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March 28, 2024, 08:10:42 pm

Author Topic: calamity and sanity: my journey through vce  (Read 45408 times)

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caffinatedloz

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Re: calamity and sanity: my journey through vce
« Reply #150 on: November 13, 2020, 09:48:16 pm »
+8
Congrats!!
Thanks Bri for your kind and reassuring words, as always. The passion that you have for biology really helped me get excited about the subject when I first started 1/2 and was posting millions of questions on the forums. Thanks for all of your help and support over the past two years! ;D

Bri MT

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Re: calamity and sanity: my journey through vce
« Reply #151 on: November 13, 2020, 10:27:12 pm »
+6
Thanks Bri for your kind and reassuring words, as always. The passion that you have for biology really helped me get excited about the subject when I first started 1/2 and was posting millions of questions on the forums. Thanks for all of your help and support over the past two years! ;D

<3
That's lovely to hear. Thank you and no worries :D

Snow Leopard

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Re: calamity and sanity: my journey through vce
« Reply #152 on: November 14, 2020, 12:03:52 pm »
+6
Congrats on the awards and finishing bio 3/4 Laura!   :)

homeworkisapotato

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Re: calamity and sanity: my journey through vce
« Reply #153 on: November 15, 2020, 08:03:39 am »
+7
Hey laura! Congratulations on the excellence and endeavour awards, finishing Bio, AND getting missions captain! Your life is so all-rounded, it's very inspiring! How did you find the exam?
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caffinatedloz

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Re: calamity and sanity: my journey through vce
« Reply #154 on: June 14, 2021, 11:11:02 am »
+8
Well it's been a whiLE... I can't believe I'm almost half way though Year 12. Every week has felt so SLOW, but the year really is going so fast!

My subjects for this year ended up being: methods, chemistry, literature, specialist and HDS101/HDS106 (at Deakin).

Thankfully, I only have two sacs left for this term, chemistry and... chemistry. *rolls eyes* We're working on our Unit 4 posters at the minute and my partner and I are doing aspirin synthesis which is actually really cool. All the studying electrolysis for the other sac is slightly less cool, but very straightforward.

I've been really surprised about how manageable everything has been. I've rarely had weeks with more than one sac and I've still been able to work 10-18 hours a week most weeks. I think doing a uni subject entirely online has really helped with that as I've had lots of spares and been able to manage my own time much better than if I had set times to be in those classes as well.

On the whole, I've been fairly happy with my marks as well:
Methods:
SAC 1: 46/50

Overall, I've felt like methods this year has been very similar to last year. Anything new we've learnt so far has been something we're doing in spec as well so it's been easy enough to keep up. I have the same teacher I've had since Year 10 and she's honestly amazing. Plus this is the only class I'm in with a really good mate of mine so I really enjoy it.

Chemistry
SAC 1: 47/50
SAC 2A: 21/25

Not gonna lie, I almost cried when I got the first part of Sac 2 back, I'd made so many silly mistakes! But oh well, there's still a second part so hopefully I can boost my percentage a bit. My chem teacher is really encouraging so sitting down with her to go through it was really helpful.

Literature
SAC 1: 47/50
SAC 2: 46/50

Our first sac was our adaptations and transformations oral (which we did on Northanger Abbey) and our second was the creative (we did Plath). It feels really weird that we haven't done a close analysis or lit perspectives essay in class yet. We're doing our lit perspectives essay on Othello at the start of next term. I'm actually really excited. Lit is probably one of my favourite subjects and I love writing essays for it. My teacher jokes that I'm a photocopier because I'm constantly giving him practice essays to mark. I think that it's such a weird subject to study for and writing lots of close analysis pieces is the only way I'm going to improve so I don't mind too much.

Specialist
We've only had one sac and I'm stiLL waiting for it to be marked. My expectations are pretty low though. There's only seven people in our class and four people walked out crying after the first part. I managed to hold it together but I definitely felt the exact same as all of them. Because our cohort is quite small we're combined with another school and the sac was written by the teacher at the other school. I don't think our teacher had checked that we'd covered all the same topics and there were a few questions about Euler's spiral which none of us had heard of.

This is my least favourite subject by far. Don't pick your subjects just because it would be "a waste of your potential" if you don't. Thanks so much to all of the teachers that gave me that advice.

HDS101: Communication and Diveristy
Quiz: 90%
Essay 1: 92%
Essay 2: ?

Even though the subject has finished, it's still another week until we get our last mark. I'm honestly so stoked with how I went on my first essay though. I put so much effort in and I felt like it was definitely worth it. I actually am genuinely interested in the content which helps a lot as well. And now I have another month or so until my next subject starts. Since there's no exam it means I can dedicate more time to my other subjects.


Sorry for the VERY long post, but that's basically been my life so far this year. I am still working hard, but I actually think I've had more balance in my life this year than I did in the past.

Bri MT

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Re: calamity and sanity: my journey through vce
« Reply #155 on: June 14, 2021, 01:15:45 pm »
+4
It's great to hear from you again!

Congrats on managing the work/study balance and on your results so far. It sounds like you're doing well which is fantastic to hear :D

caffinatedloz

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Re: calamity and sanity: my journey through vce
« Reply #156 on: November 09, 2021, 01:58:31 pm »
+10
Long time no see! One exam to go. I can't believe this journey is almost over. I can honestly say that my VCE was nothing like I expected; the past two years were nothing like any of us expected.

I hope I've done well. But I honestly don't have a clue- I'm sure there were plenty of mistakes in those final exams. (And I am still a bit destroyed after spec exam 2 which was the hardest exam I've ever seen in my life...) But it doesn't really matter now. I don't care about the results because I am just glad it's over. And glad that I can say I have no regrets and I gave it my all. (Having some early uni offers certainly helps with the not caring thing.) Some setbacks last year meant I seriously didn't think I'd be able to do scored Year 12 this year but I worked so bloody hard to overcome everything and had some really wonderful people looking out for me. I am so glad I pushed through it all.

The plan for next year is moving out with some mates and studying speech pathology. I'm tossing up between LaTrobe and ACU but I'm leaning towards ACU. I'm also going to do a part-time church traineeship working with children with disabilities. I'm so excited about what's to come.

lm21074

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Re: calamity and sanity: my journey through vce
« Reply #157 on: November 09, 2021, 04:11:02 pm »
+5
Congratulations on all you've accomplished so far, Laura! VCE is tough enough without having to deal with setbacks.

Super proud of you :)
2021: VCE
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caffinatedloz

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Re: calamity and sanity: my journey through vce
« Reply #158 on: November 25, 2021, 08:25:46 am »
+11
I can't believe it's only been two weeks since my last exam. I feel like a totally different person; I can't remember the last time I was so relaxed. It's AMAZING. It doesn't feel totally over because of the extremely long wait for results (I know it's not thaaat long but it feels like an eternity at the moment!).

Getting early offers into my preferred course was obviously amazing (and meant to be a massive relief) but once my ATAR was no longer important for getting into Uni I feel like I put a lot more pressure on myself to do well. I think it's because it now served no purpose except as something for me to be proud of or have accomplished. I probably decided to start trying (like really trying) a bit too late; three weeks is not enough time to learn a year's worth of spec. However, I'm still hoping to crack 97+. All year I had a post-it note with 97 above my desk as a reminder of what I was aiming for. It would feel really good to reach that. ATAR calculators are giving me something around that ballpark but it's really tricky to know (even using a study score calculator doesn't feel, and probably isn't, very accurate).

21 more days!

Joseph41

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Re: calamity and sanity: my journey through vce
« Reply #159 on: November 25, 2021, 09:06:22 am »
+2
I can't believe it's only been two weeks since my last exam. I feel like a totally different person; I can't remember the last time I was so relaxed. It's AMAZING. It doesn't feel totally over because of the extremely long wait for results (I know it's not thaaat long but it feels like an eternity at the moment!).

Great to hear!

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caffinatedloz

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Re: calamity and sanity: my journey through vce
« Reply #160 on: December 02, 2021, 06:54:36 pm »
+6
So I'm on level 628 of candy crush soda (the superior candy crush)... and I've seen ever inch of bike path within 25km of me... and I am still counting down until December 16th. It's such a LOOOOOOOONG wait! Only 14 more days to go.

caffinatedloz

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Re: calamity and sanity: my journey through vce
« Reply #161 on: December 16, 2021, 08:06:35 am »
+13
And just like that it's over! All the waiting and anticipation for this. I'll start with the ATAR (the only thing I was really happy with): 97.75. I acheived my goal to get a 97 so I'm thrilled. But I wasn't so happy with my scores.

Spec: 35
Methods: 37
Lit: 38
Chem: 40
(And I got a 4.5 increment from my uni subject.)

I'm a bit stunned it's all over. Honestly, the only score that exceeded my expectations was spec- I really thought I was going to get 28. All the others were a bit lower than I'd hoped but at least it's finally over and I can definitely say I gave it everything I could.

Thank you all for the encouragement and support. The AN forums are such a wonderful place with so many lovely supportive people. I've really enjoyed all the banter, laughs and games (and I am very appreciative of all of the help). I am so grateful for all of you! ✌️

Joseph41

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Re: calamity and sanity: my journey through vce
« Reply #162 on: December 16, 2021, 08:08:30 am »
+1
And just like that it's over! All the waiting and anticipation for this. I'll start with the ATAR (the only thing I was really happy with): 97.75. I acheived my goal to get a 97 so I'm thrilled. But I wasn't so happy with my scores.

Spec: 35
Methods: 37
Lit: 38
Chem: 40
(And I got a 4.5 increment from my uni subject.)

I'm a bit stunned it's all over. Honestly, the only score that exceeded my expectations was spec- I really thought I was going to get 28. All the others were a bit lower than I'd hoped but at least it's finally over and I can definitely say I gave it everything I could.

Thank you all for the encouragement and support. The AN forums are such a wonderful place with so many lovely supportive people. I've really enjoyed all the banter, laughs and games (and I am very appreciative of all of the help). I am so grateful for all of you! ✌️

Well done!

Oxford comma, Garamond, Avett Brothers, Orla Gartland enthusiast.

Chocolatemilkshake

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Re: calamity and sanity: my journey through vce
« Reply #163 on: December 16, 2021, 08:11:43 am »
+1
Massive congratulations Laura! All the best for next year  ;D
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bluebird

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Re: calamity and sanity: my journey through vce
« Reply #164 on: December 16, 2021, 08:20:51 am »
+2
Congratulations!! Amazing work on completing your VCE, it truly is a huge achievement and you should be incredibly proud of yourself. Good luck with your future endeavours! ❤❤
VCE 2021: Biology | HHD [50]
VCE 2022: Methods | Chemistry | Literature | English Language