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March 29, 2024, 09:56:18 pm

Author Topic: HSC Journal- No Idea How This Is Going to Go...  (Read 20769 times)

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StudyBuddyKJ

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Re: HSC Journal- No Idea How This Is Going to Go...
« Reply #60 on: May 24, 2018, 01:08:25 pm »
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Well today was my bio practical. Don't know whether I should feel good about it. I feel like I totally stuffed up in one station as I ran out of time and got frazzled. Just got to wait before I get my marks back I guess. I'm trying not to be negative about it. The good news is, I didn't combust under pressure, nor did I run out of the exam room, and also all the pracs I revised came in the test so I wasn't shocked as to what it would appear, so my preparation was worth it. The bad news, I completely forgot to read the instructions on the back page because I hurridly was trying to get all the instructions done for Station 1. My hands started to shake a bit, and for a moment I almost forgot to add one key ingredient. I ended up running out of time and having to fudge all the results and hurriedly write my answers. Luckily, I answered every question.

I have this sick feeling in my gut. I felt I was going to vomit. But the good news is, I survived and the practical is over. I just have to wait for the results to come out. i am doing really badly in Bio, and have a not so good rank. I probably will have to drop Bio soon.



StudyBuddyKJ

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Re: HSC Journal- No Idea How This Is Going to Go...
« Reply #61 on: May 25, 2018, 10:07:07 am »
+3
YAY its Friday! I made it another week! Really proud of how I managed to keep myself together all week. Today, I have two free periods after lunch. So I can use that free time to my advantage and really getting a move on improving my maths marks. My maths marks have been atrocious so far. No matter how much I study, I keep getting marks in the 70s, which is not good enough as per my standards. I want to push myself to get high 90s. My rank right now for 2 unit is 50th. I need to be in the top 30 to get a Band 6 in 2 unit. For 3 unit, I need to be in the top 40. I am rank 85th. So, obviously I need to improve a lot.

Here is my new strategy.

1. Focus on the fundamentals of each exercise. I will go through, write down important formulas that I need to memorise. Do a few practice questions just to jog my memory on how to solve them.
2. Start on a past paper. See how much time I take to finish and how many I can get right. The ones I get wrong or the ones I dont understand, I will circle. After I finish the whole paper, I check my time. I will try to solve the questions I didn't understand. Afterwards, I will do the whole question again, and try to beat my time. Sort of like a game.

 I am aiming to finish all the past papers, go through them again, and make sure I get high 90s in all of them. Let's hope this will work :)

If you have any strategies to help me get better at maths and studying for tests efficiently, please let me know

StudyBuddyKJ

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Re: HSC Journal- No Idea How This Is Going to Go...
« Reply #62 on: June 25, 2018, 10:04:54 pm »
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Hey guys

Wow it has been so long since I updated. Let me fill you all in.

I got my half yearly report ages ago, and it was BADDD. I mean the worst I have ever done in my entire school life. It was so bad that I full on started crying in front of my year advisor. My ranks and my marks were all so low. My marks are ranging from mid 50s to low 80s, and I came last in legal, second last in eco and 5th last in bio.  :'( :'( :'( I am trying my absolute hardest to bring them up.


I really still want to get 97 ATAR to get into the course I want and the co-op scholarship. I really need advice from a fellow co-op scholar on my goal. Is my goal too unrealistic, or is it still possible?


jamonwindeyer

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Re: HSC Journal- No Idea How This Is Going to Go...
« Reply #63 on: June 25, 2018, 11:37:42 pm »
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Hey guys

Wow it has been so long since I updated. Let me fill you all in.

I got my half yearly report ages ago, and it was BADDD. I mean the worst I have ever done in my entire school life. It was so bad that I full on started crying in front of my year advisor. My ranks and my marks were all so low. My marks are ranging from mid 50s to low 80s, and I came last in legal, second last in eco and 5th last in bio.  :'( :'( :'( I am trying my absolute hardest to bring them up.

Really bummed for you my friend, that's a rotten situation. Love your last sentence though - That should be your immediate thought, improvement! Try and channel the negative thoughts into motivation for some hard work ;D

Quote
I really still want to get 97 ATAR to get into the course I want and the co-op scholarship. I really need advice from a fellow co-op scholar on my goal. Is my goal too unrealistic, or is it still possible?

Absolutely still possible! A tad harder, perhaps, but still possible. You'll need to work really hard to swing your results around for Trials - Do you know where your weaknesses are? Any plans in place to improve in any specific ways? :)

StudyBuddyKJ

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Re: HSC Journal- No Idea How This Is Going to Go...
« Reply #64 on: June 26, 2018, 12:30:23 pm »
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Really bummed for you my friend, that's a rotten situation. Love your last sentence though - That should be your immediate thought, improvement! Try and channel the negative thoughts into motivation for some hard work ;D

Absolutely still possible! A tad harder, perhaps, but still possible. You'll need to work really hard to swing your results around for Trials - Do you know where your weaknesses are? Any plans in place to improve in any specific ways? :)

Hi Jamon!

I am actually glad you responded. You are exactly the person I wanted to ask, seeing as you have achieved everything I want currently (the Co-Op scholarship for example). And yes, I do know what my weaknesses are.

For Biology- I got super sick the day before the exam and that contributed to my poor performance. I shouldnt have done the paper, but I did anyway. Bad decision. Plus, I left studying to the last minute because I was studying for other subjects, and I crammed. Definitely not wise. For trials, I am going to focus on learning the content consistently, and perfect my practice responses. And also do a TON of past papers
For Maths- Again, a weak point of mine. More past papers, more mastery of the content is needed.
For Mathematics Extension 1- More past papers are needed!
For Eco- Again cramming. Stress was also a factor.
For Legal- there was an essay question that I was not prepared for. Again stress was a factor. Also, my essay writing skills in Legal are very weak.
For English Advanced- Screwed up whilst interpreting the question
For English Extension 1- Forgot to include a significant component from the module (After the Bomb).

For Trials, I have a whole different strategy:
Maths- As many past papers from different sources as possible. Keeping a mistake book with the hardest questions that i couldn't solve.
Mathematics Extension 1- Same as above
English Advanced- Writing practice essay plans and sending them to the teacher to mark. Practicing past papers to different questions in time limit consistently. Memorising quotes and ideas. Refining essay writing technique
English Extension 1- More analysis on context. Same as above with past papers. Write more creatives and get them marked
Biology- Writing notes down, memorising, past papers, getting them marked
Eco- Writing notes down, memorising, past papers, keeping up with the news, getting them marked
Legal- Might be dropping because legal takes up so much of my time and I am not getting better by a lot. But if i still keep, it then just writing essays and getting them marked, getting a good technique

Do you have any tips jamon? I can't afford to screw up trials. And also, would you be willing to assist me in applying for the Co-op? Let me know!

jamonwindeyer

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Re: HSC Journal- No Idea How This Is Going to Go...
« Reply #65 on: June 26, 2018, 11:51:48 pm »
+1
Sounds like you've got a really concrete game plan. This is fantastic!! You are certainly going to see some amazing improvement with such a well thought out game-plan. My only advice would be, and it seems you are already planning on this, get loads of feedback. Seriously, feedback is so underrated, you can't just be writing essays and guessing, "Yeah, that was probably okay." Huge lost opportunity to improve. Make sure you stick to your guns and put everything through a red pen, whether it's a teacher, a peer, or us ;D

And yep, happy to help with Coop! Will probably start a thread for it in the UNSW section because I think there are a few aspiring Coops on here :)

StudyBuddyKJ

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Re: HSC Journal- No Idea How This Is Going to Go...
« Reply #66 on: June 28, 2018, 06:18:46 pm »
+3
Hi guys!

Here is another update. So today, I went to the Western Sydney Careers Expo with my school! And it was pretty okay! I was so glad to be missing out on school to look at career options. It was definitively something I wanted to focus on particularly, because I wanted to particularly know all the different options and pathways I had in order to do the course I want.

So we got there around 9 or 10. The expo was so jam packed with stalls that I immediately lost track of where my friends went and just went for the stalls I was interested in. Normally, I would hate being alone because I love spending time with my friends, but today it actually felt really nice just to go by myself to all the stalls I was interested and seek out my options. I was able to talk to the ambassadors as much as I wanted without feeling obligated to decline just cause of a friend, and I was able to seek out information specific to what I wanted quickly. That being said, I did miss the presence of my friends as I walked around.

So the first stall I basically went to was UNSW- obvio- seeing as it was a uni I definitely wanted to go to. I wanted specifically more info on the Co-Op program. I was hoping to see a Co-Op scholar there to give me advice.  But another guy talked to me for a long time about the Co-Op and what was expected of me if I got past the interview stage, and I must say I was quite intimidated. Apparently its really intense, you get sponsors from big companies interviewing you. Oh well, still gonna apply. Nothing can be accomplished if you give into fear  8)

So I spent literally four hours just wandering around, talking to so many people about my options, and honestly, those hours were well spent, because I learned so much! There are courses that I really want to do that don't even require a high ATAR (around 60) or even any ATAR at all, just my passion and willingness to see it through. this one guy I met talked to me about a course that I could do at a private college that is geared towards entrepreneurship and learning about business, and they don't even care about my ATAR! They have a high employment success rate (around 92%) and he can vouch for it being successful in developing entrepreneurial skills as he has started a business himself! God it was so amazing and freeing to find options where my capability is not defined by the four digit number I get at the end of Year 12. I can pretty much not  do anything in Year 12 and still end up studying the course I want and achieving the skills I want! Not that I am going to do that though! I am still going to work my ass off and do as well as I can for Year 12, so I can get into my dream course with no regrets! But still, it is awesome knowing that I am not defined by my academics.

At the end of it though I got so tired, and my arms started hurting because I was carrying so many course guides from all the different unis. I am currently at home, and preparing for my two assessments (legal and bio) for tomorrow. I lowkey wanna die cause I hate legal so much and I really want to drop before trials because I don't want to study for it.


Speaking of trials, we got our exam timetable and I am already feeling so scared for it! I will start studying for it tomorrow!
 Anyways, bye for now!

fantasticbeasts3

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Re: HSC Journal- No Idea How This Is Going to Go...
« Reply #67 on: June 28, 2018, 07:01:49 pm »
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How nice is it knowing there are so many options out there?? Amazing! You can be successful in anything you want – it’s so cool.

Best of luck for Legal and Bio tomorrow!!
HSC 2017: English (Standard) // Mathematics // Modern History // Legal Studies // Business Studies
2018-2022: B International Studies/B Media (PR & Advertising) @ UNSW

StudyBuddyKJ

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Re: HSC Journal- No Idea How This Is Going to Go...
« Reply #68 on: June 28, 2018, 09:45:41 pm »
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How nice is it knowing there are so many options out there?? Amazing! You can be successful in anything you want – it’s so cool.

Best of luck for Legal and Bio tomorrow!!

True! and thanks!

StudyBuddyKJ

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Re: HSC Journal- No Idea How This Is Going to Go...
« Reply #69 on: June 30, 2018, 09:41:57 am »
+1
Gonna be starting to study for trials today!

Here is what I will get done today.

1. Will memorise the content for two topics: Economic Growth and Unemployment
2.Complete 1 HSC Economics past paper, mark it and go through
3.Biology: Go through Blueprint of Life, dot point by dot point. Make hand written notes and complete practice questions from the study guide!
4.Mathematics Extension 1: Finish an entire past paper, mark it and go through!

Let's see how I go!

StudyBuddyKJ

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Re: HSC Journal- No Idea How This Is Going to Go...
« Reply #70 on: July 01, 2018, 09:28:38 am »
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Yesterday was pretty good, I am pretty happy with what I had accomplished. Couldn't complete everything but still did a lot of work! I finished one topic for economics fully and know it pretty well, wrote notes for two sections for Bio and completed half a maths paper. I was too tired to finish everything, but still got heaps done! Day 1 Trials Prep went really well!

jamonwindeyer

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Re: HSC Journal- No Idea How This Is Going to Go...
« Reply #71 on: July 02, 2018, 12:43:14 am »
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Yesterday was pretty good, I am pretty happy with what I had accomplished. Couldn't complete everything but still did a lot of work! I finished one topic for economics fully and know it pretty well, wrote notes for two sections for Bio and completed half a maths paper. I was too tired to finish everything, but still got heaps done! Day 1 Trials Prep went really well!

Super awesome! Love that you are reflecting on how you went and taking happiness from what did get done rather than swelling on not getting some things done. The best approach! :)

StudyBuddyKJ

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Re: HSC Journal- No Idea How This Is Going to Go...
« Reply #72 on: July 24, 2018, 07:54:47 pm »
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Awesome news!!!

I got 28/31 for my bio research task! A massive improvement from Term 1 half yearlies! I am so stoked!
I had a Mod B essay exam today and it was really hard. the question was really difficult to answer and we had a listening extract that was also very vague. 

Now normally, I memorise my essay and then mold my essay to the question in the exam. It has gotten me consistently high marks in English (14/15...18/20...23/25). Once in Year 11, I tried to go in with just quotes and techniques and evidence without a prepared essay, and I failed miserably. So for me, I need to memorise essays because I don't test well under pressure, and it gives me confidence knowing I have an awesome response prepared as a backup. But I have heard a lot of kids and teachers say that you shouldn't be trying to memorise essays as it takes up a lot of precious time. What should I do, if that is the only method that works for me?


I am so stoked about Bio! I put in so much effort and it clearly paid off. the best feelings in the world are when your efforts have been worth it and you have achieved what you wanted with hard work and faith. I was so convinced that I was going to fail the assessment given my poor progress in the year so far

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Re: HSC Journal- No Idea How This Is Going to Go...
« Reply #73 on: July 24, 2018, 08:17:29 pm »
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Wow!!! Congrats on that bio mark - that's amazing. Well done!

With English, do whatever works for you. If you do well with your method, do it anyways - on paper, no one's going to know how you studied. :-)
HSC 2017: English (Standard) // Mathematics // Modern History // Legal Studies // Business Studies
2018-2022: B International Studies/B Media (PR & Advertising) @ UNSW

StudyBuddyKJ

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Re: HSC Journal- No Idea How This Is Going to Go...
« Reply #74 on: August 15, 2018, 08:14:44 pm »
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OML wow its been so long since I have updated. 

Let me fill u guys in since it has been ages. Its been an emotional rollercoaster. Waking up stressed every day, studying, procrastinating a little bit on ATARNotes...trying not to freak out about my trials.


I had Paper 1, and Paper 2 English, and Maths 2 unit so far. Paper 1 was my first exam and luckily for me it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. The first exam always seems the hardest. then again, I was the most prepared for paper 1 English cause I did like 8 past papers all together, spent hours on fixing up my creative and my discovery essay plans. I also printed out trial papers from other schools, and OMG you will not believe it, the exact essay question that I practiced on, the same question came in the exam! I WAS SO HAPPY, you have no idea. I could have screamed with delight right in the exam room if I could.

As for maths 2 u I was freaking out as well. Ik a lot of people think that maths is easy, but for me it's something I've really struggled with, since primary. Picking maths extension was a pretty dumb decision I feel, because I am not as good at maths as other people in my cohort. Note that I go to a selective high school so all the people are super gun at everything, whilst I am just...average.

But luckily, when  I did the exam, it wasn't as hard as I thought it was going to be. I was getting so anxious about it, I was practically gulping for air the morning of my exam. My mom could see I was so close to having a panic attack because I didn't feel prepared, and she kept reassuring me. Even though I didn't drink much water and went to go to the bathroom before the exam, I still had to go because I was busting. I was so annoyed at my weak ass bladder. I practically sprinted all the way to the bathroom and back, so I didn't waste much time. It was all well and good because I finished the exam well before time and still had time to check.

Paper 2 English was so far not so good. I didn;t have time to do any past papers in time limit because I had to memorise my essays and make sure I knew what to write. I was so annoyed at my fricking teachers. they took so long in getting our essays marked and giving them back to us. Literally they gave us our Mod C essay back only two days before trials, and our Mod B essay the day of our Paper 1. The feedback wasn't even that helpful. It was so annoying cause I didn't have any time to edit my essays cause I was busy with Math and discovery creative.

Speaking of which, I already posted for people to mark, so if ppl can mark it I would be so thankful. Shout out to Jamon Windeyer for marking it, I am so grateful.

Anyways, literarlly after the three exams, I was so tired I came home after Paper 2 and just took a solid 3 hour nap because I was running on 7 days of straight up cramming. Woke up with another headache, did some light memorising, and then I woke up early, studied for a solid 5-6 hours at the library and now I am procrastinating writing this post because I feel too ceebs to do legal.

Can I ask you guys something? Do you necessarily have to be thinking about studying or studying 24/7 to do well? Like, at times where I don't feel like studying and procrastinate a little, I feel so bad and guilty for being so lazy and undisciplined, even though I probably did a lot of work that day anyway. I feel so guilty when I am not studying and taking time for myself, but I feel miserable when I don't take a break. It's getting to the point where I feel guilty when I sleep, or do things that are not related to trials.


Speaking of trials, I am absolutely going to die next week. I have 5 exams back to back, with two on the same day (Bio and Eco). Someone please kill me, before trials does.


And honestly, at this point I am so done with the HSC and the whole ATAR obsession. For those of you who have been reading my journal, you guys know that I have had a rough year and have failed a lot (cough cough half yearlies) and have been super obsessed about my atar. for a while, I used to feel ashamed that I might do badly and get a not so good atar and not get into UNSW or any other Group 8 uni. But honestly, at this point, I don;t care about my ATAR and how well I do in the HSC, as long as I gave it my all. Its a bit hard to let go of my perfectionist tendencies (if I were in control, I would want to come first in every subject and get a 99.95 but that is not happening), but honestly, I need to care more about my mental health than that mark, because these marks don't give me nearly as much happiness as I get from spending time with my family and friends, and pursuing my hobbies. Don;t get me wrong, I still am going to work hard. I have to cause unfortunately its trials. I hate the fact that I have to put my life on hold just for these exams that I am going to forget in like 3 days. I don't even care what my ATAR is, I just want HSC to be over.
I am learning not to care so much about marks, and not to feel ashamed and beat myself up, for not being the perfect 99+ all rounder student. I'm just going to have to accept myself and whatever skills i have in a subject...and just focus on how I am going to enjoy life so much more after HSC because I am finally going to be able to choose what I want to do and study, not subject myself to stress because of the stupid NESA guidelines.


Anyways, my mini rant is done. Will try to actually update more. Just stuff on what I have been feeling lately. Mainly insecurity and fear, and a sense of apathy. I will continue to work hard...what happens...happens