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Author Topic: Gem Gem's VCE Journal ;D  (Read 7812 times)

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gemmaruffin

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Gem Gem's VCE Journal ;D
« on: September 08, 2017, 05:36:08 pm »
+13
Hey all!
After having bit of a binge on everyone else's VCE journals, I thought it would be a good idea to start my own.
A bit about me -
- At the moment, I am a year 12 student down in Gtown   ::)
- Last year, I did Health and HD for my accelerated subject and absolutely loved it. I think my love of the subject (as well as my amazing teacher) was probably the reason why I was able to get a 49.
- This year, I'm studying
  • english
  • biology
  • chemistry
  • methods (cas)
  • italian
So, pretty much I have no life except VCE. Haha, nah just kidding! Trust me, even when it seems like there is so much VCE to do you can always make time for other things, and my hobbies include photography, working, social media, and most of all, partying and spending time with my friends.
In this thread I would like to inform you guys about my life, but also feel free to ask me any questions! I'd love to reply  :P
Let me start by talking about the week thus far -
Monday - had a bio sac, wasn't actually too bad! Worked all night so didn't get any study done, but $$$
Tuesday - probably one of my most productive days in a while! I ended up doing 3 practise SACs for methods, wrote my whole italian oral, and managed to get half an english essay done.
Wednesday - found out that Drake is coming to Australia, which means I will now have to sell my soul for tickets  :o worth it though??? Also had a big methods SAC that went over 4 periods, but was pretty happy with it all.
Thursday - Had my italian oral at 8am, was okay, but could have been better (nerves y u do this). Also managed to eat half a chocolate cake because year 12 makes you hungry boi
Today Finally finished the chem coursework, about to finish bio, planned to finish an italian assignment (will do tomorrow) and rang Fox FM about 248 times trying to get Drake tickets. It's been a good, but hectic week, and now I'm pumped for the home stretch - 2 weeks to go of SACs and hell then more hell (exams!!!!  8))
2016 - HHD (49)
2017 - Bio (41), Chem, Italian, English (43), Methods

Happy to help out with any HHD questions, and remember - there is life after VCE :)

strawberries

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Re: Gem Gem's VCE Journal ;D
« Reply #1 on: September 08, 2017, 05:48:43 pm »
+4
So, pretty much I have no life except VCE. Haha, nah just kidding! Trust me, even when it seems like there is so much VCE to do you can always make time for other things, and my hobbies include photography, working, social media, and most of all, partying and spending time with my friends.
it's going to be over soon! :D
always good to have a work-life balance :)

what are your plans for next year? :)

also, congrats on the great HHD score x
VCE '15
don't let dreams be dreams

K888

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Re: Gem Gem's VCE Journal ;D
« Reply #2 on: September 08, 2017, 05:50:24 pm »
+4
Super excited to read your future instalments, Gemma! :D

Was the Italian oral like, a SAC? When's the oral exam? :)

Sounds like a pretty productive week! Hope you get the Drake tickets!

gemmaruffin

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Re: Gem Gem's VCE Journal ;D
« Reply #3 on: September 08, 2017, 05:56:25 pm »
+4
it's going to be over soon! :D
always good to have a work-life balance :)

what are your plans for next year? :)

also, congrats on the great HHD score x

Thanks for reminding me, can't wait to be done :)
Actually just put in my preferences yesterday! My dream course is biomed at Melb. I decided that I didn't wanna do undergrad med because of all the pressure and stress straight out of VCE, and I thought having some time to get used to uni and being able to mature as a student would be better :). If I don't get in, I've got science, or pharm at monash, or biomed and science at deakin as a complete backup if things end up not going as I want them too.

Health and HD wasn't even a subject for me, it was just something I got to do everyday with some tests here and there. I didn't take it that seriously either, so I was pretty lucky I went as well as I did!

Super excited to read your future instalments, Gemma! :D

Was the Italian oral like, a SAC? When's the oral exam? :)

Sounds like a pretty productive week! Hope you get the Drake tickets!

Thanks!
Yeah, it was a SAC and I had to speak for roughly 8-10 minutes, pretending to be a migrant from the 60's doing an interview for SBS. Quirky, haha. My oral's on the 18th of October (SOS)
Let's hope I get to see my boy Drizzy in a few months ;)
2016 - HHD (49)
2017 - Bio (41), Chem, Italian, English (43), Methods

Happy to help out with any HHD questions, and remember - there is life after VCE :)

zofromuxo

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Re: Gem Gem's VCE Journal ;D
« Reply #4 on: September 08, 2017, 10:53:16 pm »
+2
How are you finding Biology?
I hear the genetics section has gotten boring with the emphasis on gene regulation in this study design.

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Hence why i'm in all these different threads and boards.

gemmaruffin

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Re: Gem Gem's VCE Journal ;D
« Reply #5 on: September 09, 2017, 12:01:42 am »
+3
How are you finding Biology?
I hear the genetics section has gotten boring with the emphasis on gene regulation in this study design.

Really? There was only a small section on it haha, I actually really enjoy what we're doing atm (DNA techniques and profiling)
Bio is pretty good, but a lot of people in my cohort don't care for it much so the teachers aren't that invested in teaching us as hardcore as they could. I wish they did, because I could definitely up my scores quite easily with that little bit of extra understanding.
2016 - HHD (49)
2017 - Bio (41), Chem, Italian, English (43), Methods

Happy to help out with any HHD questions, and remember - there is life after VCE :)

zofromuxo

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Re: Gem Gem's VCE Journal ;D
« Reply #6 on: September 09, 2017, 09:37:29 am »
+2
Really? There was only a small section on it haha, I actually really enjoy what we're doing atm (DNA techniques and profiling)
Bio is pretty good, but a lot of people in my cohort don't care for it much so the teachers aren't that invested in teaching us as hardcore as they could. I wish they did, because I could definitely up my scores quite easily with that little bit of extra understanding.
Oh that is interesting, those year 12s made it like it was a big deal... :/... I forgot they can be so easily swayed, herp derp.
That does suck that your teachers aren't going full gung-ho, however luck for you ATARNotes has a big biology community, which can be found here

I'm not sponsored, affiliated or paid to insert that link, i'm not a sellout. ATARNotes doesn't give me anything for that link
Jack of all trades, master of none.
Hence why i'm in all these different threads and boards.

gemmaruffin

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Re: Gem Gem's VCE Journal ;D
« Reply #7 on: September 09, 2017, 10:35:48 am »
+3
Oh that is interesting, those year 12s made it like it was a big deal... :/... I forgot they can be so easily swayed, herp derp.
That does suck that your teachers aren't going full gung-ho, however luck for you ATARNotes has a big biology community, which can be found here

I'm not sponsored, affiliated or paid to insert that link, i'm not a sellout. ATARNotes doesn't give me anything for that link


I do love the bio forum haha :)
2016 - HHD (49)
2017 - Bio (41), Chem, Italian, English (43), Methods

Happy to help out with any HHD questions, and remember - there is life after VCE :)

gemmaruffin

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Re: Gem Gem's VCE Journal ;D
« Reply #8 on: September 10, 2017, 05:10:50 pm »
+7
10/9/17
Ayooooooo!!!
So it's the weekend, and as per usual, my big plans < what I actually got up to.
Friday night smashed out a methods exam, and also got some Italian work done. Yesterday was pretty good for me, I finished all my chem content notes and summaries, and managed to finish my summaries in prep for my last ever bio SAC on Thursday (I have chem that day too  >:( ). I also headed out to an 18th, had an awesome time, and ended up in a bathtub?? Ah...the things you do when you're 18  :P :P
Anyways, today I had work, and now I'm trying to finish off my English essay that's due tomorrow before I go out for dinner...because I really don't wanna do it when I get home   :-[
update - its 10.30 and I'm halfway through. English Gods send me some love pls  :-X

At the moment I've been thinking a lot about not just year 12, but my whole schooling so far. It's insane to think that my whole life for the past 4ish years, heading to school 9-3.30, working 3 days a week and studying in-between going to parties and trying to keep up a social life will be coming to an end very soon. I can definitely say that in some context, I will miss school, especially seeing my friends every day. However, I have my whole life ahead of me, and so much to look forward to in the future that I cannot wait to be done!

It's a fun few months ahead.  ;D
« Last Edit: September 10, 2017, 10:23:22 pm by gemmaruffin »
2016 - HHD (49)
2017 - Bio (41), Chem, Italian, English (43), Methods

Happy to help out with any HHD questions, and remember - there is life after VCE :)

Joseph41

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Re: Gem Gem's VCE Journal ;D
« Reply #9 on: September 10, 2017, 05:16:42 pm »
+8
Yesssss I love this journal! You ended up in a bathtub?! Baths are fkn underrated, but I usually only use them to bathe hahaha.

Definitely heaps to look forward to! Looking forward to your next entry. :)

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gemmaruffin

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Re: Gem Gem's VCE Journal ;D
« Reply #10 on: September 10, 2017, 10:24:35 pm »
+8
You ended up in a bathtub?! Baths are fkn underrated, but I usually only use them to bathe hahaha.

Let's say I was pretty lit, and when there's a group of you sitting in the bath and then someone turns it on, it becomes pretty funny  ;D

Oh yeah, gotta add that I somehow topped my class in the last methods SAC...for the first time in my life, I've done the best in maths class  :o
« Last Edit: September 10, 2017, 10:26:08 pm by gemmaruffin »
2016 - HHD (49)
2017 - Bio (41), Chem, Italian, English (43), Methods

Happy to help out with any HHD questions, and remember - there is life after VCE :)

Joseph41

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Re: Gem Gem's VCE Journal ;D
« Reply #11 on: September 10, 2017, 10:30:15 pm »
+6
^Legit almost fist pumped on your behalf whilst reading this in bed lol. Great work!

... also good to hear about the Methods SAC. ;)

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gemmaruffin

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Re: Gem Gem's VCE Journal ;D
« Reply #12 on: September 11, 2017, 11:31:24 pm »
+5
Lmao what another uneventful Monday! I managed to finally finish that essay at 6am this morning, and handed it in without checking over any of it. Woops  ::) (note to future me - pls proofread and leave time to finish work). I've actually realised how hectic this week will be, trying to get some practise essays done for english, keeping up with methods practise exams that have been assigned, doing irrelevant Italian homework  :'( :'( and then also studying for a 60 mark chem sac and a smaller, but still significant bio sac both on Thursday  :-[, but legit - I only have 5 days of class left which I'll be doing coursework. How insane is that?
Throwing the question out there - what should be first on my agenda for exam revision???
2016 - HHD (49)
2017 - Bio (41), Chem, Italian, English (43), Methods

Happy to help out with any HHD questions, and remember - there is life after VCE :)

K888

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Re: Gem Gem's VCE Journal ;D
« Reply #13 on: September 11, 2017, 11:58:54 pm »
+6
Throwing the question out there - what should be first on my agenda for exam revision???
When I started planning what I was gonna do for exam revision, I made big to do lists for each subjects - what I needed to know, etc (study designs can be great, but most of my teachers also made nicely summarised versions of key points we needed to know), what I didn't understand (highlighted).
Then from there, I figured out what needed to be prioritised. Once you have the to do lists, you can start chipping away at points for all your subjects gradually :) Plus, it's really satisfying to be able to cross off stuff on a list.

I think from memory, I first covered stuff I hadn't learnt properly and stuff I didn't understand at all. So for me, this meant getting my methods teacher to reteach me some concepts, and getting my chem teacher to also say, explain how to do a certain type of question. Then once I'd covered that, I started gradually revising stuff I was more familiar with. :)
Maybe try making sure you're on top of concepts before doing practice exams? Not much point in doing a practice exam if you can't answer any of the questions (I found this happened to me in methods lol).

So yeah, I guess make a list of stuff and prioritise it and then do stuff in order based on that :)
In the end, if you don't have a super ordered system, that's fine - just getting the revision done is the main thing!

zofromuxo

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Re: Gem Gem's VCE Journal ;D
« Reply #14 on: September 12, 2017, 07:54:19 am »
+6
Throwing the question out there - what should be first on my agenda for exam revision???
Since your goal is a high ATAR, I won't give any advice at all on what to do, since I didn't get a high ATAR. I will however say what not to do .

1. Don't have a plan for the whole study period
-Get a plan, it makes your life easier and also less brainpower & time is spent figuring out your schedule everyday. It doesn't need to be perfect, just have a basic framework to fall back to should you need it.

2. Don't see your teachers for help
-This is depending on your teachers, but they tend to give you leeway for consultations typically so take advantage of them. If any give you their phone number, use it, heck abuse it for help if you want to.

3. Only doing VCCA exams
-Students actually do this, yes VCCA does your exam, but other companies' practice papers are written by assessor; current or past. They also have a good grasp on what is coming on your exam.

4. Treats everything as a priority
-As K888 has mentioned above, you have to prioritize your study. Is studying stuff you know weighted the same as stuff you don't know?

5. Staying up late to maximize study time
-This logic is just plain stupid and follow the whole "Work Harder" . Just don't. What you should do is have No distraction, intense, quiet/minimal sound sessions . That way you maximise your study period because I know some people don't talk about doing x hours, really did y hours on study and z hours on ATARNotes.

6. Rely on memory recognition
-You want Recall . Recognition is like seeing the answer from multiple choice, recall is like remembering something of the top of your head. [Look up a psychology website for more detail on this]

Good luck and if you want more concert advice, check out the study timetable guide by Evan Dowsett , also the Exam tracker and statistic excel file, if you like tracking how your going and EEEEEEP's awesome archive on exams .
Jack of all trades, master of none.
Hence why i'm in all these different threads and boards.