National Education > General National Education Discussion

2019 Academic Reflections Thread

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Joseph41:
I started a similar thread last year (see here) and found the responses super interesting, so let's do it again!

With the year academic coming toward a close, let's take some time to reflect. I've posted some questions below - you can just copy the code and then post your responses underneath. :) It would be great to get heaps of different perspectives here, because I'm sure we can all learn a lot from each other!


--- Code: ---[b]How would you rate 2019 out of 10?[/b]

[b]What was your biggest academic accomplishment in 2019?[/b]

[b]If any, what's your biggest academic regret for 2019?[/b]

[b]If you had your time again, what would you change from 2019?[/b]

[b]What's your funniest story/moment from school/uni in 2019?[/b]

[b]Were your exams as expected?[/b]

[b]What's your best advice for younger year levels studying in 2020?[/b]

[b]Outside of school/uni, what were the best and worst parts of 2019?[/b]
--- End code ---

Sine:
How would you rate 2019 out of 10?
8/10

What was your biggest academic accomplishment in 2019?
Possibly completing a group systematic review (albeit a bit condensed from an official one that would be published) for one of my units - was not really a big fan of the whole process but I think it will be a really useful experience for the future.

If any, what's your biggest academic regret for 2019?
I don't think I have any major regrets - If I had to say something it would be something every university student says every semester which is is that they should've started studying properly for exams earlier in the semester but it is always tough when they give you heaps of assignments throughout the semester.

If you had your time again, what would you change from 2019?
N/A

What's your funniest story/moment from school/uni in 2019?
Ahhh can't think of anything specific - probably something related to the pharmacology oral presentation debates that we had.

Were your exams as expected?
Yes, for the most part, the exams were expected. I think for my stats subject they tried to cram in all the "difficult" concepts in but the coordinator did notify of the possibility of those coming up (indirectly) during the revision lectures so I think most people were prepared.

What's your best advice for younger year levels studying in 2020?
Maybe not my "best advice" but something I think might be useful for AN users. It is probably a cliche and possibly not useful for me to say through text but definitely try not to stress so much. Obviously do the best that you can with the time/resources that you have available but beyond that, there is not much else you can do. If you do badly in something - it's definitely ok to have those emotions but once you are ready try to make sure to identify what went wrong in the past so you can improve for the future.

Outside of school/uni, what were the best and worst parts of 2019?
Best: Maintaining friendships that I have made throughout my degree and also from high school. Also making new friends.

turtlesforeveryone:
First off, this year was perhaps the most exciting and fruitful year of my life since!

How would you rate 2019 out of 10?
A positive 9.5/10 :)

What was your biggest academic accomplishment in 2019?
Let me preface this by saying I'm still only in Year 10, I'm sure there's a lot more to come.

Although it came as a surprise, getting into the National Summer Camp for a science subject (putting me in the top 24 students in the country).

However, this year was a blast for me academically. I think I participated in 7+ maths and science competitions and achieved a high distinction for most of them. I also got the chance to participate in a 12 week student innovation challenge where we could develop anything we wanted under the guidance of a mentor.

If any, what's your biggest academic regret for 2019?
The biggest regret for me this whole year was not getting into a selective school I desperately wanted to go to last year, so I remained at my old school. The biggest impact this had on me was my quality of learning in certain subjects, particularly methods and science. Some teachers were unable to challenge me, some preferred to completely ignore me, and some even verbally insulted me during class. Despite everything, I think I pulled through pretty well and did end up with a late invitation to the school I wanted to get into last year.

If you had your time again, what would you change from 2019?
Although beforehand I would have definitely preferred to get into that selective school, after all the achievements I managed to get without external help, I'm not too sure now if that chance would have been the best for me. That goes to show that even if life doesn't go the way you wanted, with enough perseverance you can get yourself to an even better point.

I would have liked to change small things here and there: getting the chance to do physics 1/2 (my school didn't allow this), having a better methods teacher that didn't bully me, getting a better result in this and this... ultimately I don't think it matters that much.

What's your funniest story/moment from school/uni in 2019?
Actually, not much sticks out to me. Most funny events are kind of inside jokes within my small group of friends. Kind of a boring answer, but sometimes things are just better in the moment.

Were your exams as expected?
I still haven't finished all my exams, but I think they went relatively as expected, no big surprises. Plus I think I did really well on my methods exams, despite the bad teacher haha.

What's your best advice for younger year levels studying in 2020?
Any year level younger than me really doesn't have to worry about the ins and outs of final exams in Year 12. Just try out as much as you can and are comfortable to, and start to identify what areas you are most interested in. Try get involved in all those clubs, things you think sound cool, etc. Really don't feel scared of making mistakes, because now is the time to make the most of them, and learn from them.

Outside of school/uni, what were the best and worst parts of 2019?
A few positive things that stood out for me were:

1. Flying back overseas and meeting with relatives of both sides of my family. Now that I'm older I'm really able to talk with especially the older generations and learn from them.
2. A ton of wildlife enters my backyard. Seriously. Just the other day I found this beautiful fluffy white north that had just emerged from its cocoon (fun fact: moths have a cocoon, butterflies have a chrysalis) and I got to see it's first moments drying out it's wings and taking flight. Before that, we found a tawny frogmouth that was lethargic and probably sick with something, and cared for it until bringing it to a rescue centre. Even before that we caught a blue tongue that was stuck in our shed. Sometimes I make a trip down to the local bush just to catch dragonflies and skinks. It's a beauty.

Luckily I haven't had any major negative events in my life yet, and hopefully it won't happen for a while. The biggest disaster for me recently was being rejected from the selective school I wanted to enter last year, haha.

r1ckworthy:
Graduated year 12 just this year ;D

How would you rate 2019 out of 10?
6.5/10

What was your biggest academic accomplishment in 2019?
Pushed myself to commit all-nighters and got decent marks for my assessments.

Strictly speaking in terms of academic stuff, I won third place for Working Mathematically category in the STANSW Young Scientist awards for a project I did this year.

If any, what's your biggest academic regret for 2019?
Honestly, a few regrets but I feel as though they are not regrets; simply lessons that I should carry on to university. For one, it would be to finish assignments and stuff as quickly as possible, and just try to dedicate each day to a specific amount of work, so I'll keep on refreshing the concepts I have learned and solidify my understanding to avoid cramming. I think this would create stress due to the assignment load in uni, but I feel it will be ultimately rewarding if I keep at it.

If you had your time again, what would you change from 2019?
Again, just work consistently instead of short bursts of high intensity. I would try to complete assignments as fast as possible, and then make sure to study and review my understanding every day.

What's your funniest story/moment from school/uni in 2019?
Probably doing nothing for my ancient history presentation and component essay for a couple of days leading up to the deadline because I had "no sense of direction on what to do", realising that direction the night before the deadline and working on my presentation from 2 AM to the afternoon when I was to present, and then cramming and typing as fast as possible on my essay to submit it at 9:00 PM. Was an eventful night :P

Were your exams as expected?
Honestly, some were but others were not. English, ancient history, maths 2U and chemistry were just as I had predicted, even better. Physics and 3U maths, on the other hand, really freaked me out. Especially physics, I made the brutal mistake of trying to memorise everything instead of reviewing my understanding, really hurt my exam performance.

What's your best advice for younger year levels studying in 2020?
Study a little bit each day. It is no use studying heavily on one concept and then leaving it for like one month. Make sure you prioritise recalling information instead of just reading it over and over again, and make sure you have a system where you track your progress. The only way to make sure you review concepts is to have an effective system in place where you track everything like a psychopath ;D. Seriously though, in order to gain good marks, you just need to make sure to have an effective system in place and just following it through every day consistently. Make productivity a parabola, not a sine curve ;D.

Outside of school/uni, what were the best and worst parts of 2019?
Best: I don't really know :P. Probably discovering AN!
Worst: Not prioritising exercise and mental health over study. Does more bad than good.

PhoenixxFire:
How would you rate 2019 out of 10?
4/10

What was your biggest academic accomplishment in 2019?
Passing chemistry in semester 1 was pretty cool - I genuinely was not expecting to pass it.

If any, what's your biggest academic regret for 2019?
Failing both of my classes in semester 2 was shit. I should have dropped bio before the deadline to withdraw without failure given I already knew that I was going to fail it, but I didn't.

If you had your time again, what would you change from 2019?
I would have started off with 3 classes in semester 1 rather than 4, might have avoided withdrawing from 2 of them that way (but then again, maybe not). Should have gone to more of the voluntary tutorials/peer mentoring sessions, by the time I realised that I should probably be going, I was already quite behind on everything.
Also would have been far more convenient to change my name and sort all that mess out during the mid year break rather than trying to do it during semester, but I wasn't really ready for it so I don't think it's something I'd actually change.

What's your funniest story/moment from school/uni in 2019?
My chemistry labs were quite amusing. My lab partner for second semester and I were having a bit of a debate (not a serious one, we were just being very exaggerated with our opinions for fun) about whether we should add more water to our distillation and we kinda made it overflow (which we were warned a lot to not do at the start of our lab) so oops (but it was my partners fault - she said there wasn't enough water, I said there was too much, so she said if it all dried up it was my fault so I said if it overflowed it was her fault).

Were your exams as expected?
Mostly. The semester 1 chem HPO exam was unexpectedly easy and short - It was all multiple choice and I'd finished it before we were allowed to leave the room.

What's your best advice for younger year levels studying in 2020?
Be proactive, ask for help as soon as you need it rather than trying to figure it out on your own and ending up in a worse situation.

Outside of school/uni, what were the best and worst parts of 2019?
Best - coming out & changing my name was pretty cool. So was moving interstate (although I miss my little brothers and my pets not necessarily in that order)
Worst - Fire alarms on average every 5ish days during semester 1 (including a day with 3 fire alarms) - although I did enjoy making memes about them (and Fenner - my res hall - gave me a meme lord award for it haha). And the fenner floods. Also people insisting on using my deadname regardless of how many times I tell them I changed it.

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