2018 Academic Reflections Thread

[Joseph41]

For VCE, for HSC and for university, exams are coming to a close. Or at least, they're very close to doing so. With inspiration here, I thought it might be a nice idea for us all to reflect on the 2018 academic year.

I've posted some questions below - you can just copy the code and then post your responses underneath. It would be great to get heaps of different perspectives here, because I'm sure we can all learn a lot from each other!

Code: [Select]

[b]How would you rate 2018 out of 10?[/b]

[b]What was your biggest academic accomplishment in 2018?[/b]

[b]If any, what's your biggest academic regret for 2018?[/b]

[b]If you had your time again, what would you change from 2018?[/b]

[b]What's your funniest story/moment from school/uni in 2018?[/b]

[b]Were your exams as expected?[/b]

[b]What's your best advice for younger year levels studying in 2019?[/b]

[b]Outside of school/uni, what were the best and worst parts of 2018?[/b]

[fantasticbeasts3]

Love the idea of this thread!!

How would you rate 2018 out of 10?
Probably an 8/10!

What was your biggest academic accomplishment in 2018?
Getting a 95 in one of my essays.

If any, what's your biggest academic regret for 2018?
Procrastination. I became so stressed at the end of Semester 2 because although I had planned out a timetable to start my assignments early, I never got around to it and had so much stuff due on the same day.

If you had your time again, what would you change from 2018?
Nothing -- this year was a great experience for me learning-wise.

What's your funniest story/moment from school/uni in 2018?
I don't have a specific story or moment, but the friends I've made have the same sense of humour and it's so nice to laugh with them over dumb things... like German superlatives in Australian accents.

Were your exams as expected?
Yes, and no. Coming straight from high school, I expected lots of past papers and there weren't any. I felt like I was going in blind for my exams (both in exam blocks and in-class) because of non-existent past papers.

What's your best advice for younger year levels studying in 2019?
Don't worry so much about your marks. Coming from a marks-obsessed person, this is probably contradictory advice but I had to learn to let go of my expectations. Most of the time, the marks you receive in uni are going to be a different standard to what you had in high school.

Outside of school/uni, what were the best and worst parts of 2018?
Best: work -- I've learnt to come out of my shell a bit more
Worst: I can't recall any worst moments which is probably a good thing :-) I've complained lots about uni and how much I hate it but it's actually been a good year. :-)

Looking forward to reading everyone else's reflections!!

[Mada438]

How would you rate 2018 out of 10?Probably a 6.5-7/10

What was your biggest academic accomplishment in 2018?Consistent effort in order to gain early entry into the University of Wollongong

If any, what's your biggest academic regret for 2018?Burning out during the hsc which resulted in lots of procrastination

If you had your time again, what would you change from 2018?Make more consistent effort-not greater effort, but more consistency

What's your funniest story/moment from school/uni in 2018?Going and revisiting my primary school after my graduation with my fellow class of 2012'ers and reminiscing about what we were like in primary school with our teachers.

Were your exams as expected?Some questions were the biggest curve-balls and were horrid; but all in all it wasn't too far from what i expected

What's your best advice for younger year levels studying in 2019?Don't always try and over-exert yourself. I'm not saying don't in heaps of effort to what you do, but put in a level you can achieve consistently.

Outside of school/uni, what were the best and worst parts of 2018?The best part is how our friend group has come together and we have started hanging out more. We've become alot more comfortable with each other outside of a school setting and started hanging out more and doing stuff as a group.
Worst: Can't really recall one, which is a good thing! 

[owidjaja]

How would you rate 2018 out of 10?
7/10

What was your biggest academic accomplishment in 2018?
Getting 24/25 for my History Extension Major Work.

If any, what's your biggest academic regret for 2018?
Procrastinating a lot when Trials and HSC exams were the week after.

If you had your time again, what would you change from 2018?
Drop 3U math earlier so I can use that time to improve 2U math and physics.

What's your funniest story/moment from school/uni in 2018?
When my History Extension class was going through the Churchill Case Study, we found it hilarious that Piers Morgan got so passionate about talking about Churchill so we started writing on different whiteboards "cHuRcHiLl SaVeD bRiTaIn FrOm ThE nAzIs."

Were your exams as expected?
It felt like this year NESA wanted to go hard out on us and throw a load of curveballs. But overall, I do have mixed feelings towards my exams.

What's your best advice for younger year levels studying in 2019?
Actually use your teachers and the resources provided. Talk to them and get as much feedback from them as possible.

Outside of school/uni, what were the best and worst parts of 2018?
Best: Receiving an unconditional early offer from Macquarie Uni before sitting my exams.
Worst: A lot of break downs after exams and panic attacks before exams -_-

[Poet]

 Thought I might as well have a go

How would you rate 2018 out of 10?
No year is perfect, and every year is different. This year's been difficult, and rewarding, and disappointing, and not at all what I expected. So, probably a 7/10 (with a bonus unique experience point)

What was your biggest academic accomplishment in 2018?
Doing it, just getting through what I can. With only two exams left right now, I've realised that the academic achievement doesn't lie in a single mark; it lies in all of them, and holding your head high through failures.

If any, what's your biggest academic regret for 2018?
Not accepting help when I most needed it. Accepting it too late.

If you had your time again, what would you change from 2018?
I would change my subjects to ones I know I would enjoy. Like history. Instead of relying on my passion, I relied on scale. And this is never a good idea.

What's your funniest story/moment from school/uni in 2018?
Probably consistently crashing IT classes (I haven't done IT since it was compulsory in year 8!) and trying to code the same things as the year 7's, 8's or 11's. And consistently messing things up.

Were your exams as expected?
Were they? Yeah, kind of. Maths was freaking unfair, but the rest was as expected. Will they? I don't know - I feel like Legal is gonna come up with a few curveballs, but let's hope for the best!

What's your best advice for younger year levels studying in 2019?
Never give up. The most important thing is to believe in your ability to carry on and continuously improve. Work hard, but not too hard, and remember to give yourself the love you deserve, and the help you need when you need it. Year 12 is not forever, but it is a marathon. Fight through the headwind when it comes, and you'll get there.

Outside of school/uni, what were the best and worst parts of 2018?
Best: friends and ATAR Notes (which are kind of the same things but anyway)
Worst: the sleep deprivation

[beatroot]

How would you rate 2018 out of 10?
8.5/10

What was your biggest academic accomplishment in 2018?
Getting a HD for my script that I worked my butt off for months

If any, what's your biggest academic regret for 2018?
Not reading the prescribed material and textbooks that would've helped beef up my assignments.

If you had your time again, what would you change from 2018?
Be more confident goddamn- would've helped with group assignments.

What's your funniest story/moment from school/uni in 2018?
Seeing our films being screened both in Sem 1 and Sem 2 and just laughing at how hilarious our films were (I was involved in comedy films)

Were your exams as expected?
I had no exams at film school- so I can't say anything much about them

What's your best advice for younger year levels studying in 2019?
Have fun ! Learning is actually so so fun and the only way you will learn is by having fun !

Outside of school/uni, what were the best and worst parts of 2018?
Best: Going out the house a lot more compared to my high school days ahaha
Worst: Unnecessary stress

[Bri MT]

How would you rate 2018 out of 10?
7/10  +/- 1/10

What was your biggest academic accomplishment in 2018?
Getting into my course

If any, what's your biggest academic regret for 2018?
I forgot about a couple of quizzes due outside semester but this didn't really end up having much impact

If you had your time again, what would you change from 2018?
I think I've learnt from the mistakes I've made, so I don't really regret my decisions

What's your funniest story/moment from school/uni in 2018?
That's a good question. Only thing that comes to mind is accidentally walking into a postgrad lecture because I didn't realise how early my previous class had finished - the people in the lecture theatre seemed to find it pretty entertaining.

Were your exams as expected?
So far: kind of. It's definitely been an adjustment from having more than 20 practice papers each subject to less than 20 total

What's your best advice for younger year levels studying in 2019?
The point isn't to show how smart you already are - it's to learn; & learning means acknowledging and addressing your gaps

Outside of school/uni, what were the best and worst parts of 2018?
Best: The friendships I've made and/or strengthened  (not all of these have been outside uni - my course mates are fantastic)
Worst: There have been some significant difficulties but I'd rather not dwell on them or pick one

[fun_jirachi]

How would you rate 2018 out of 10?
6.5/10

What was your biggest academic accomplishment in 2018?
Great results in mostly my STEM subjects, and that 19/20 in English I never expected. But the real winner here is actually finishing my accelerated and not giving a crap about how well I did, it's all over.

If any, what's your biggest academic regret for 2018?
Not trying hard enough. Honestly, I probably spent 5 weeks worth of time messing around on weekends and after school doing zero work.

If you had your time again, what would you change from 2018?
Slap myself in the face every time I procrastinate, and improve my study habits.

What's your funniest story/moment from school/uni in 2018?
There's a lot of funny moments so it really is hard to name one funniest moment. Honestly most of them come from Modern because we speak really freely. We get weird stuff where 'milk is not milky' and waste a lesson on that, 'wait you have a life outside of us miss?', 'why are you stuck on the M5 again miss?'. Of course there's the throwaway jokes in Physics (mostly joking about abysmal marks) and Chemistry where every time we do a prac my prac group somehow finds a way to drench the table. And of course Maths our teacher is really interactive, and we have loads of banter while in English we say the stupidest stuff and we wait for the teacher to react with a weird face, which is always a classic.

Were your exams as expected?
The BS answer is no, but seriously yes. I didn't put enough effort as I'd like, and my results are an accurate reflection of what I deserve.

What's your best advice for younger year levels studying in 2019?
Really just put in the effort now. Don't listen to the people that say 'Oh younger years don't matter, they don't count to your ATAR' because that is such bullshit. Anyone who says that is kidding themselves. Many of the people I know are doing well are doing well because they made their study habits early on, even if they didn't do well markswise. Find something that works for you. Actually try. Sure there are people who have changed their study habits, but I'm a prime example of the majority that find that change very difficult.

Outside of school/uni, what were the best and worst parts of 2018?
Best: Sport, Hanging out with friends
Worst: Wet Weather Training (Fitness that cooks you like an overcooked steak) and Sydney Transport

[K888]

How would you rate 2018 out of 10?
8/10

What was your biggest academic accomplishment in 2018?
I'd say staying up to date in semester 2. I worked on my study habits and had much better attendance and ended up going into SWOTVAC with only one or two lectures to catch up on, which I was really pleased with. It made me feel a lot less stressed

If any, what's your biggest academic regret for 2018?
Mm, probably not applying myself as much as I could have in first sem. It was a bit of a boring and poorly run semester and I used that as an excuse to slack off and fall behind.

If you had your time again, what would you change from 2018?
I'd be more disciplined and I'd start working on assignments and due tasks earlier than I usually do. I think it would really decrease my stress levels and tbh I'm only starting to do it now, 2 years into uni.

What's your funniest story/moment from school/uni in 2018?
One of my friends almost threw herself off a bed in a prac where we were learning techniques to teach patients with a spinal cord injury how to roll over in bed.

Were your exams as expected?
Written exams were easier than I expected, I think I was pretty happy with my performance. I haven't done my OSCE yet so I will update this post once I have!

What's your best advice for younger year levels studying in 2019?
Stay disciplined in your study and use every opportunity you can to learn from your teachers! They're very experienced and have a lot of valuable knowledge to share.

Outside of school/uni, what were the best and worst parts of 2018?
Best is probably meeting my boyfriend!
Worst would easily be when a rat died in the central heating vents under my room and stunk out my room for like a week. I had to wash every single thing I owned that was able to be washed, and had to have my windows open to the max in the middle of winter to air out my room. So gross

[sss77s]

How would you rate 2018 out of 10?
7/10—definitely not the best year because of the HSC, but otherwise, the social aspect was definitely better compared to previous years.

What was your biggest academic accomplishment in 2018?
Ranking first overall for ext. maths, despite getting 50% for first yr 11 assessment.

If any, what's your biggest academic regret for 2018?
Procrastination—during trials/HSC, especially when things got stressful.

If you had your time again, what would you change from 2018?
I would start studying for the actual HSC exam much earlier and reduce the time I spent perfecting school assignments, which would’ve been so much better for my stress levels come HSC. Also, I would start memorizing the content earlier, so I could start past papers.

 What's your funniest story/moment from school/uni in 2018?
So many! But probably during year 12 muck up day was when most of those memories were made 

Were your exams as expected?
I feel like all my exams had a few curveballs in there, and I was definitely not prepared lol. I think that was because I wasn’t 100% familiar with the content in the first place, so when they threw a few curveballs in there (English creative, maths 2u/3u near the end), I nearly died. There’s definitely a trend towards critical thinking on the spot rather than ROTE learning, which I’m more inclined towards simply because effort=marks with rote learning, whereas, with the direction these exams seem to be going in, it’s becoming a lot more reliant on your natural abilities.

What's your best advice for younger year levels studying in 2019?
- Spend the minimum amount of time possible on ‘useless’ school assignments (enough time to maintain a decent rank, but not too much that you neglect actually learning the course/studying for the HSC content)
-Start memorizing content throughout the year so it doesn’t all just pile up, and suddenly you’re memorizing 200 pages worth of notes 2 days before the exam (literally me for 3 of my more content heavy subjects)
-minimise the amount of time spent making notes&maximise time spent doing past papers. I honestly found making my notes from the textbook to be the biggest waste of time; although they did help me ‘understand’ the content initially, I found that it was just as effective to read someone else’s already condensed notes/summarise those.

[Joseph41]

-snip-

Welcome to the forums!

[katie,rinos]

How would you rate 2018 out of 10?
Maybe a 7/10

What was your biggest academic accomplishment in 2018?
I think learning so many new things and improving in aspects such as performance, music theory, and history throughout the year has been really good. I’ve gotten a couple of HD’s in some of my smaller assessments which has been pretty cool. 

If any, what's your biggest academic regret for 2018?
Procrastination: starting some studying & assessments late-ish so I was finishing a lot of it the night before.

If you had your time again, what would you change from 2018?
I think I’d possibly try to ask more questions in some my subjects (especially music theory) when I didn’t understand everything.

What's your funniest story/moment from school/uni in 2018?
Can’t think of anything specific at the moment.  During aural studio once, our tutor trued to use someone’s skateboard and he fell over. Heaps of memes in the group chat. We used to hang in the hallway of the music building and chat before classes and some of those got pretty funny.

Were your exams as expected?
I only had my performance exams-which are exactly as your told at the beginning of the year (study & pieces & sightreading-20 min total). It was a lot different to HSC because instead of a year to work on your pieces, I only had 15 weeks.

What's your best advice for younger year levels studying in 2019?
Focus a lot more on learning and improving at uni, rather than getting incredibly high marks for all of your assessments. If you need help with anything ask your tutors/lecturers (even through email). I’ve had practice exercises and detailed answers because I’ve asked questions this sem.

Outside of school/uni, what were the best and worst parts of 2018?
The two that come to mind at the moment:
Best: I’ve started leading a group of year 3 girls (at Girls Brigade) and they are really amazing, crazy and fun.
Worst: stress, public transport (trains/uni buses).

[sweetiepi]

How would you rate 2018 out of 10?
7-8/10

What was your biggest academic accomplishment in 2018?
A tie between two: Scoring a 90+ on a 20-page preliminary lab report I thought I did rubbish on, and scoring 90+ on a written report worth a bunch of marks with the only criteria being "unstable water injection" that I was hoping for a 50% on

If any, what's your biggest academic regret for 2018?
Not filing for special consideration the day I was really sick and I had a midsem and only just scraped a pass for it. Cost me many marks for that unit. Whoops.

If you had your time again, what would you change from 2018?
- Change the way I approached Organic Chem. That was a trainwreck, and I should (and could) have handled myself better with that.
- Take time off if needed

What's your funniest story/moment from school/uni in 2018?
Running riot with the postgrad club one Friday night. We hooked into their beer club, they played our twister (drunk). Was a fun way to see some of my lab demonstrators out of hours, as well as actually being involved in running that event.

Were your exams as expected?
Other than my molecular pharmacology exam (semester 2, it was tough. I'm still drained from it), as expected. I still have one more exam (next Wednesday!!) to go, should a run-of-the-mill exam.

What's your best advice for younger year levels studying in 2019?
- Ask questions. It'll help heaps.
- Form study groups. This helps for subjects/units with a lot of dense topics. You get to learn off each other, and learn in different ways. It's grouse.
- Make sure you have time for yourself, else you'll burn out.
- Don't do assessments (very) last minute if you can help it, it isn't worth the stress.

Outside of school/uni, what were the best and worst parts of 2018?
Best: Helping little primary school kids with their literacy skills. That was such fun! (There are also several other top contenders for "best" part, but I don't want to sound superficial )
Worst: Being dehydrated on my first solo trip outside the state. I still haven't learnt my lesson about drinking enough water though. I swear I'll change that... if I remember aha.

[DBA-144]

How would you rate 2018 out of 10?
9/10

What was your biggest academic accomplishment in 2018?
Consistently getting marks I was happy with. Although it may not have been a really really good mark, I thought that my performance was good overall and reflecting the work that I had put in quite well. Yet, I could still have put in a bit more effort, even if it might not have made such a big difference in the end.

If any, what's your biggest academic regret for 2018?
Did not adapt quickly enough. For example, when I got busier, I stuck to the same schedule, just limiting myself with what I could achieve. Needed to plan a bit better to in order to circumvent some unfortunste events.

If you had your time again, what would you change from 2018?
Probably very little. See, when you change one thing, you don’t just change that thing. You change everything else surrounding it. I think I am jsust happy to accept what has unfolded this year due to the lerning experiences I have gotten from it, not academically, but rather personally.
What's your funniest story/moment from school/uni in 2018?
Not sure. Had a lot of moments which were pretty good. Personally, I think that there has been so much to value this year, we have had so many laughs, that I cannot quite say that one thing was much better than another.

Were your exams as expected?
Somewhat. They were ok, I guess, but did not really exceed expectations in any way and nor did they go drastically under either. They were alright but could have been better, quite specifically maths. :/
What's your best advice for younger year levels studying in 2019?
One thing. No your limits. Know how far you can go out of your comfort zone and understand that it is impossible to expect to continue living in a little shell. It is really important to know when to stop too though.

Outside of school/uni, what were the best and worst parts of 2018?
Best: Being involved and getting into things I had not even tried before. This is mainly sport. Lol
Worst: Being sick

[Maya24]

How would you rate 2018 out of 10?
 7/10
What was your biggest academic accomplishment in 2018?
Performing my oral presentation
If any, what's your biggest academic regret for 2018?
Not having enough discipline to study consistently.  Getting a good tutor for chemistry. I feel like if I had gotten a tutor at the start of the year it would help me understand chemistry a bit more. Also spending a lot of my time on methods. I prioritised method over all my other subjects and at the end of the day, it didn't matter.
If you had your time again, what would you change from 2018?
Maybe get know some of the people in my class better.
What's your funniest story/moment from school/uni in 2018?
There has been a lot of good moments overall.
Were your exams as expected?
It went okay. I'm still waiting for chemistry. I'm sure that one will be a killer
What's your best advice for younger year levels studying in 2019?
Take some time off from school to focus on yourself. Do what you love.
Take care of your mental health and learn to cope with the stress.
Understand the content well.
Know when to give up.
Outside of school/uni, what were the best and worst parts of 2018?
Best: Developing friendships and all the social aspects that come with year 12
Worst: The stress.