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March 28, 2024, 08:55:17 pm

Author Topic: calamity and sanity: my journey through vce  (Read 45415 times)

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caffinatedloz

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Re: calamity and sanity: my journey through vce
« Reply #105 on: November 12, 2019, 08:50:20 pm »
+7
Exams start tomorrow. I've got a massive headache and I'm losing my voice but I WILL NOT GET SICK. (This is what I've been telling myself for the last 12 hours. Tea and sleep cure everything, right?)

Today I wrote two (and a bit) practice comparative essays for TKAMB/MB, memorised 28 quotes that I could possibly use and went over some language analysis stuff. I re-read the novel over the weekend and watched the movie last night, so I'm feeling fairly prepared. I'm just worried that the quality of the essays I've done today has been significantly worse than my essays from last term.

I'm off to bed to get some sleep before tomorrow's busy day. (After the exam I'll study at school in a classroom and do maths all over the whiteboard walls. I also need to revise for my history exam on Thursday, but I might not do that until the afternoon. I'm meeting my junior debators (all 28) for 45 minutes or so, which should be a nice study break.)

I am just really looking forward to all the things I can do when my exams are over!! ;D

whys

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Re: calamity and sanity: my journey through vce
« Reply #106 on: November 12, 2019, 08:54:42 pm »
+2


DO NOT GET SICK. Do whatever it takes not to get sick because being sick during exam time SUCKS.
I remember when I was in year 10 I did TKAMB, I miss it ;(. It was a really good book and I actually enjoyed analysing it. There were quite a few books I've done throughout my high school years for English that I enjoyed to the extent that I decided to keep the books instead of selling them to a younger year level! They're fun to read later.

Good luck for your exams! And I'm REALLY looking forward to the summer holidays and even commencement period. I get excited just thinking about everything I want to do after exams!!! ;)
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Ionic Doc

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Re: calamity and sanity: my journey through vce
« Reply #107 on: November 12, 2019, 08:55:37 pm »
+2
Tea and sleep cure everything, right?)

For your sake, I hope so   ;)

I am just really looking forward to all the things I can do when my exams are over!! ;D
Same, my last exams on Friday, then step - up begins.
Wish u all the best for your exams  :)
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ArtyDreams

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Re: calamity and sanity: my journey through vce
« Reply #108 on: November 12, 2019, 09:09:51 pm »
+3
good luck for your exams!! you'll do great :)

and make sure you get plenty of rest in between!

kjistsehrtot

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Re: calamity and sanity: my journey through vce
« Reply #109 on: November 13, 2019, 01:25:35 pm »
0
YOU CAN DO THIS!!!
taking a break.

caffinatedloz

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Re: calamity and sanity: my journey through vce
« Reply #110 on: November 13, 2019, 04:35:29 pm »
+4
//

//

//

//

Thanks for all the encouragement guys! My English exam went fairly well. The two essay topics were nothing like I'd seen before- but they were very broad so I could use bits and pieces from lots of practice essays. I spent the first 15 minutes after reading time planning out my comparative essay and then annotating and chunking the unseen texts. I had 20 minutes (of the two hours) to read over and edit my two essays so that was really good as well.

I have two exams tomorrow: maths and history. I'm not feeling confident about either of them at all. For the maths exam, I still need to refresh Karnaugh maps (and the probability formulas). I also have a topic to finish and some revision related to that to complete. After that I still have a couple of pages of notes to copy out and make nice and concise. I'm stressed, but y'know... so's everyone else.

For the history exam, I feel like I've learnt all the content, but I really need to focus on reading the question carefully and writing specifically. I got a practice exam marked and I didn't get full marks on any question unfortunately... But I wasn't far off.

I'll check in again tomorrow. ;D

caffinatedloz

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Re: calamity and sanity: my journey through vce
« Reply #111 on: November 14, 2019, 03:10:53 pm »
+5
Okay, so I just got home from my two exams today and I'm actually feeling pretty calm. (Very thankful that I only have one more exam to go before the weekend.) I'm actually kind of enjoying the exam period because I love coming home early and I got to have my favourite soup for lunch today. My friends at school are doing KK and my KK left me some really yummy chocolates which made today heaps better.

I was super stressed last night and this morning about the maths exam. I know the maths coordinator well and he'd seen me crying and freaking out about it so he tried to remind me that year ten exams don't matter. I know that this is true and people say it a lot, but they still feel like they matter and it still feels like I should do well.

But, the exam was so much easier than I expected and all of the stuff that I felt unsure of wasn't on there at all. I still have a maths exam on Monday (tech enabled) but I'm taking comfort in the fact that I don't have to think about it yet. If you want to read more about my thoughts on the exam, I documented them here/

I didn't do a lot of preparation for the history exam last night, but I didn't really need to (thankfully). There were no questions about specific people or facts. Instead there were three document analysis sections (WW2 worth 15 marks, Rights&Freedoms worth 15 marks and Immigration worth 10 marks) followed by three long answer questions (one on each of the aforementioned topics each worth 10 marks for a total of 30). I finished everything, but the WW2 document analysis section was fairly sparse. I decided to start with the document analysis because I knew that if I started with the long answer questions, I wouldn't get to it, but with 40 minutes (of the 80 minutes) to go I switched to work on the long answer stuff. Then in the last five minutes, I scrambled to try and finish the document analysis. I don't know if there was a better order, but there's no use dwelling now. And: I never have to do a humanities subject ever again!! I don't know if that thought is exciting or disappointing.

Until tomorrow, adieu ;D

caffinatedloz

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Re: calamity and sanity: my journey through vce
« Reply #112 on: November 15, 2019, 04:14:06 pm »
+8
So, I finished my religion exam at 10:30 this morning, and have spent the rest of the day procrastinating... I made lots of Christmas cards, spent ages on AN, wrote a pitch for a magazine I'd be interested in writing a piece for and went on a nice long bushwalk.

The religion exam went suprisingly well. When I first opened the booklet, I was super confused about most of the questions. There was nothing concrete (except some stuff matching words with definitions). Everything else was wishy washy opinion questions which was quite disappointing. I felt that I repeated myself a lot, but there wasn't much I could do about it. There were four sections: A was matching definitions and terms and things (18 marks), B was answering questions responding to an article about the death penalty (10 marks), C was reading two articles, one where you had to identify authorities and explain values, and the other was about an ethical dilemma for a teacher. Section D was worth 20 marks and involved writing an essay about a topic of your choice. I had very thoroughly researched my topic as we all knew what the exam would require, and although I wasn't super confident that I'd memorised by quotes or enough of my essay, it all came back to me as I wrote. We only had 80 minutes writing time and I spend 40 on the essay. It was worth a third of the marks, but I don't think I should have used half my time on it.

I'm going to have to knuckle down and study tomorrow with the day of exam hell on Monday (three in a day), but I've enjoyed my break. I might try and squeeze some forensics revision in now, but I'm going out for the night so I'm not sure how much I'll get done.

Bye y'all <3

Edit: I got my marks back from my assessment packed week, and I'm fairly happy.
Refugee Essay (1/2 R&S): A
Language Analysis: A
Forensics Prac Report: A*
Biology Assignment: (still waiting)

I also got my mark for my English exam back: an A. After all the work I put in and the practice essays I wrote, I'm a little disappointed. But I haven't got the actually exam back yet so hopefully I'll be able to see why I lost the marks and improve for next time.
« Last Edit: November 15, 2019, 04:36:30 pm by laura_ »

caffinatedloz

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Re: calamity and sanity: my journey through vce
« Reply #113 on: November 18, 2019, 09:42:24 pm »
+11
And Year 10 is officially finished! WOOOOOOOO!!

I had my last three exams today:
Forensics
The exam was relatively straightforward. There were 25 multiple choice questions and 75 marks worth of short answer questions. I found that most of them were fairly straightforward (and there was plenty of room to make up some bull if you forgot anything). I didn't study that hard for this one, but I still feel confident about how I went.

Biology
WHYYYYYY so many obscure questions involving applying random bits of knowledge that we never really covered properly in class? There were just three questions that weren't super relevant to anything we'd done, but most of the rest was fairly straightforward.

Maths
It's like they took the exam that was previously half of an exam that went for an hour and a half, and gave us 75 minutes to do it. Everyone in the room was done in 45 minutes... But it was fairly easy, especially with notes. The only big thing was that I realised after that for one question I used rounded decimals instead of fractions. (A stupid STUPID mistake, but whateves, I'm done now.)

I am very much looking forward to my two days off before early commencement starts! ;D

Year 10 Reflections
It's still weird to think that all my year 10 classes are done, and that we're not going back to them. There are heaps of teachers who we never really said a proper goodbye to because we were all way too stressed with exam stuff. I'll have to try and find them all next week.

I was feeling pretty burntout last term, but I certainly have a lot more energy now and I'm actually really enjoying certain bits of school (like making my notes super aesthetic). I think that I went way too hard in Semester 1, taking on every opportunity and constantly pushing myself to go above and beyond in each class. I certainly calmed down a lot this semester and term, and I've been less exhausted. I think I really need to remember to work consistently next year, and not use all my energy in the first term.

The other thing that I'm trying really hard to change is the way that I doubt myself. Before every maths test, I spend the evening leading up to it stressed out of my mind. When I try studying, I get super duper frustrated and whenever anyone tries to help me I'm just really grumpy and negative. I'm going to make a big effort to get less wound up about assessments because I always end up doing just fine. (and I'm no fun for anyone else when I'm like that)

I think that Year 10 has been a really good time to try new things. I went into this year with such a set idea of what I was going to do for VCE and my career, but through all of the awesome stuff I've done outside of school, I've definitely had a change of heart. I'm glad that I changed my mind and I think that I'm genuinely really going to enjoy what I've chosen (with the exception of spesh, but I'm staying positive ::) )

This is just the start of my VCE journey and I am very keen to see what happens next.

Today's Song
Never Seen The Rain- Tones and I

laura <3

Every end is a new beginning.

Snow Leopard

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Re: calamity and sanity: my journey through vce
« Reply #114 on: November 23, 2019, 06:58:18 pm »
+1
Congrats on finishing Yr 10 :)
Excited for Yr 11?

K.Smithy

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Re: calamity and sanity: my journey through vce
« Reply #115 on: November 23, 2019, 09:28:50 pm »
+1
Woop woop! Congrats! ;D

What subjects did you choose for next year?
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ArtyDreams

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Re: calamity and sanity: my journey through vce
« Reply #116 on: November 23, 2019, 09:58:07 pm »
0
Congrats on finishing Year 10! What subject are you most excited for for next year?

caffinatedloz

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Re: calamity and sanity: my journey through vce
« Reply #117 on: November 25, 2019, 08:50:12 pm »
+10
Hello everyone! Thanks for all of the replies! ;D

Congrats on finishing Yr 10 :)
Excited for Yr 11?
Super excited; and also a little nervous. I've found that Chem and Methods headstart have been quite intimidating.

Woop woop! Congrats! ;D

What subjects did you choose for next year?
I ended up picking literature, methods, specialist, chemistry and food tech. (As well as biology 3/4.)

Congrats on finishing Year 10! What subject are you most excited for for next year?
I think that meeting people who like similar things to me in my classes will be really great! None of my friends and in my classes, but I'm looking forward to getting to know new people. ;D


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So, after all the stress and hard work of the end of Year 10, I got all my exam results back. I am very happy (mostly)!
1/2 R&S: A*
1/2 Bio: A*
Maths (Tech): A*
Maths (No Tech) A*
English: A
Forensics: A
History: A

I also got my marks back for the olympiads. I got distinctions in both chemistry and biology. Considering I didn't study, I’m fairly happy with myself! I think I'll definitely do them again and perhaps work a little harder.

--------------------------------------------------------------------

Also, I just wanted to say how great it was to have a weekend where I was really free. I went out with friends to a youth event in Kew on Friday night. I did a nice long shift on Saturday at work, and then got home in time to make 100 cookies. On Sunday I went to church before killing some time on Lygon street and in the city. Then I visited my friend in hospital before heading to my aunty's house for a dinner party with family friends I hadn't seen in a couple of years. I was fantastic! (I am looking forward to doing lots more of this over summer!) ;D ;D

--------------------------------------------------------------------

In terms of headstart, we are being given so SO much holiday homework. I'm super disappointed because I don't think I'll have time to properly get ahead in any subject because of how much there is to do. Methods and chemistry were quite overwhelming, but I'm understanding things a little better now. I think that I'm really going to enjoy food tech. We did the prep today to make okonomiyaki tomorrow. Making homemade mayonnaise was really fun. I was the only person who got it right (thanks to having had practice at my old school in food tech). We finish on Wednesday so I only have eight more headstart lessons to go, but I'm hoping they will all just be a lot of fun!

--------------------------------------------------------------------

If you got to the end of this: thank-you, thank-you, thank-you!!

laura <3

PS: I've been replaying Christmas music all week. 10/10. Would recommend!

eemmaa

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Re: calamity and sanity: my journey through vce
« Reply #118 on: November 26, 2019, 06:34:19 pm »
+2

Biology
WHYYYYYY so many obscure questions involving applying random bits of knowledge that we never really covered properly in class? There were just three questions that weren't super relevant to anything we'd done, but most of the rest was fairly straightforward.


It sounds like we had the same bio exams! Mine was so so strange and exactly like you described!

caffinatedloz

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Re: calamity and sanity: my journey through vce
« Reply #119 on: December 22, 2019, 10:17:02 pm »
+16
Hello everyone! It's been a while and it's definitely time for a little update regarding holidays, homework and all things year eleven related!

1. I've had heaps more time to work and volunteer and it has been super, super fulfilling and amazing and wonderful in every possible way.
2. I've barely touched my holiday homework. I have a couple of things I want to start before Christmas, but I'll do most of the work in January.
3. I went to the tutesmart open day yesterday and the city centre looks amazing. Thanks to the wonderful AN scholarship, I'll get to enjoy having access to the classes!

Moving on from that, I wanted to switch tones a little bit. As I approach my sixteenth birthday, I've been reflecting on how much has changed for me this year and even over the past couple of years. I still remember what it was like when I was eleven and in year seven (by far the youngest in my class) and probably the loneliest too. Skipping a grade in the middle of a year to join a class of kids much older than you was truly awful. And an awful idea. Thanks shit-show of a school that was being run by people with no idea about how the real world works. Appreciate it! I struggled a lot with making friends and ended up in the wrong crowd. I was hanging out with people who were nice enough, but had a lot going on in their own lives. As I was so much younger, I became their pet project. When they found out I was struggling with my mental health, it became their sole obsession to "fix" me.

Escaping that toxic friendship in year eight, I grew particularly close to a certain guy. It was wonderful to feel wanted and loved, but when I felt like he knew too much about me, and like he was beginning to see all of me, not just the bits I liked, I quickly pushed him away again. Lonely again, my anxiety and eating issues spiralled out of control. Abuse from a teacher coupled with this lead to the worst time in my life. A psychotic break where my experience with reality was totally out of touch with the real world. I was so scared and scared of the world. I felt utterly alone.

Flashing forward to now, I look at how much has changed. For the first time in a long time, I feel like I'm finally happy with my life. I'm not perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but I'm content and comfortable with who I am. I can honestly say that I like myself. That doesn't mean that bad days don't occasionally creep up on me, but that even if I'm having a bad day or a bad week, I know how to handle it.

I had a panic attack this morning. I was dizzy and hyperventilating. I was terrified and I felt so alone and out of control. But then a friend came and found me. We sat together in silence for most of an hour. Patiently waiting for the beast to subside. And it did. Because it always does. And even in the momentary darkness, I was not alone. And I have never been alone.

Thinking about my hallucinations, eating disorder and the last couple of years of my life always used to send a rush of unpleasant feelings, but although I'm sad for the little girl I was, I am so, so happy with who I am and where I am now. I am so thankful for the people I have found. And even though my experiences were awful, I don't think I would change any of it. (Perhaps the way I handled things but not the experiences themselves.) Because without them I wouldn't be me. And without them, I would not have so many of the good things I do.

Tomorrow I'll be sixteen, and I'll wake up so incredibly grateful for the life I have! If you follow my journal and have made it the whole way through this ramble of a reflection, I truly thank you for letting me share a bit of myself tonight.