing!
I've spent this week helping my Year 12 friend on her final product. I also helped her do a photoshoot for her cosplay which she was super excited about. Might put a full photo of the end-user wearing it next time, but here is what it looks like!

I've been working on something a bit different in the meantime ~


☆Chemistry~☆
The subject I've been neglecting. Redox doesn't catch my interest at all so its been quite hard to enjoy this subject. Slightly tempted to drop it and pick up a University Extension.

☆Methods~☆
Definitely not as enjoyable as Further but still has its ups. Just plain old derivatives which is a nice change from having to draw constant circular functions (had to buy a new pack of pens because all mine ran out of ink!).

☆Physics~☆
One of my favourite subjects at the moment! We are just finishing up motion and we have our SAC early next week. Unit 2 of Physics works really nicely with other subjects like Methods so the workload doesn't feel like a lot. Really enjoying the content and how things actually 'work'.

☆English~☆
We are doing a comparative on All About Eve and The Great Gatsby. Thankfully we don't have a SAC till next term! Super chill in this subject and enjoying how there is not much work to do.

[Snow Leopard]

Congrats on the fantastic score in Further!

[pugs]

☆Term 3 - 5/09/2019☆

Time for an update! I've been super unproductive this week. Just recently I've finished my last 3/4 SAC which is a miracle and a disaster in a way. I love the subject so its going to be a bit sad there is no more content to learn. This month so far has been quite good, except that it's spring and I have massive allergies with grass....

On the plus side, my future SACs are all spread out, which saves a whole pack of stressing out in the future. Holidays are really close now and that means filling it with last minute revision lectures!

☆Further Maths~☆
Finished my last 3/4 SAC two days ago and just got my results back really quickly. We had it on our last module Matrices and another 100% which is exciting. Things are going pretty good in this subject and I love my CAS to bits (and it's slowly dying on me). The Further team is now making us start a mammoth amount of practise exams, about 10 minimum to be done before the holidays. It's really nice to know that all the content is done and we have a lot of time to practise before the exam in 57 days.

☆Product Design~☆
One of the easiest and most fun subject! We handed in our folios last week so right now we are finalising our production plan and getting ready to finally start sewing!
I've spent this week helping my Year 12 friend on her final product. I also helped her do a photoshoot for her cosplay which she was super excited about. Might put a full photo of the end-user wearing it next time, but here is what it looks like!
(Image removed from quote.)
I've been working on something a bit different in the meantime ~
(Image removed from quote.)

☆Chemistry~☆
The subject I've been neglecting. Redox doesn't catch my interest at all so its been quite hard to enjoy this subject. Slightly tempted to drop it and pick up a University Extension.

☆Methods~☆
Definitely not as enjoyable as Further but still has its ups. Just plain old derivatives which is a nice change from having to draw constant circular functions (had to buy a new pack of pens because all mine ran out of ink!).

☆Physics~☆
One of my favourite subjects at the moment! We are just finishing up motion and we have our SAC early next week. Unit 2 of Physics works really nicely with other subjects like Methods so the workload doesn't feel like a lot. Really enjoying the content and how things actually 'work'.

☆English~☆
We are doing a comparative on All About Eve and The Great Gatsby. Thankfully we don't have a SAC till next term! Super chill in this subject and enjoying how there is not much work to do.

heyy, welcome! your subjects sound very interesting!! oh my, i feel the same way with you about further! very keen to start doing practice exams eeee

do you have any handy dandy cas tricks?  i'd love some extra tips!

[ashmi]

Congrats on the fantastic score in Further!

Thank you!! Hopefully, that will happen in both exams too .

heyy, welcome! your subjects sound very interesting!! oh my, i feel the same way with you about further! very keen to start doing practice exams eeee

do you have any handy dandy cas tricks?  i'd love some extra tips!

Further needs so much more love .
Best things to know about your CAS are the shortcuts! Always remember them and try not to look at the keyboard when typing numbers in, trust me, it saves so much time once you get the hang of it! (Might do a mini post during the holidays on some clever tricks!).
The more you know about the CAS, the better, saves so much time during assessments! Clearing your CAS before a SAC/exam is a must too. It stops it from lagging and is much more efficient. Also making sure your 'float' setting is set to a number quite high to reduce rounding errors.

Financial is pretty much your Financial Solver. I'm not too sure if people know this, but your CAS works the same as your basic computer operations, like ctrl z! You can do ctrl c and ctrl v to copy and paste, which is great for finance solver (especially those two-step process problems).
If you are doing the Geometry module, using Numerical Solve on CAS and not 'solving' anything by hand (solving for x etc) is a massive time saver. Just write the equation you input on the CAS on your assessment paper and just solving on CAS for the variable. Making sure your CAS is on the right settings (approx and degrees would be best!).
For matrices, defining anything that looks like it will be repeated on in later questions and whatever you do, never clear your CAS till the end, just in case you want to go back and look at your previous working out.
Data analysis, make sure you know how to use your spreadsheet quickly and well for statistics and regression (yes, I'm looking at you too Log graphs and Data Transformations. Not confusing RV and EV variables).

Whenever in doubt, even with the simplest 'find the median' question, just use your CAS That's pretty much what I can think off on the top of my head

[pugs]

Further needs so much more love .
Best things to know about your CAS are the shortcuts! Always remember them and try not to look at the keyboard when typing numbers in, trust me, it saves so much time once you get the hang of it! (Might do a mini post during the holidays on some clever tricks!).
The more you know about the CAS, the better, saves so much time during assessments! Clearing your CAS before a SAC/exam is a must too. It stops it from lagging and is much more efficient. Also making sure your 'float' setting is set to a number quite high to reduce rounding errors.

Financial is pretty much your Financial Solver. I'm not too sure if people know this, but your CAS works the same as your basic computer operations, like ctrl z! You can do ctrl c and ctrl v to copy and paste, which is great for finance solver (especially those two-step process problems).
If you are doing the Geometry module, using Numerical Solve on CAS and not 'solving' anything by hand (solving for x etc) is a massive time saver. Just write the equation you input on the CAS on your assessment paper and just solving on CAS for the variable. Making sure your CAS is on the right settings (approx and degrees would be best!).
For matrices, defining anything that looks like it will be repeated on in later questions and whatever you do, never clear your CAS till the end, just in case you want to go back and look at your previous working out.
Data analysis, make sure you know how to use your spreadsheet quickly and well for statistics and regression (yes, I'm looking at you too Log graphs and Data Transformations. Not confusing RV and EV variables).

Whenever in doubt, even with the simplest 'find the median' question, just use your CAS That's pretty much what I can think off on the top of my head

wow thank you so much for all the awesome tips!!

one of the biggest fears i have regarding the cas is that i'll define the wrong term and use the wrong number/equation etc in all of the calculations skksk but you're right i rly need to define matrices !!

[ashmi]

New Update and having a really good week for far! Just only 1 week left till school ends. Only 50 Days left before the Further Maths Exam 1 and I'm slightly keeping on track!

On the weekend, I attended an orientation for the NYSF (National Youth Science Forum) and got to meet those that got selected. Next year for a little over a week, I'm going to ANU in Canberra to experience a specific science area, most likely engineering or physics! I got a scholarship to go and I'm super excited! I highly recommend that if you are a Year 11 in 2020 to apply for this! It's a very selective process, but its an opportunity of a lifetime.

☆Product Design☆ - This is my favourite subject at the moment and we just finished our design options which I did digitally for the first time! For someone who usually draw stick figures, I think its a pretty good job. I'm thinking of doing my 3/4 Folio digitally for next year so this unit is like a 'trial' to see if this would suit me. I just started sewing this kimono inspired outfit today, tackling the endless squares for the obi pieces. Here is a work in progress pic~

☆Further Maths☆ - I am on a mission to complete as many practise exams as possible before the holidays start. At our school they don't tell us our rankings which makes me super curious and slightly scared. For those that keep asking, yes I did name my journal 'CASual' because I love my CAS so much . Other than that, loving this subject!( If you have any Further Exam tips I would love to know!)

☆Physics☆ - Just finished my Physics Motion SAC this Tuesday and I think I went better than expected. I really like learning about Physics, its just that I'm really bad when it comes to assessments T-T.

☆English☆ - Good old comparative essays, my favourite . My teacher is super sweet and is very engaging, making me slowly start to like English again. Although I dislike this subjects with a passion, it is actually the best subject in terms of results weirdly enough.

☆Methods☆ - No SACs will Term 4 which is a relief. We are just on antidifferentiation of polynomials at the moment.

☆Chemistry☆ - For our redox unit SAC, we are doing an investigation/lab work which is a good change! Finally Chemistry has gotten a bit more interesting and is more enjoyable than it was before.

The AN VCE lectures start next weekend (which happens to be on my birthday). Who am I going to see there?

[caffinatedloz]

New Update and having a really good week for far! Just only 1 week left till school ends. Only 50 Days left before the Further Maths Exam 1 and I'm slightly keeping on track!

The holidays are approaching. Only mere days to go. Good luck for you further exam! It sounds like you're on top of things!

The AN VCE lectures start next weekend (which happens to be on my birthday). Who am I going to see there?

I'll be there for the last weekend!! What about you?

[ashmi]

The holidays are approaching. Only mere days to go. Good luck for you further exam! It sounds like you're on top of things!
I'll be there for the last weekend!! What about you?

I'll be there for the first and last weekend! . I'll be floating around the study spaces and especially near the free food area

[ashmi]

It's the grand final today! Who are you guys going for today?
So its nearly the end of the first week of holidays and to me, that went way to quickly. I've been procrastinating this week on school work and trying to revive my dead hobbies. Time for a quick update on my subjects!

☆Product Design☆
I've just started on making my mini yukata costume for my sewing project! I mainly took an hour or two in Adobe photoshop to get the pattern the correct size and make sure it was able to overlap (this was super difficult and I got mad so many times) but in the end, it worked out! The pattern is made so that no matter how you overlap it, it will always work! I then started to draw the pattern onto my beautiful 5 meters worth of fabric by hand with a fabric marker. It took about 5 hours but I'm really happy with the results! Now its just mainly sewing the pieces together. I'm trying to finish making my product during the holidays as it gives me time to do my folio as well as work on practise exams for my 3/4 subject.



☆Further Maths☆
My beautiful Further ~ . I love this subject so much I think I may be able to do good if I stop procrastinating so much. Right now it's mainly just practise exams, which I hope to get at least 40 done before the school term starts again. Our school doesn't tell us our rankings, but one of the teachers 'accidentally' told me than I'm rank 1 our of 140+ students. Its sort of surprising since at this school, you are not allowed to do a 3/4 maths in year 11 (I came from another school and moved to this one. Yes that's right, I'm like the only Yr 11 doing Further in the cohort its really sad) which is now being reconsidered. Other than that, everything is going really well!

Here is a comparison of the Further Exam book VS Psych book for reference 

☆Physics☆
Right now, I'm severely disliking Physics. Everything is terrible in this subject and I wished I just picked Spesh at the start of the year T-T. Really regret not giving Spesh a go (don't be like me guys). Motion is however interesting to learn, I'll give it that.

☆English☆
I have 3 essays due before the start of the term and I've only done plans for them with one full essay nearly finished. Someone please help my procrastination before it goes out of hand. I'm slowly starting to like this subject, even though I hate it, it's my best subject (even better than Further RIP). Hopefully the scores stay the same for next year!

☆Methods/Chemistry☆
I don't like this subject but I don't hate it. It's kind of weird because I'm not very interested with the current topics and it's sort of boring me. Maybe later on in the year there might be a better topic!

A few weekends ago, I went to an event called Madman Anime Festival where I was able to debut one of my projects that I've been working on for months. The whole costume is handmade (and digitally printed) and I'm quite proud of how it turned out! If you want to have a little peak here it is.

Rare cosplay photos on AN

IG: @ashmicos if you want to see more behind the scenes progress photos of this costume!