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March 29, 2024, 09:11:44 am

Author Topic: Hoping for a HSC Viktory... (hsc '20 journal)  (Read 20768 times)

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Viktoriak_

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Hoping for a HSC Viktory... (hsc '20 journal)
« on: May 02, 2020, 09:21:16 pm »
+13
Hey everyone!!

I've been reading some of the ATAR notes study journals for a while, finally decided to create my own! This whole online learning thing has really been a challenge, and I've been procrastinating more than ever...  :-\
So in the interests of productivity, I hope this journal will keep me accountable and be able to motivate me. Just gotta remember to update it!

A general intro about me
I'm Viktoria, currently doing the HSC, half-way through year 12 (it's gone so fast ahh). I did accelerated IPT last year, so this year I have 9 units:

  • Maths 3U
  • Eng adv
  • Physics
  • Chemistry

I also did dance (as a subject) from year 11, but dropped it after term 1 of year 12... It was really fun, but just didn't have the time for it.

I guess I should also mention my plans for after school. I'm planning to do civil engineering at ADFA (the military uni in Canberra, its courses are from UNSW), and my backup is USYD (also civil eng).

So, atm I have SO MUCH work to catch up on, and it just keeps coming in! I know I should just do it, but it feels so demotivating when no matter how much you get done, there's still more... Don't know if anyone's familiar with Parkinson's Law, but it basically says your work expands to fill the time you give it. Lately, when I procrastinate, I end up skipping things like exercise, family commitments etc. to make up for the lost study time. Essentially, my study is 'expanding' to fill my time (by procrastinating). Which is defs not a great situation, so I'm gonna try prioritise exercise+family over study, (hopefully) forcing myself to focus because I have a smaller amount of time.

So that's basically my situation atm, hope you all are well and being more productive than I am aha

Thank you (and congrats) to anyone who has managed to read this far, looking forward to hearing from you :))

Viktoria

Gonna try include a lil quote everyday hopefully to motivate some people (including myself), so here's something on procrastination
"You cannot escape the responsibility of tomorrow by evading it today" - Abraham Lincoln

PS. I've no idea if I've formatted this right, so apologies if its a tad dodgy
« Last Edit: July 27, 2020, 04:12:05 pm by Viktoriak_ »
HSC '19: IPT
HSC '20: chem, phys, maths 3U, eng adv.

angewina_naguen

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Re: Hoping for a HSC Viktory... (hsc '20 journal)
« Reply #1 on: May 02, 2020, 10:44:08 pm »
+4
Hey, Viktoria!

A huge and warm welcome to the forums  :D I'm super excited to follow your HSC journey in this journal!

What's drawing you towards studying civil engineering?  :o

Angelina  ;D
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Bachelor of Music (Music Education) at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music

Viktoriak_

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Re: Hoping for a HSC Viktory... (hsc '20 journal)
« Reply #2 on: May 03, 2020, 02:16:26 pm »
+4
Hi Angelina!

Thanks for the welcome :))

I've known I've wanted to do engineering since around year 10, because I did work experience at 2 civil engineering firms, which I really enjoyed! I guess the main things that appeal to me about civil eng is the challenge, I love maths and science (especially physics), so being able to apply them in a job is awesome! Also I love that in civil eng, you can manage an entire project from beginning to end, then actually see the physical result - it's super rewarding.
HSC '19: IPT
HSC '20: chem, phys, maths 3U, eng adv.

Viktoriak_

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Re: Hoping for a HSC Viktory... (hsc '20 journal)
« Reply #3 on: May 03, 2020, 03:27:06 pm »
+4
3/5/20

Soooo I've been procrastinating on the forums again! (It actually started with youtube  :-\)
I'm going to update this journal every night or maybe every other night, we'll see how much work I can get done...

Here are some strategies I'm gonna try to stop procrastinating:
  • turn wifi off before I study (or use a website blocker)
  • put my phone in another room
  • keep a distraction log
  • Just start!!!


As for the rest of the day, these are my priorities:

English
Got a heap of catchup and general homework to do, so I'm going to get up to speed on that.
My school decided to do Module C before Module B, so that's where we're currently at. I'm definitely more into essay writing + analysis, as oppose to creative... My teacher has set a discursive writing task, and we can choose any topic we want. I have NO IDEA when it comes to discursive, how do I choose a topic? If anyone has any advice on how to structure and write a discursive, that would be really helpful!

Maths
My teacher tends to give out heaps of maths homework, I'll just try to complete as much as possible...
We've just finished the integration topic, and started doing projectile motion. (I thought projectile motion in maths was gonna be the same as in physics, defs wrong there haha)

Chem and Phys
Don't have much work to do with these subjects atm, maybe I'll get on to writing summary notes for what we've learned.

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for a quote.. kinda overused but
"Dreams don't work unless you do"
i.e. its nice to be motivated + have a goal. But you're not gonna get anywhere if you don't put in the work (feels harsh, ik)
HSC '19: IPT
HSC '20: chem, phys, maths 3U, eng adv.

owidjaja

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Re: Hoping for a HSC Viktory... (hsc '20 journal)
« Reply #4 on: May 03, 2020, 04:32:24 pm »
+4
Hey there,

Welcome to the forums! And I'm glad to see another aspiring engineer on this forum!

I'm excited to follow your HSC journey.

Though I'm curious, why did you decide to choose ADFA?
2018 HSC: English Advanced | Mathematics | Physics | Modern History | History Extension | Society and Culture | Studies of Religion I

ATAR: 93.60

2019: Aerospace Engineering (Hons)  @ UNSW

Viktoriak_

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Re: Hoping for a HSC Viktory... (hsc '20 journal)
« Reply #5 on: May 03, 2020, 06:07:44 pm »
+5
Hey there,

Welcome to the forums! And I'm glad to see another aspiring engineer on this forum!

I'm excited to follow your HSC journey.

Though I'm curious, why did you decide to choose ADFA?


Hey!

That's so cool you're doing eng at UNSW! I gotta say congrats for getting in, heard aerospace is hella hard!!

Originally, I wanted to go to USYD, but then I found out about ADFA through a school careers expo. They essentially pay you to study (this is what first caught my attention haha).

I really want to challenge myself, and I think a military career would be great in terms of physical, mental and personal development. There's also heaps of unique opportunities, which I feel I wouldn't get in the civil world. Also, I really want to have a career that can make an impact, so being able to serve while doing engineering seems really exciting.  ;D

How are you enjoying UNSW? How did you find the transition from highschool to uni? (I realised today that I honestly know nothing about uni life / how its different to school aha)
HSC '19: IPT
HSC '20: chem, phys, maths 3U, eng adv.

owidjaja

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Re: Hoping for a HSC Viktory... (hsc '20 journal)
« Reply #6 on: May 03, 2020, 06:29:44 pm »
+3

That's so cool you're doing eng at UNSW! I gotta say congrats for getting in, heard aerospace is hella hard!!
Haha thanks :) It's not too bad at the moment because I haven't started specialising yet, but I'm finding it really interesting.

Originally, I wanted to go to USYD, but then I found out about ADFA through a school careers expo. They essentially pay you to study (this is what first caught my attention haha).

I really want to challenge myself, and I think a military career would be great in terms of physical, mental and personal development. There's also heaps of unique opportunities, which I feel I wouldn't get in the civil world. Also, I really want to have a career that can make an impact, so being able to serve while doing engineering seems really exciting.  ;D
The great thing about going to ADFA is that you don't have to worry about finding internships because they automatically put you in the pool of candidates for different projects! The standard pathway for a lot of civil students is to go into consulting, which isn't bad or anything but if you'd like to be out on the field doing "real engineering" then ADFA's great for that. (And by "real engineering", I'm referring to being a technician, doing maintenance etc.)

How are you enjoying UNSW? How did you find the transition from highschool to uni? (I realised today that I honestly know nothing about uni life / how its different to school aha)
UNSW isn't too bad. I've gotta say, it took a while for me to transition from high school to uni. I knew that in uni, they'll be going through content really fast, but because 2019 was the first time they implemented trimesters, they went through content a lot faster. Because I also quickly jumped into extra-curriculars in Term 1, time management was a big issue for me since I was trying to study and be involved. It's not too bad right now but I did have to reduce my workload so I can still manage society stuff, work and uni. I believe UNSW ADFA is still going through semesters, but don't quote on me.

If you have any other questions about UNSW, engineering or uni life, feel free to drop me a PM :)
2018 HSC: English Advanced | Mathematics | Physics | Modern History | History Extension | Society and Culture | Studies of Religion I

ATAR: 93.60

2019: Aerospace Engineering (Hons)  @ UNSW

Viktoriak_

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Re: Hoping for a HSC Viktory... (hsc '20 journal)
« Reply #7 on: May 03, 2020, 10:08:18 pm »
0
If you have any other questions about UNSW, engineering or uni life, feel free to drop me a PM :)

Thankyou! I've just sent you a PM :)
HSC '19: IPT
HSC '20: chem, phys, maths 3U, eng adv.

alice343

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Re: Hoping for a HSC Viktory... (hsc '20 journal)
« Reply #8 on: May 04, 2020, 06:10:13 pm »
+4
English
Got a heap of catchup and general homework to do, so I'm going to get up to speed on that.
My school decided to do Module C before Module B, so that's where we're currently at. I'm definitely more into essay writing + analysis, as oppose to creative... My teacher has set a discursive writing task, and we can choose any topic we want. I have NO IDEA when it comes to discursive, how do I choose a topic? If anyone has any advice on how to structure and write a discursive, that would be really helpful!

Hello there!

My class hasn't done too much on Mod C either, but I have written a discursive. Our teacher gave us a stimulus (so it was a lot easier to come up with a topic) and helped me with my own idea - I wrote my discursive on my difficulties navigating the disparity between Western conventions of familial affection and my parents' approach to affection in a Chinese household. I developed what my teacher helped me with by looking at articles online. Many blog articles are discursive pieces, TED talks are also useful for coming up with productive themes. Even if you have the faintest, vaguest idea, you can try searching that up to see if anyone's written about it, then go from there.

Hope this helped! :)
2020 HSC: English Advanced, Modern History, Legal Studies, Japanese Beginners, Society and Culture, History Extension

Viktoriak_

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Re: Hoping for a HSC Viktory... (hsc '20 journal)
« Reply #9 on: May 04, 2020, 09:23:09 pm »
+3
Hello there!

My class hasn't done too much on Mod C either, but I have written a discursive. Our teacher gave us a stimulus (so it was a lot easier to come up with a topic) and helped me with my own idea - I wrote my discursive on my difficulties navigating the disparity between Western conventions of familial affection and my parents' approach to affection in a Chinese household. I developed what my teacher helped me with by looking at articles online. Many blog articles are discursive pieces, TED talks are also useful for coming up with productive themes. Even if you have the faintest, vaguest idea, you can try searching that up to see if anyone's written about it, then go from there.

Hope this helped! :)

Hey!

Thankyou for your tips, definitely will look into my ideas more, keen to watch some TED talks haha.
I keep forgetting a discursive is so much more flexible than a persuasive/other essay...
HSC '19: IPT
HSC '20: chem, phys, maths 3U, eng adv.

Viktoriak_

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Re: Hoping for a HSC Viktory... (hsc '20 journal)
« Reply #10 on: May 06, 2020, 09:00:12 pm »
+7
6/5/20

Hi all!
I know I said I'm going to update this every night but I think every week is a more realistic goal 😅

Currently 3 days into week 2, school is only getting more busy...

Maths
As usual, I'm flooded with maths homework. Slowly getting through it though
We also got our Adv assessment notification, this one's a project. Then we'll have an extension test in week 5 (i think?)

English
Still haven't started writing my discursive, been speculating too much on topics lol
But I did catch up on homework, so now I actually know what a discursive is woop

Chem
Sooo we got the 1st part of our depth study. It's basically a whole heap of research, so this should be fine.
I've also gotta finish all my notes and stuff for Mod 5 and 6 (gotta wrap it up quick!).

Phys
Physics is alright - I'm basically teaching myself though, my teacher isn't great normally ngl but now w/ online learning, I don't really learn much in class. I actually don't find it that bad though, I feel when I teach myself a concept, I understand it a lot better and can actually remember it longer. This kinda sounds contradictory, but maybe the extra effort needed to teach yourself goes a long way in understanding it better??
--
In regards to my procrastination, I got so sick of getting distracted all the time, so i kinda looked into it more. I figured the underlying reason I was procrastinating was because of a 'fear of failure'. Which sounds silly - There's literally no pressure on me to do well; not from my family, friends, school, etc. Other than from myself. I suppose this pressure to succeed builds up, and then I get scared of not succeeding?? Yeah, being aware of it greatly diffused the actual fear, cos now I can rationalize it with logic lol.
Just a reminder to everyone - there's always gonna be another way! ATAR is not the be-all, end-all... As long as we try our best, that's all we can do :)

Sending lots of motivation and hope everyone's going well! 💖
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Quote of the day (I should probably say quote of the post... seeing as I haven't been posting everyday aha)
“Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you'll land among the stars.”
― Norman Vincent Peale.


EDIT: Totally forgot to mention this but - we're finally getting our jerseys!! We ordered them beginning/mid term 4 last year, but they kept getting delayed (then corona happened...). From next week, we're going back to school 2 days per week, so we'll get them then! 🎉
« Last Edit: May 06, 2020, 09:10:53 pm by Viktoriak_ »
HSC '19: IPT
HSC '20: chem, phys, maths 3U, eng adv.

Viktoriak_

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Re: Hoping for a HSC Viktory... (hsc '20 journal)
« Reply #11 on: May 09, 2020, 09:19:28 pm »
+7
9/5/20 -Term 2, Week 2
AHhh I feel like no matter how much study/revision I do, there's still more :'(
I've got so much to get done, kinda overwhelmed. And we've still got 2 terms of year 12! I don't think I've been managing my stress well enough lately - I really need to fix myself into a routine again, especially keeping up with things like exercise and reading cos that helps me relieve stress...

I've kinda slacked off the past week, but today I managed to catch up on class work. Sometimes it's really hard to take online school seriously and be motivated enough to do it... Next week, my school is sending yr 12's back 2 days a week, so that should be better :)

On top of homework, writing notes (I'm aiming to be up to date with all my notes by the end of tomorrow), revising, etc. I've started getting all my exam notifications.

  • For English, we have a hand-in task. We have to write a discursive, imaginative and a persuasive. Then pick one of these for the teacher to mark, and write a reflection on it. All in 2 weeks... I don't really know how I'm gonna finish 3 quality writing pieces in that time but we can only try our best aye.
  • Also have a chemistry depth study - which I haven't started. Atm, they've only given us the first part, and it's all research. If all goes well, I'll start that tomorrow
    *But it's Mother's Day tomorrow, so I'm not sure how much time I will have to study...
  • We also have a maths assignment for Maths (Advanced), which I haven't looked at yet. I think it's all research based, data analysis stuff.

So that's pretty much where I'm at. Just gotta stay positive I guess.

This was kinda a short update, but its the same general gist, just heaps of work to do lol

Sending motivation + positive vibes to everyone with their studies !

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Quote of the post:

"When we long for life without difficulties, remind us that oaks grow strong in contrary winds and diamonds are made under pressure.”
– Peter Marshall
« Last Edit: May 18, 2020, 08:42:08 pm by Viktoriak_ »
HSC '19: IPT
HSC '20: chem, phys, maths 3U, eng adv.

Viktoriak_

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Re: Hoping for a HSC Viktory... (hsc '20 journal)
« Reply #12 on: May 18, 2020, 02:23:26 pm »
+6
18/5/20 - Term 2, Week 3
Hey everyone! I was meant to update this last week, but didn't quite manage to.. better late than never right? ;D

So, school's been pretty hectic, I have heaps of assignments! This week we're going back 4 days a week (I'm so keen!!), from Tuesday to Friday. Last week we went for 2 days, and it made such a difference. Being able to see my friends + teachers honestly helps heaps with motivation - good to know we're not struggling thru year 12 alone!
We also got our jerseys last week (already half way thru year 12...), now we actually look like we're in year 12 haha. HSC is getting so real  :o

aaand we got our HSC timetables. I've got 3-6 days between each exam, so pretty happy with that! Kinda scary though; how it's so close but we still have so much content to learn. Not sure what the other school's are up to, but we've only just finished Module 6 in physics ahh

Here's an update on my subjects:
Spoiler
ENG
We're still continuing with Mod C, started doing some persuasives in class. We also got an assignment (think I mentioned this last time? idk), and it's due this Friday!! We have to write a persuasive, discursive and imaginative piece based off a given stimulus, then choose one to submit with a reflection. I've got a rough idea for a discursive, so I think that's the one I'm gonna submit for marking. I'll try to start that today, in the hopes of not leaving it to the last minute...
We also got our marks back for the last assessment, which was an essay on Module A. I actually got a good mark! Which is really surprising for me - english is so unpredictable, when I try, I do bad. Sometimes I don't try and it turns out well?? I'm just hoping this next task can keep my rank up!

PHYS
Physics, like i said, is pretty slow. We've just finished module 6, and now we have a depth study task. It's a bunch of research on Module 8 - we have in class time to do it, but I don't think I'll be able to finish it unless I also work on it at home.

MATHS
I have an advanced maths project due on Wednesday, it's using Google Trends, modelling + analysing data with trig functions... It's not a hard assignment, just extremely time-consuming and the way they wrote it is difficult to interpret. But I'm making good progress with it, so it'll get there.
Our extension test is in week 5 - which I'm super scared for! With all these other assignments, I don't see how I'm gonna have enough time to devote to maths  :'( Also, I feel like I should spend WAY more time studying for maths tests than for other subjects, because the tests are always so much harder than the homework/class content. And maths only gets easier with heaps of practice...

CHEM
Super happy with chem atm tho! We got our tests back, which we did in week 1 this term (it was on Mod 5 and 6). I got full marks!! Ngl, I have no idea how I actually managed this, I only started really studying about a week before the test, because I was focused with uni stuff in the holidays... The test did feel pretty easy though.  :) rn I'm definitely finding Mod 7 more challenging than Mod 5/6...
We've got a depth study on Mod 7, the first part of it is due on Tuesday arvo. I'm making progress - but there's so much content + new things I'm learning for such a small part of the syllabus! The teachers want us to research outside the syllabus as well, but it's really difficult to discern how much they want us to learn. I think I'm making the depth study too complicated and learning a tad too in depth ahh. Everytime something new comes up, I get super curious and start learning about it haha, which is probably why this is taking me wayy longer than its supposed to. Better to research more than not enough though...??

So that's school rn - swimming in assignments lol. But super grateful that we have physical schooling back  ;D

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Quote of the post:
"Opportunities are usually disguised as hard work, so most people don't recognize them."
-Ann Landers


PS To anyone in year 12 reading this--> there's less than 180 days until HSC is over!! You got this 8)
« Last Edit: May 18, 2020, 08:42:34 pm by Viktoriak_ »
HSC '19: IPT
HSC '20: chem, phys, maths 3U, eng adv.

alice343

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Re: Hoping for a HSC Viktory... (hsc '20 journal)
« Reply #13 on: May 18, 2020, 05:30:18 pm »
+3
That's so exciting, getting to see everyone and going back to school!! Also I totally feel you with the jerseys - we got them last year, and I swear as soon as we wore them the juniors started respecting us  ;D. Good job on your English and Chemistry assessments, that's really good!
2020 HSC: English Advanced, Modern History, Legal Studies, Japanese Beginners, Society and Culture, History Extension

Viktoriak_

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Re: Hoping for a HSC Viktory... (hsc '20 journal)
« Reply #14 on: May 24, 2020, 09:47:05 pm »
+4
24/5/20 Term 2, Week 4
Ok so I'm just gonna do a super quick update because it's late and I'm tired ahha

Last week was absolutely HECTIC. I had 3 assignments due:
  • Chem depth study (part 1): I handed this on just on time, but its also a non-accessible part so that's fine
  • Maths ADV assignment: I stayed up until 2am finishing this!! I was happy with it in the end though... but honestly if you stay up that late you'd be happy with anything lol
  • English Mod C task: I handed this in on Friday - it was SUPER last minute! I started on Wednesday night, worked on it basically all of Thursday, then finished at 12am woop. Idrk how to feel about this task, I wrote a discursive and a reflection - hopefully the teacher likes it...

This week I have my maths EXT test on Thursday, which I'm going ok for. I've got a good set of notes, and will start practicing Qs tomorrow. I feel like I know the content pretty well, (or at least I will know it after tomorrow) but there's always a curveball Q in our maths tests which throws me off  :'( .

I also have a chem depth study and phys depth study going on, they're both huge tasks. Basically a bunch of research, answering questions. Chem also has a group task and presentation. Should be right. Just don't wanna be staying up the night before; 3 times last week was enough haha

Last week was honestly so bad though, just because I forgot to prioritise sleep, exercise and my mental health ahhh. Had a good reset over the weekend, but I'm really nervous for this maths test... Hopefully I'll be confident once I do a heap of practice...

Anyways sorry for my rambly, messy post. I was actually planning to post last Friday but then it never happened.

Goodnight and good luck with your studies/uni/etc. !! :)
HSC '19: IPT
HSC '20: chem, phys, maths 3U, eng adv.