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Author Topic: Geoo's VCE Journey  (Read 80098 times)

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Geoo

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Re: Geoo's VCE Journey
« Reply #225 on: May 22, 2020, 11:39:51 am »
+8
Update - 22/05/2020 - Chem SAC

So..... my second chem SAC happened yesterday, and I don't know how to feel about it. Being the negative nancy that I am, be prepared for a little bit of a rant because of course something had to go wrong, but you can read about that down below.
I'm so ready for the next holidays to come.. I think we are in week 7 next week, but I just want a break. I'm tired and a little burnt out right now, and it's really affecting me. For the first time since the beginning of the year I took 3 straight days off from friday to sunday last weekend, I was just that tired. To be fair though, I did manage to injure my back on Friday, so in a sense my body was forcing me to rest. I'm happy that I took the time off (I watched all of the first season of outer banks.... woops) but I have so many SACs coming up that I really didn't have the time to take it off. Oh well it's happened now, I just have to keep moving on.

I'm not to sure how to feel with the exams being moved back to November. In one aspect, I don't mind as it gets this VCE shenanigans over quicker, but I really did like that we were going to get extra time for exam practice. My school finishes really late I think early term 4, even with the content cuts, so that will be less time.... I'm just going to have to start getting ahead alot quicker so that I have the time to fit in more practice exams.

English
When ever I talk about this subject I feel like a grumpy toddler having a temper tantrum. I don't mean to come across like that, but I'm so over it... We have the creative next week and I still have to write my draft for it. I'm going against the grain and not choosing one of the recommended stories and going with "like a house on fire" the short story, not the book. Claire's thoughts are my worst nightmare, and I feel I could run with that alot better than some of the other perspectives given. Just learning about how I will do this creative has done my head in, because apparently everything I new about it is wrong... I really like to write in inner monologues, but my teachers told me i'll get marked down for that... great. Anyway I'm feeling more confident about this SAC than the others as I normally thrive on creative writing. This SAC does feel a bit odd though. Normally we get a topic and write an essay for it under timed conditions. This time we are going to pre write our draft, get teachers feedback, take this draft into the "SAC" room and rewrite it under a time limit.... odd, but okay. My teacher is away at the moment, so I can't really get any feedback so I have a feeling i'll get an extension. But essentially after this SAC (next week) I have no more english work until term 3 starts. This will be great as i'll have a little break, but i'll use that time to do more practice essays for the exam, I need to revisit my nemesis language analysis....

Methods
I haven't done much of the application SAC as I had to focus on my chem SAC that had a deadline at 4.00 today, so yeah.... I have under a week to get this sent in, and it's not looking good. The funny thing is, I don't actually hate maths. I just only like maths when I get it, and when it's taught to me properly. That's been the most disappointing about this subject, how it's taught. Anyway enough about that, I hope to scrape a pass for this SAC, or at least 45%+, if I get higher than that i'm having a mini party. After the SAC i'll have a little catchup work to do, but what i'll focus on is just going over the Cambridge textbook from the earlier chapters. I don't think i'll ever open up the Jac one again... This subject will be alot of work, but I hope if I just practice alot more and get some exposure that i'll get alot better at it, or better enough to get 25+, so i'm hopping the exams will save me...

Food Studies
I'm done with unit 3 content!!!! YAY! I have two SACs now next week and the week after that. One is going to be and open book practical task, and the other a closed book test. Feeling a little uncomfortable about the SAC as this AOS has been very humanities based, and that freaks me out. I'm going to have to devise a new way to study for it, as it's very different from my science subjects. But once I have done the SACs, no more work for all of term 2! So i'll get a sweet 4-5 week break!

Chemistry
Rant AlertSo this was my first online SAC, and I hated it. It took me longer to think about what the questions were asking me, I couldn't annotate so I found the temperatures questions harder than normal as I couldn't draw my arrows, some questions were so bizarre, had missing info, and others left me feeling pissed off. The chem teachers are really great, but the SACs we have to do are so poorly put together that it has kind of put me off the subject. I love chem, but I just sat there numb after the SAC. I believe I performed better than on the last SAC, but there were a few questions where there was info missing, or just didn't make sense to read.....
For example, there was a question asking me to explain an equilibrium position shift (after changing the concentration of one reactant) change using collision theory... Um what. Collision theory isn't really used to explain how the position of equilibrium changes... So I just explained them separately, implying that adding extra reactant would increase the rate of reaction. They also wanted me to plot a concentration graph on the rates of reactions, however, they were asking about the HCL concentration when they gave a chemical equation that didn't have HCL on it..... Also, we were asked to interpret some data (because the teachers made half the SAC experimental design for some reason), but they missed the labeling of the other two lines, so we didn't know what flask it was that had a higher rate of reaction. So I had to say, "the blue line, which I believe is flask 3" and so on.
Honestly this subject has been a bit of a mess. I would rather do a VCAA chem exam than another Chem SAC. It leaves me angry as I feel like my study score has gone done the drain, in my best subject no less. On the bright side, unit 3 is done know, just one more activity that should take about an and then onto unit 4. It's poster SAC time, and guess what, it's all online, has be readjusted by my teachers (just like the first SAC was) and using second hand data. That was sarcastic if you couldn't get my meaning in how "excited" I am for it.
(also this is my fault, but due to shaking hands, I wrote the aqueous aq symbol as ap.... hope I don't get marked down for that).

Well that's it for now fokes, i'm holding on for now, but I really don't like how my last year of highschool has gone so far.
Oh and if my ATAR sucks i'm going to run away to pastry school.
Haha I love your procrastination, it's a lot more interesting than mine. Some interesting Australian history you could listen to is the podcast "The Eleventh" which I found kinda interesting.
Wow if this isn't relatable, I totally agree! The stories are so depressing and whilst I can understand the cleverness and the skill required to the stories, they have no link to my life whatsoever. At least once you do your creative you can leave it in the dust.
Good luck for all your SACs (and to your mini-plant). It sucks about the chemistry being online but losing only three marks is fantastic!
Thanks for the update  ;D
YAY someone else that feels the same way about like a house on fire! It really is  a well crafted book, but the material is so unrelatedable to alot of people's lives. As soon as my creative is done, it's going in the bin. Thanks for the good luck, and thanks for you support, it's really nice to read :).
« Last Edit: February 16, 2021, 12:38:00 am by Geoo »
2020: VCE 93.2
2022: BSci/Arts (Chemistry/Pharmacology and French)@Monash

Ionic Doc

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Re: Geoo's VCE Journey
« Reply #226 on: May 22, 2020, 12:14:10 pm »
+5
(I watched all of the first season of outer banks.... woops)

I finished it all in one day as well, so I guess we have some serious issues we need to address 😂

Well, that's it, for now, folks, I'm holding on for now, but I really don't like how my last year of high school has gone so far.
Oh and if my ATAR sucks I'm going to run away to pastry school.

Yeah, I will gladly join you! (I love cooking/baking)
But your ATAR won't suck cause your gonna smash the exams  ;)
2019/2020 - Psychology | Biology | Chemistry | Methods | Further | English
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Geoo

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Re: Geoo's VCE Journey
« Reply #227 on: May 22, 2020, 09:25:30 pm »
+5
I finished it all in one day as well, so I guess we have some serious issues we need to address 😂

Yeah, I will gladly join you! (I love cooking/baking)
But your ATAR won't suck cause your gonna smash the exams  ;)
It is really so addictive so I don't blame you!!! I was watching it was family so I had to pace it over three days since others needed to do stuff.  Thanks for you confidence in me!!! I'm not a big cooker, but I love to bake and have kind been considering doing a certificate 3 in pastry! What do you like to bake?
2020: VCE 93.2
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Ionic Doc

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Re: Geoo's VCE Journey
« Reply #228 on: May 23, 2020, 11:44:12 am »
+5
It is really so addictive so I don't blame you!!! I was watching it was family so I had to pace it over three days since others needed to do stuff.  Thanks for you confidence in me!!! I'm not a big cooker, but I love to bake and have kind been considering doing a certificate 3 in pastry! What do you like to bake?

Yeah, I'm not a huge cook either but I love to make desserts.
My favourite things to bake are sticky date pudding, cookies, BROWNIES, scones and all different types of cake. Although  I haven't been able to bake anything during iso cause our oven broke  :( lol.
What do u like to bake?
« Last Edit: May 23, 2020, 11:47:24 am by Ionic Doc »
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Geoo

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Re: Geoo's VCE Journey
« Reply #229 on: May 29, 2020, 01:38:47 pm »
+10
29/05/2020 - Update -

I don't know why I have been updating this so consistently over the last month, but here goes another update. Nothing has really happened of late, I have been bogged down in SACs, but I have been given quite a few extensions to get things done. I have reached the mid point slump of my VCE, it's that time where motivation is at an all time low, yet SACs and assessments are everywhere...

English
I have never been so angry in such a long time. So I have my creative next week on Friday, and I had to write a draft. I sent this draft to both my english teacher and tutor, and guess what, they both have contradicting opinions on it, go figure. One person loved aspects of my piece, yet the english teacher thought they weren't necessary and that I drag on quite a bit. I was too descriptive yet not descriptive enough, I had too many actions, yet need more at the same time and the list goes on and on. I'm so over it. This will be my last SAC of unit 3, which I hoped would redeem my low marks, but it doesn't seem like it anymore. I love creative writing, but this SAC (which I scored really high in last year) is making me just so frustrated. Cya later a 38+ in english, i'd be lucky to get over 35.

Chem
I have the week of this week, which has been really nice. Not much to say on this subject. Over the next 4 weeks is our poster SAC, which has not only been done weirdly, but it's also under exam conditions.... This doesn't make sense to me, as when I did other science posters at a VCE level, none of them where under exam conditions. What trickery is this!!!! just like english i'm so mad at how this course has gone.....

Methods
Well here is some good ish news. I have been able to answer pretty much all but 1 question on the application SAC!!!!! Do I know if any of it is right, nope, am I annoyed I have to go back plug my formulas into my CAS and take a picture of it to show I can use my CAS, yes, am I still slightly scared I won't get 50%, absolutely, but the thing is I did more than I thought I could. I'm hoping for over 50%, but I put "the range" for 30-60%, it's wide but I really don't know how I went. Now, for the next torturess months, I am starting from chapter 1 of the cambridge textbook, and just doing sum after sum in hopes of getting a 25!

Food Studies
I was suppose to do my SAC this week, but life happened, and I now have an extension.

So, I may or may not of ever read harry potter before.... Which is why I bought the first book to read on the holidays as a way of cheering myself up. I also had the opportunity to attend the monash webinar for the pharmsci and pharmacy courses this week. It was really awesome to see what they had to offer, and it really puts me into the hard position of a BSci or a BPharmSci. I have ruled biomed out and engineering (I learnt you couldn't use calculators in uni maths, so no thankyou), and I still need to consider location, future interests, jobs, and if that is something I want to do. With a BSci at monash, it's alot closer to where I live (1.10 hours away), I can do a diploma of language on the side, there are two majors I can do at the same time, and I can apply to postgrad med. However, the BPharmsci it alot further away (1.45 hours), I like the smaller campus and cohort, there isn't any flexibility, I can't do a diploma of language (unless I wanted to do the commute), there is so much more emphasis on lab stuff which I am on the fence about, but the main thing is that it has the great combo of chem and bio (can't do post grad med after aswell). So much to think about, but I have plenty of time left to decide.
Yeah, I'm not a huge cook either but I love to make desserts.
My favourite things to bake are sticky date pudding, cookies, BROWNIES, scones and all different types of cake. Although  I haven't been able to bake anything during iso cause our oven broke  :( lol.
What do u like to bake?
Sorry for the late reply! Yes sticky date pudding is the BEST! I love to bake tea cakes, also chocolate cake, biscuits, pastries, bread, brownies, and I haven't made them in a while but cupcakes are great too. That's so sad that your oven broke! I hope it get's fixed soon!
Spoiler
Aside with the mid slump motivation kicking in, I find it hard to keep myself motivated when I have been putting in so much effort without anything to show for it. I keep working hard/smart, doing practice questions and essays, being in touch with teachers, teaching others, reading the books twice, revision etc. Yet, I am not improving, my marks have been slipping, and I am finding it so hard to keep going. I have no cohort to help me up, the changes that have been made to the online courses have really be screwing me over, and it feels like my goals are no longer achievable. My worst scores will still get me in the mid to high 80's, which will be enough I need for the courses i'm looking at, but this isn't what I envisioned. Sorry to be a bit of a debbie downer again, :(
2020: VCE 93.2
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brothanathan

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Re: Geoo's VCE Journey
« Reply #230 on: May 29, 2020, 07:21:49 pm »
+4
29/05/2020 - Update -

English
I have never been so angry in such a long time. So I have my creative next week on Friday, and I had to write a draft. I sent this draft to both my english teacher and tutor, and guess what, they both have contradicting opinions on it, go figure. One person loved aspects of my piece, yet the english teacher thought they weren't necessary and that I drag on quite a bit. I was too descriptive yet not descriptive enough, I had too many actions, yet need more at the same time and the list goes on and on. I'm so over it. This will be my last SAC of unit 3, which I hoped would redeem my low marks, but it doesn't seem like it anymore. I love creative writing, but this SAC (which I scored really high in last year) is making me just so frustrated. Cya later a 38+ in english, i'd be lucky to get over 35.


It's not a cya Geoo, but just a testament to how the exam is gonna be. Some examiners spend hours debating over the minuscule of things. That's just how it is with many things, there's no definite interpretation. Everyone has their own subjective opinion. If you have access to a few different rubrics (related to your specific piece), it would be awesome to compare what they're looking for and see what their main criteria are. If not, compare the feedback given by your English teacher and tutor to see what their overall stances are towards your piece. Once you have derived that from their feedback, it would be handy to have a range of high-scoring pieces (which you find on the web for free) with markings. Once you've finished collecting some, put your teacher hat on and analyse if they met all or some of the specific requirements your teacher and tutor had, and jot down how they did it.

Now you might wonder, what happens to the requirements that the high-scoring pieces didn't meet? Sometimes it's good to go back to basics and fill in some  gaps we may have unknowingly, hindering us from being able to interpret the advice given. A gem I would recommend for creative writing is Lajos Egri's "Art of Creative Writing".

Once the learning and re-learning process is complete, try re-writing your creative piece with the relevant adjustments and implementations. It's expected that even after doing all this, there's still something to refine. The feedback you receive from your drafts are invaluable, and the process of trying to improve your work, not only brings motivation but inevitably boosts your ambitions.

Edit: Specifically for SACs, defo stick with your teacher's advice.
« Last Edit: May 29, 2020, 11:19:33 pm by brothanathan »

Chocolatemilkshake

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Re: Geoo's VCE Journey
« Reply #231 on: May 29, 2020, 07:53:22 pm »
+6
Hey Geoo! Nice to see an update!
With your feedback from your english teacher and tutor, it really sucks that their advice is so contrasting (proves just how subjective creative pieces are). Ultimately, you really should go with what your teacher is thinking, as she is the one marking your piece.

It sucks about the changes to online learning and the difficulties that you've had to face. Just keep at it! You are a hard worker and whilst you may not see it in your marks (and this is the worst feeling, I understand), it will pay off in so many other ways.
You've got this  8)
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Geoo

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Re: Geoo's VCE Journey
« Reply #232 on: May 30, 2020, 05:24:20 pm »
+6
-snip
100%. I think that is what bothers me the most about English though, it's subjectivity. There are just to many variables, what some teachers like vs others, and I believe it just ruins the entire subject. There are thousands of books published each year, yet some subjectivity "terrible" books still make it, whilst some literary masterpiece's get locked in a publishing house dungeon. For someone to put a limit on something as subjective as creativity is what I believe to be just so painful.

Thanks for you feedback, i'll definitely be having a look at both what my teacher wrote and what my tutor suggested. it's just so frustrating..... ahh. But I will be going with what my teacher wants, you can count on that!

Hey Geoo! Nice to see an update!
With your feedback from your english teacher and tutor, it really sucks that their advice is so contrasting (proves just how subjective creative pieces are). Ultimately, you really should go with what your teacher is thinking, as she is the one marking your piece.

It sucks about the changes to online learning and the difficulties that you've had to face. Just keep at it! You are a hard worker and whilst you may not see it in your marks (and this is the worst feeling, I understand), it will pay off in so many other ways.
You've got this  8)
Hey Choco, nice to hear from you!
The subjectivity of english is driving me to insanity, why can't it be like science subjects....
I'll be following the teachers advice as you're right with them being the one marking them. It's kind of a bummer, as I really liked what I wrote, but I guess it just didn't fit the requirements. Reading you encouragements really uplifted my spirits, so thanks for cheering me on!  Yes absolutely, I know that my hard work will pay off somehow, it's just a little slow going for the time being.
Thanks for cheering me up, and enjoy the weekend!
2020: VCE 93.2
2022: BSci/Arts (Chemistry/Pharmacology and French)@Monash

Geoo

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Re: Geoo's VCE Journey
« Reply #233 on: June 03, 2020, 08:26:53 pm »
+10
Mini Update
For the past week, I have officially graduated to become a master of procrastination. No seriously, this past week, I have imitated a vegetable in which I do nothing all day until 8.00 pm, then I realise there are deadlines with SACs in two days. In which I study till 11, sometimes 12 with lots of "breaks" in between.

I have started attending a course to become a master in productivity, but I need to find my motivation first, which is a prereq for the subject. I'm not sure where it is. Last time I heard it was taking a vacation in Tahiti.
 
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Geoo

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Re: Geoo's VCE Journey
« Reply #234 on: June 06, 2020, 04:52:42 pm »
+10
06/05/2020 - Update - For Once It's Positive

For once i'm not going to be a negative Nancy, and I finally have some positive news! It's been a pretty busy week, and I have lots to complain about, but i'm going to try stick to the positive stuff.

English
So.... I got my second SAC back and i'm so happy! It was the text response SAC on Nine Days that I did about a month ago. I felt so nervous about it since I really needed a good mark in english to recover from the argument analysis, which I got 70%. But.... drum roll please, I got 25/30, 83%. I literally jumped up an down off the ground I was so happy. Earlier in the month I got feedback from my tutor, in which she gave me a 19/30. I was devastated, and lost all hope, but for my teacher not to mark me as harshly, ahh I'm so relieved. English isn't my strongest subject, not by a long shot, but this was a win for once. If I score high enough in my creative, I have a shot of getting into the A range for unit three, which I would also be amazing!
Speaking of which, I did do my creative yesterday, and let me tell you my hand is about to fall off and die. I wrote so fast, I don't even know if it is legible or not. Not quite sure how to feel about it however. I think I did okay, normally creative is my strongest but the differing opinions I got were so confusing. I did my best and that's all I can do. I'm hoping it will be another 25/30, but we'll see. Also, I am never reading like a house on fire again. The book is going in the bin and staying there. Thank goodness it's over!!!! So unit 3 is done now. I technically have no more english work until next term, this is super weird as I feel like we will be behind compared to other schools, and secondly why can't we just start?

Chem
Not as exciting as english but I did FINALLY receive my SAC mark back from March. Wow, I don't think I have ever had to wait this long to get a SAC back... But, I ended up with a 42/50, 84%.  Now like English, I was relieved. If you have been following this crazy journal, you would have seen a rant post about how poorly this SAC was done, so considering all of that, coming out with a 42/50 is pretty decent. I'm not to sure how my cohort went, as remember, at my school we don't get told anything..... so i'm not sure what my rank is. I know some did struggle alot because it wasn't organised in the least, and I had the advantage of studying electrolysis when everyone else didn't (because our teachers really don't make it clear, that's how bad it is). Here is where I get a little grumpy about my mark. First off, I don't know what my rank is, and since i'm aiming quite high, I don't know how bad off I am for getting the score that I want. Second, there are 4 marks I am going to contend..... There is certain material we weren't taught, and we got marked down for not knowing it. The course contradicted itself, and I think I am willing to take the risk of contending them. I will approach in a way of just "hey, i'm confused why I didn't get the mark here, it's say on the course...." So lets hope I don't anger my teacher :.). Overall i'm okay with my mark, but i'm annoyed that I have been pushed out of the A+ range for unit three. I still hope I can squeeze my way into the A range, but all the SACs I have done have been so poorly organised and handled that I really don't know.

In other chem news, I have moved on to doing the unit 4 Poster SAC. And you guessed it, once again it has been done so poorly. I didn't get a choice on what to do(that's fine just make it more complicated), get this, my poster is only worth 5 marks, and 3 online tests is where my marks are coming from. I won't be able to access my log book, textbook, nothing... I don't know what the second hand data will be like, and the log book has been copied and pasted from last year with minimal adjustments that don't make sense. I had to call and email my teacher 8 times to know what I was suppose to do..... i'm just so angry at how this subject is run and organised. The content is easier than figuring out what to do for a SAC my god.

Food and Methods
Haven't done anything for these subject, I need to get a move on..... My food studies SAC was due two weeks ago, thank you extensions.


I have almost hit 120 hours!!!!!! Come on VICROADS! I wish they would at least make an announcement, but I guess they are staying quite due to the uncertainty of it all. Anyway, that is it for me :),enjoy the long weekend!
« Last Edit: February 16, 2021, 12:38:34 am by Geoo »
2020: VCE 93.2
2022: BSci/Arts (Chemistry/Pharmacology and French)@Monash

Geoo

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Re: Geoo's VCE Journey
« Reply #235 on: June 14, 2020, 02:02:18 pm »
+8
Update - 14/06/2020

So, for the past week I have literally done nothing. Absolutly nothing. Which i'm struggling to come to terms with. I have had a pretty productive year considering everything, yet I think i'm finally starting to slow down. This week, i was running on the fumes of my motivation, just doing enough to keep up yet not enough to get ahead. From Monday to Friday, I did nothing outside two SACs for chem. I just sat at home zoning out to netflix and youtube. On the one hand I really hate how much time i'm losing, especially since I really do have so much on my plate, but at the same time I think my mental motivation and my physical health is just about crash.... So whilst I don't like that i'm taking time off, I do need it in the long run unless I want to crash and burn right before exams. But my word is it frustrating. (why does that sentence sound so englishy..). I'm going to try watch some motivation ted talks and maybe some study videos to try get back on track, as I really need to get back on track otherwise I will fall behind.

There is not much to talk about since I haven't done much this week, but I though I'd give an update on chemistry. Half of it will be a rant (because come on, if you have been reading this journal for long, you know me...) and the other half will be an update.
Chem
Soooooo, I contacted my teacher about contending the marks, and she wouldn't budge. I don't think I angered her, as I came at it from a "what did I do wrong" angle, but the SAC still rubs me the wrong way. I understand now how some of my answers are wrong, I am just frustrated that I was taught different information to the one that was on the SAC, to which it contradicted it. The only real feed back I got was "read the questions well, okay?" and that rubbed me the wrong way. One of the questions was asking me for the equations for the charging reaction of a lead acid battery. I gave this, but I got it wrong. Apparently, I needed to write equations for the recharging reaction before any PbSO4 had formed, but that wasn't stated in the question. So this just rubs me the wrong way. You can look at the question down below, and you tell me...
Spoiler

Anyway, moving onto this weeks two chem SACs. This is the poster SAC which is been done online for some odd insane reason. Now the reason i'm not a big fan of online SACs/tests is because I like to write all over my papers to help me understand what i'm doing, so it takes me a bit longer online to understand what i need to do. I had to do task one and task 2. Task one was  an assessment worth 8 marks on my hypothesis, aim, title, reason for my IV and DV, and how I would measure and operationlise IV and DV, this was a 35 minute task and I think it went well. Task two, is the assessment on the methodology and ethics of the experiment, and was worth 12 marks. Task 2 was 45 minutes and went well until my keyboard died, came back to life, and decided to delete random words that I had previously written. I started hitting my desk out of frustration of my work being removed, and decided to place astricks everywhere in hope I could redeem my lost work. So, after that I thought I had honestly doomed my mark and was ready to give up. Good news though, I got my marks back early Saturday morning (I need these tasks to do the next one), and I thankfully got full marks for both. I was so relieved you have no idea, especially after my keyboard. Next week scares me... It's the final online task before I essentially just copy and paste tasks 1,2,3 into a poster format for five marks under the category of "organisation." It's task three, worth 33 marks, and it going to be 180 minutes long..... 3 hours. Now with my health condition, that is hell for me, and I have no idea if i'll make it though or not, will see how I go. But it will be so nice to get that out of the way, so I can move onto studying ahead for unit 4.

Spoiler
Okay so onto the complaining of the week. I think I mentioned in my last update that I needed to do a logbook before I attempted the online tasks. When I handed it in, i thought I was going to get feedback on this logbook before I would do the online tasks. This is because other classmates in the other teachers class started getting their feedback for their logbooks on the weekend before the tasks. Here is where it gets messy, the class I am in..... well, my teacher decided we shouldn't get the logbook marked. I found out later in the week (Thursday) that the teachers hadn't been communicating with each other, and my teacher didn't know that the other was marking the logbook. My teacher (assumed) felt guilty, and put up a message asking students to contact her if they had any questions about the logbook. Since I really wanted feedback, I emailed her with 5 questions on some of my variables, ethics and methodology. I only got one question answered...... So yeah, half the cohort had the advantage of getting marked feedback on their work before they tasks.

I thought this wasn't fair, but I had some classmates from the other class give me some of the general feedback they got so I could apply it to mine (they were very helpful), so that was great and really it was what saved my marks. Here is the part that really annoys me, so on Saturday morning, I open my email to see that I have my results back for the first two tasks, guess what is right above that, only 3 minute later THE MARKED LOGBOOK! So yeah, i'm not happy Jan. Look my teachers are lovely and they are fantastic in their knowledge no doubt about that, but the sheer lack of incompetence, communication, spelling errors, and a failure of proper help and instruction is nuts. I have never had this much trouble with a subject. And that concludes my rant.


Literally did nothing else this week, but I did finally reach 120 hours so woohoo! Now I just have to wait three months for VICROADS to get though the backlog of drivers before I can get my license. But even before then I need to do the hazard test thingy. Well I hope you enjoyed reading this odd update, and enjoy the second last week before school holidays! Only two weeks till the holidays, thankgoodness I need it to come faster!
2020: VCE 93.2
2022: BSci/Arts (Chemistry/Pharmacology and French)@Monash

J_Rho

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Re: Geoo's VCE Journey
« Reply #236 on: June 14, 2020, 05:07:52 pm »
+7
So, for the past week I have literally done nothing. Absolutly nothing. Which i'm struggling to come to terms with. I have had a pretty productive year considering everything, yet I think i'm finally starting to slow down. This week, i was running on the fumes of my motivation, just doing enough to keep up yet not enough to get ahead. From Monday to Friday, I did nothing outside two SACs for chem. I just sat at home zoning out to netflix and youtube. On the one hand I really hate how much time i'm losing, especially since I really do have so much on my plate, but at the same time I think my mental motivation and my physical health is just about crash.... So whilst I don't like that i'm taking time off, I do need it in the long run unless I want to crash and burn right before exams. But my word is it frustrating. (why does that sentence sound so englishy..). I'm going to try watch some motivation ted talks and maybe some study videos to try get back on track, as I really need to get back on track otherwise I will fall behind.
I honestly feel this so much, you can do it! It's hard, and June is just the Wednesday of the year. Your journey is so inspiring and I love reading it, and you will get through this! Here are some TED talks, motivational and atar reaction videos that I find help keep me motivated. I also find revisiting your goals and visualising your end goal super helpful too! Don't expect to continue to study like crazy, so take your time and celebrate all your achievements. Start with a sentence, or watch a youtube video on a topic ur learning in class, reward yourself for writing an introduction or completing a few maths exercises :))

Spoiler
Okay so onto the complaining of the week. I think I mentioned in my last update that I needed to do a logbook before I attempted the online tasks. When I handed it in, i thought I was going to get feedback on this logbook before I would do the online tasks. This is because other classmates in the other teachers class started getting their feedback for their logbooks on the weekend before the tasks. Here is where it gets messy, the class I am in..... well, my teacher decided we shouldn't get the logbook marked. I found out later in the week (Thursday) that the teachers hadn't been communicating with each other, and my teacher didn't know that the other was marking the logbook. My teacher (assumed) felt guilty, and put up a message asking students to contact her if they had any questions about the logbook. Since I really wanted feedback, I emailed her with 5 questions on some of my variables, ethics and methodology. I only got one question answered...... So yeah, half the cohort had the advantage of getting marked feedback on their work before they tasks.

I thought this wasn't fair, but I had some classmates from the other class give me some of the general feedback they got so I could apply it to mine (they were very helpful), so that was great and really it was what saved my marks. Here is the part that really annoys me, so on Saturday morning, I open my email to see that I have my results back for the first two tasks, guess what is right above that, only 3 minute later THE MARKED LOGBOOK! So yeah, i'm not happy Jan. Look my teachers are lovely and they are fantastic in their knowledge no doubt about that, but the sheer lack of incompetence, communication, spelling errors, and a failure of proper help and instruction is nuts. I have never had this much trouble with a subject. And that concludes my rant.
BRUH I WOULD BE SO MAD! But at least your classmates were really good, and helped you out! I'm sure you did awesome, keep your head up and keep persevering, the holidays are only 12 days away!

Literally did nothing else this week, but I did finally reach 120 hours so woohoo! Now I just have to wait three months for VICROADS to get though the backlog of drivers before I can get my license. But even before then I need to do the hazard test thingy. Well I hope you enjoyed reading this odd update, and enjoy the second last week before school holidays! Only two weeks till the holidays, thankgoodness I need it to come faster!
OMG YAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYY CONGRATS ON GETTING ALL YOUR HOURS!!!!
« Last Edit: June 14, 2020, 05:12:12 pm by J_Rho »
— VCE —
English 30, Further Maths 33, Biology 33, Legal Studies 27, Psychology 32

— University —
Bachelor of Nursing @ Monash
Bachelor of Counselling & Psychological Science @ ACAP

Geoo

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Re: Geoo's VCE Journey
« Reply #237 on: June 19, 2020, 07:48:59 pm »
+5
I honestly feel this so much, you can do it! It's hard, and June is just the Wednesday of the year. Your journey is so inspiring and I love reading it, and you will get through this! Here are some TED talks, motivational and atar reaction videos that I find help keep me motivated. I also find revisiting your goals and visualising your end goal super helpful too! Don't expect to continue to study like crazy, so take your time and celebrate all your achievements. Start with a sentence, or watch a youtube video on a topic ur learning in class, reward yourself for writing an introduction or completing a few maths exercises :))

BRUH I WOULD BE SO MAD! But at least your classmates were really good, and helped you out! I'm sure you did awesome, keep your head up and keep persevering, the holidays are only 12 days away!
OMG YAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYY CONGRATS ON GETTING ALL YOUR HOURS!!!!
Oh my goodness thank you so much for the links! I have only checked out two so far, but thanks for taking the time to type them out for me. Thanks for your advice as well, I guess it can be hard to picture goals at the moment, but I just have to start writing them down again and stay focused. I do wish there was a time freeze machine, so I could take a couple weeks off with no consequences. But then again we will get a three month break once vce is finished so that is something to look forward too!

Yeah I was really mad for quite a long time, but I just kind of become numb to it all. This subject has put me through the ringer so I think I must be getting use to it. HAHA Thankyou! I'm so happy I have all my hours up, but i'm sad to say I still stuck at parallel parking.... need to work on that.
2020: VCE 93.2
2022: BSci/Arts (Chemistry/Pharmacology and French)@Monash

Geoo

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Re: Geoo's VCE Journey
« Reply #238 on: June 21, 2020, 03:35:11 pm »
+8
The Grand Unit Three Review and The Halfway Mark Of My VCE Journey

Since I have technically finished all of unit three aside from one SAC, I thought I'd do a review of the year so far, and my feelings on how i'm feeling about the future. There hasn't been much going on recently, but I do have a few things to share so i'll leave that for later.

Chemistry
Lets start positive! I really do love this subject, and learning the content has been super enjoyable except for fuels... that was very boring yet applicable when I went looking for my first car. *Spoilers* So far, I think equilibrium has been the most interesting, but I'm willing to bet when I get around to food chemistry that will overtake it for the top spot. Although, organic chem is also very fascinating, but I do worry about my stick figure chemical structures... This subject has also made me realise that I would like to continue on with learning about chemistry (maybe food chem) in the future as it really is just so broad that it can take me to many places. However, there have been some not so great things with this subject, especially with how it is taught at my school. But since i'm trying to keep this relatively positive, i'll keep it at that.
Whilst my love for the subject has grown, my grades.... not so much. I do think there are a few reasons behind it, but i'm travelling pretty mediocre in this subject. It's quite hard to improve when the material you are given is quite off, but I just have to make do with what I have. I haven't received my second SAC back from unit 3 yet, although i'm not expecting it to be that great, my first SAC was a 42/50 (84%). It's alright I guess, but I certainly hoped to do alot better. Moving forward I just have to be alot more careful in my approach to this subject, and hope I can redeem myself in unit 4 and the exam. Just a side note as well, I knew chem was competitive, but once I saw the grade distribution, wow. In order to get an A+, I needed to only drop 5 marks.... Well i'm already out of that range, so i'm on par for getting a high B+ or a low A. I do hope that my exam performance will boost that up, but then again me and exams aren't best friends.

Foods Studies
I'm so happy I switched from physics to this. Not only has it been quite enjoyable to learn, but it is the lightest subject I do. The content is great, my teacher is one of the best i've had in years, and overall it's been a pretty chill subject when comparing it to the others I do. I am only slightly let down that there isn't alot of practical components in the subject compared to food tech. but I still think its an awesome subject.
Unlike my other subjects, this is the only one that has gone well all year. I have managed to not drop a mark yet, but I still have the last SAC to go, and i'm extremely nervous about it. The first AOS was all about food science which was hands down the best part of the subject! As I moved into AOS 2, I started to get a bit uncomfortable with the work I was doing. I was surprised with the amount of memorisation, lack of resources, and the diverse range of mini subjects in side the subject. There was business, marketing, psych, sociology, chem, bio, agriculture there was so much diversity. Since i'm a science student, I have always been use to having one answer as being correct, but in this subject, there are so many answers it's not funny.
This made the subject quite hard to study for, along side the non existent resources. I'm still learning how to get better are going about studying a subject that is a bit more on the humanities side, but i'm confident i'll get there.

Methods
My bottom subject hello! So I haven't had the best start with methods over the years, due to some procrastination, heavy maths road blocks, and a good chunk of trying to learn mathematics online, it's not fun. I think the biggest hurdle of this subject for me, is that doing it online is really difficult. I feel like I barely get any support, and the materials supplied are okay at best. If I was in a in person classroom, I think I would have a much better opportunity to do better at maths. Having to teach myself hard concepts and having to dig through misleading information is really hard and very taxing. It doesn't help that there are no online lessons for this subject, which is just extremely disheartening, as all of my subjects have online lessons but maths. That being said I do have alot of building block areas the are missing which also make the subject quite hard. There is just so much I don't know, or constantly forget to a point where I learn something then forget it the next day.
I really have no clue how i'm going at the moment. All I know is that I passed the unit (yay)!, and I think I at least got a pass on the maths SAC. And that's all I really need. I never went into this subject with high expectations, but if I can pull of a 25 or even a 30, I'd be so happy you wouldn't believe it. At the moment, I have switched to the cambridge textbook and my god is that textbook a lifesaver! Super happy I went with my gut and switched from the Jacaranda, but never the less, in short, I still suck at maths.

English
It was seriously hard to pick which is the worst subject, methods, or english.  English came out on top by a long shot. Although i'm doing better grade wise in english, and it is also less time consuming, I still really can't stand this subject. The further the year goes on, the more I come to despise this subject with the entirety of my being! What has angered me the most, is how subjective this subject truly is, and how it can change depending on who's reading your work. The discrepancy between what different people want from your essay is just crazy to me, and it has put a big shadow over the subject. The other part the really gets on my nerves is that you can never really get better at english. I think I read heaps of articles on how to get better, got a tutor, did so many practice essays, yet there is really no way to prepare yourself. It can also come down to teachers as well, and how good the feedback is, if you even get any at all in a decent amount of time.
Overall, the only positive thing I can give to this subject, is that in my entire highschool career, the book Nine Days was actually a solid read. Other than that the other two books where honestly just the wrong age group with no relevance what so over that almost made me pull my hair out. But I do have one small tip, if you have like a house on fire for your chosen book for the creative, only read a few of the short stories, study them in depth and call it a day! I seriously didn't read the entire book because I couldn't bring myself to read something so depressing when real life was hard enough.
Like chem, I'm a disappointed in the grades I have received for the work I did. It's all really just felt like a waste of time. Anyway, I ended up getting my creative back, which bare in mind is normally my best piece, and I ended up with a 21/30 (70%). I have never felt so insulted, but I can't change it now, and to be quite honest i'm just a bit numb and extremely exhausted from all the work I put into that piece with no return. However on the good side, I have Just managed to slip into the A range for unit three with my mark being 74/100. Will it stay that way after exams, who knows. I know that my review of english was a bit negative, and I do apologise for that, but i'm really just so done with this subject. The best part about this year, will be leaving english behind for good!

So here are my goals vs predictions as a few other people have done of late:
Spoiler

Goals:
English 38+
Chem 40+
Food Studies 45+
Methods 30+
Atar: 93
Actual Predictions:
English 36+
Chem 37+
Food Studies 44+
Methods 25+
Atar: 89.9
In terms of my exam timetable, i'm really happy with how spread out my exams ares. I have english first in the first week, I have methods in the second week, and I have chemistry on the Monday of the third week, finishing up with food studies on the Thursday the same week. So happy that food and chem aren't on the same day, and I like how spread out they are. So i'll officially be free on the 26th of November! Woohoo!

To wrap this up I though i'd share so personal news:
Spoiler
For some good news, I may or may not have a car..... I know I haven't got my drivers license yet since Vic Roads is closed, but it was a super good deal that I couldn't miss out on. So I can't wait to drive it in the holidays. And for some bad news, unfortunately, one of my plants passed away, I don't know how it happened but he will be truly missed from my desk.

If you are still with me, thanks for reading my long essay of an update, and I hope everyone is looking forward to the holidays. I still can't believe this is my last year of school, and it feels surreal to think that i'm halfway now. Being the person I am, i'm not quite sure what I want to do, but it will definitely be in the science direction! Finally, I just wanted to say thanks to everyone that has been with me, and has commented on this journal since I started it last year. I still can't believe that I have nearly reached 30,000 views on this page, I mean why would people care to read about my off abstract life, but once again, thanks for coming along on my weird journey through VCE.
« Last Edit: February 16, 2021, 12:38:52 am by Geoo »
2020: VCE 93.2
2022: BSci/Arts (Chemistry/Pharmacology and French)@Monash

ArtyDreams

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Re: Geoo's VCE Journey
« Reply #239 on: June 21, 2020, 03:46:01 pm »
+8
CONGRATS on finishing UNIT 3 GEOO!!

So exciting!!

I've honestly enjoyed reading your journal this semester, and I'm so proud of how far you've come! Although some things may have not been the best you should be so happy with your efforts and its awesome to see that you're doing well!
And with Methods, I promise you'll overcome the hurdle. Just keep doing your best and itll work out in the end.

And yay! Awesome on getting a new car! Super happy for you! Enjoy being on the roads with that bit of extra freedom!

Hope you enjoy your last week!  :D