ATAR Notes: Forum
HSC Stuff => New South Wales Education Discussion => The HSC Journey Journal => Topic started by: PeriPeri101 on March 26, 2019, 10:03:41 pm
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hey everyone! :D
So I have been doing some late night reads on ATAR Notes (as we all do right?!) and i loved the idea of the HSC journal. Been reading other peoples and it has inspired me to my own. Hopefully, end of year 12, or whenever in my life I can read this and realise all this stress was probably for nothing ;D
Anyways my name is Ella and I am currently in Year 11. I have found the transition from Year 10 to Year 11 really hard. All my Year 12 friends say 'just you wait' so that's exciting...
The subjects that I take you can see below when I make a comment.
At the moment I am loving the freedom of choice with m subjects and my new found independence...all but one subject. Legal Studies. In another thread I have discussed my troubles with a teacher, but let's just say her teaching methods are not working for me. I feel like I am falling behind on study and my notes. The assessment next Tuesday is on 5 chapters an we are only up to chapter 4. But I have great friends in the class so that is what is getting me through. Also I have a friend who has graduated Uni studying politics and law so he is becoming a great resource for me at the moment.
Advanced Maths is going well at the moment, which is surprising as really my pathway was meat to do standard but I really wanted to advanced. My tutouring and efforts are paying off. I am just hoping that I will remember everything for my test; although we get to bring in a cheat sheet. ;D
Work/school balance is something I am also trying to focus on as well as I do not want to become too invested in my job.
Anyways. If anyone has gotten this far thank you :D and I hope that I am actually motivated to keep adding to this journal
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Hey Ella! Great to have you here. :)
I'd try not to take heaps of notice to your friends speaking about Year 12 to be honest - in many ways, I actually found Year 11 more difficult!
Otherwise, it sounds as though things are going pretty well atm? Any ideas for what you'd like to do after the HSC? :)
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Hey Ella! Great to have you here. :)
I'd try not to take heaps of notice to your friends speaking about Year 12 to be honest - in many ways, I actually found Year 11 more difficult!
Otherwise, it sounds as though things are going pretty well atm? Any ideas for what you'd like to do after the HSC? :)
Gap year definitely. Tossing up between full time work or a program called Year 13.
In terms of career, I have too many ideas! English/Drama teaching, psychologist, personal assistant, social worker. But it would have to be something where i get to communicate with people a lot
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Gap year definitely. Tossing up between full time work or a program called Year 13.
In terms of career, I have too many ideas! English/Drama teaching, psychologist, personal assistant, social worker. But it would have to be something where i get to communicate with people a lot
Nice one! I've heard of Year 13 but honestly don't know much about it - what's involved?
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Nice one! I've heard of Year 13 but honestly don't know much about it - what's involved?
well there is the website Year13 which helps people after school then theres the program called Year 13 where its an actual gap year. Its a Christian gap year, and you get to do heaps of mission work and even go to Fiji
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In terms of career, I have too many ideas! English/Drama teaching, psychologist, personal assistant, social worker. But it would have to be something where i get to communicate with people a lot
Keep in mind that you don't have to stick with one career your entire life! Do what you're most passionate about first, or do 2-3 at the same time (part-time/casual) :)
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update!
week 2 of a new term! last term was definitely a tough one and I am slowly getting into the rhythm of year 11.
Well what do you know I got top of the year for legal studies, amidst my struggles with my teacher. It was good as I am using this as encouragement to just stick it out, regardless of my teacher - it is my accountability.
I also bought an iPad for my summary notes and other school things rather than just using my laptop. The memory retention of writing and being easily able to export, save and transport my notes is why it really appealed to me - and I have been loving it so far!
Let's just see how the rest of the term goes!
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Nice one! What sort of iPad did you get?
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Let's just see how the rest of the term goes!
Hey Ella! How are you finding Term 2 so far? Transitioning is definitely really hard, it can be such a difference particularly workload wise. Take my word, next year you'll be hit with way more than you can handle, so take care of yourself and try to stay on top of everything. And your possible career options are incredibly fascinating to me (mainly because I've considered all of them at some point haha). Year 13 sounds like a heap of fun! And congrats on doing so well in legal studies, that's an amazing achievement, you should be really proud of yourself!! Proves you can do anything you set your mind to, so your perseverance to stick with it is really inspiring! Ooh I've always thought about an iPad but I've always had a laptop, but seen all these medical students on youtube use an iPad for their notes and everything and it looks very interesting. How are you going with your notes and managing your time? What's your fav subject?
Keen to hear from you Ella, I'll be back 🌷
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Nice one! What sort of iPad did you get?
I got an iPad 6th Gen. It was around $750 for iPad and pencil incl. For me I do not need the iPad Pro at the moment and i think the normal iPad is more student friendly. Though I do brush lettering and art and have been loving doing it on my iPad, so if that becomes more serious in the future I may consider getting the iPad Pro.
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Hey Ella! How are you finding Term 2 so far? Transitioning is definitely really hard, it can be such a difference particularly workload wise. Take my word, next year you'll be hit with way more than you can handle, so take care of yourself and try to stay on top of everything. And your possible career options are incredibly fascinating to me (mainly because I've considered all of them at some point haha). Year 13 sounds like a heap of fun! And congrats on doing so well in legal studies, that's an amazing achievement, you should be really proud of yourself!! Proves you can do anything you set your mind to, so your perseverance to stick with it is really inspiring! Ooh I've always thought about an iPad but I've always had a laptop, but seen all these medical students on youtube use an iPad for their notes and everything and it looks very interesting. How are you going with your notes and managing your time? What's your fav subject?
Keen to hear from you Ella, I'll be back 🌷
hi!!
Term 2 so far is generally pretty good! I should not be taking this time for granted though and stop procrastinating and finish my summary notes as I know it's going to ramp up fairly soon.
Yes I have way too many career ideas, it is sort of overwhelming, but for sure something where I communicate with people as I said before; have you gravitated towards a particular field?
Thank you! I was very surprised with my legal studies results and I think my teacher 'might' treat me a lot nicer now. Even at the parent teacher interviews my parents said they can definetly see what I mean about the teacher.
This youtuber who is a med student at Cambridge was literally my inspiration to get the iPad. We have to use a laptop at school but I use my iPad at home and it is really easy to transfer everything straight to my macbook. Best decision I made and I don't just use it for school I use it for my brush lettering as well which is really fun. I have only completed my biology notes so far and that's the only one up to date so I really need to catch up. For some subjects though, like English, it is hard to make summary notes because they don't really follow each dot point on the syllabus to a tee.
And....my favourite subject is Drama of course. Love my teacher, friends and everything about it. Honestly it is not a bludge like people think it is; it is just challenging in a different way.
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This youtuber who is a med student at Cambridge was literally my inspiration to get the iPad.
OMG not Ali Abdaal?? He's literally not even human hahaha! Yeah Year 11 is an ease into the work whereas Year 12 is just a sudden collision with a mountain of work which you aren't prepared for but you have to deal with it. I have the exact same problem re careers, I've changed a thousand times and still not set on what I want but it was funny to see that all your options were things that I enjoyed too, so many fields interest me, I think I'm not going to be stuck in only one for life, there's too much to try and experience! Yup they observe everything about your teachers except teachers have like a whole new persona in parent teacher interviews haha.
And oooh brush lettering I love watching that on youtube it's so aesthetically pleasing! I need to work on all my notes too especially for revs and geo, to keep them all up to date lol.
And I LOVE LOVE LOVE DRAMA TOO!!! If only we had that as a subject I would have for sure leapt straight on board, I love theatre so so much! In primary school my fav teacher ran a drama and dance club which I did and it was one of the highlights of my schooling time, it's just in my blood I guess! What are you doing in Drama right now? I wish I could join, I miss it so much!!
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OMG not Ali Abdaal?? He's literally not even human hahaha! Yeah Year 11 is an ease into the work whereas Year 12 is just a sudden collision with a mountain of work which you aren't prepared for but you have to deal with it. I have the exact same problem re careers, I've changed a thousand times and still not set on what I want but it was funny to see that all your options were things that I enjoyed too, so many fields interest me, I think I'm not going to be stuck in only one for life, there's too much to try and experience! Yup they observe everything about your teachers except teachers have like a whole new persona in parent teacher interviews haha.
And oooh brush lettering I love watching that on youtube it's so aesthetically pleasing! I need to work on all my notes too especially for revs and geo, to keep them all up to date lol.
And I LOVE LOVE LOVE DRAMA TOO!!! If only we had that as a subject I would have for sure leapt straight on board, I love theatre so so much! In primary school my fav teacher ran a drama and dance club which I did and it was one of the highlights of my schooling time, it's just in my blood I guess! What are you doing in Drama right now? I wish I could join, I miss it so much!!
Yess!! Ali Abdaal the british one. Yep he is not human at all; I don't know how he does it. But he is my inspiration honestly.
Does your school not offer drama? We are doing set design at the moment. So we get to make our own mini set, like little clay lounges and figurines and stuff. Everything has to be 1:25 scale though so that is tedious
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Yess!! Ali Abdaal the british one. Yep he is not human at all; I don't know how he does it. But he is my inspiration honestly.
Does your school not offer drama? We are doing set design at the moment. So we get to make our own mini set, like little clay lounges and figurines and stuff. Everything has to be 1:25 scale though so that is tedious
Thought I would never see his name mentioned on AN. He's an inspiration to me too.
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Thought I would never see his name mentioned on AN. He's an inspiration to me too.
isn't he the greatest. would love to just have a sit down chat with him one day, would be fascinating.
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isn't he the greatest. would love to just have a sit down chat with him one day, would be fascinating.
Sorry just jumping in this convo but I legit love him too! I feel like he has blessed me with his presence every time I watch one of his videos !
Don't worry about what your Year 12 friends are saying about stress and all that. Tbh I found adjusting to year 11 harder as it's a big step up from year 10 as there are more choice, more responsibilities and of course, more pressure to do well.
Just remember year 11 is a practice year. Year 12 flows on from year 11, but by then, you've practised and seen where to improve. A lot of stress from year 12 is purely higher stakes (which is something you can attack with appropriate goal setting for you and no one else) rather than more work necessarily. I would say I study way more in year 12, but that's because my goal is to get a high ATAR and I'm comfortable with the work I'm putting in.
As for legal, I'm sorry about your teacher. If you're beyond the reporting to a higher authority stage, I'd recommend just following the syllabus, using the resources you have and banding together with your mates. Tbh legal is a very relevant subject to modern society and can be seen everywhere. Grab your media articles, look up the key syllabus words and look for law reforms. Also study guides are great to guide you with your searches - I recommend the ATARNotes ofc (honestly though they're legal guides are great but idk if they have prelim).
Remember that if you have a bad teacher, everyone is in the same boat for this assessment. However, I do recommend following the syllabus religiously, grabbing as much media, cases and law as you can and banding together with your friends for sussing out topics. That's the best thing to do.
Feel free to hmu if you want help. I loved year 11 legal and performed pretty well so I'd be happy to help with specific Qs !
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Yess!! Ali Abdaal the british one. Yep he is not human at all; I don't know how he does it. But he is my inspiration honestly.
Thought I would never see his name mentioned on AN. He's an inspiration to me too.
YESSS GUYS HE IS SUCH AN INSPIRATION OMG!!! The way he talks, his mindset, his work ethic, just his EXISTENCE is EVERYTHING!!!
Does your school not offer drama? We are doing set design at the moment. So we get to make our own mini set, like little clay lounges and figurines and stuff. Everything has to be 1:25 scale though so that is tedious
No drama which is such a disappointment. No subject will ever ever compare. Woah!!! That sounds super cool!! Maybe you could post some pics? ;)
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Long time no see,
so nearing the end of term 2 for year 11. In 52 weeks school will basically be over and it will be HSC time. :-\
scary stuff
Finally assessments are over - well not all - and I can at least semi relax. One of the major things that my teachers tell me is that I set expectations that are too high of myself. This means that I am constantly disappointed with the results I get, even if they are actually amazing.
SAC - got 26/30 for my socialisation presentation, so I am pretty happy with that.
Maths - 96% for trigonometry assignment. I am happy with this, but everyone else got pretty high marks as it was a take home assignment - the teachers weren't happy about this hahah.
Biology - we are doing a depth study that is due next term, hence why I said I cannot fully relax yet. :P
Drama - Have not gotten my results for my set design yet, I am hoping it is high as I put way too much effort into this.
English - I did a Pecha Kucha presentation which I have not go my results for yet, I think I did fairly okay.
SOR - have not gotten my results back yet!! I am dreading this one!!
I also got my semester 1 report which I was pretty happy with. I always feel like I should be happy about my resuls, but for some reason I never really feel satisfied, and I always feel like I could've done more.
Today I got my legal results - 71%. I was really upset about this 8), I topped the year in the assessment last term so this was a shock. Even though I despise my teacher, I have always been good at legal, and it has come naturally, so this was really upsetting for me. The other class's teacher marked it and he really tore us to shreds and did not make me feel any better. It is just a mark at the end of the day, but I have really been feeling down about it. I know I am going to drop legal, because if I do not like my teacher, the dates/leg. we have to remember, I cannot imagine how I will feel in Year 12. It is the only subject I dread, even though, or I hope to think that I excel at it.
I have work experience as well coming up, that the whole year does, and you have to sort it out yourself. Even though I have a part-time job, I have found it very overwhelming trying to approach employers and businesses about this. I do get anxiety about that type of thing. And our careers advisor is not very helpful or approachable, so I am talking to another teacher who genuinely cares and is assisting me in sorting it out. I approached a theatre, and the placements are exhausted but they really want me so they are trying to find a place for me. I really hope there is because I do not really have a plan B!!
Anyways, just gonna get through the rest of this week and get to the holidays. :D :D :D
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Good luck with the work experience! Can definitely be tough finding a place, but fingers crossed with the theatre. Are there any other similar options in your area if that one doesn't work out?
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feeling a bit sad because it is back to school tomorrow! these holidays have been awesome just relaxing and catching up with friends - good luck to Year 12's with your trials!!
I have a biology depth study that is due next week which I am two thirds of the way done; so I am happy with that. Though I have not finished any of my summary notes. None of them are up to date. I am a bit worried, but to be honest sometimes I really don't see the point in doing them? Jamon did a Q and A on the ATAR NOTES insta and someone asked about summary notes and it was noted that summary notes aren't really actively training your brain. For me I feel like it is just regurgating information. I do see the benefits of summarisation and all notes being compiled but it just takes such a long time! I feel like everyone does them and teachers expect them - is it really critical?
Anyways ^^^ that will be funny to look back on and If i actually do study notes at all ;D ;D
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Hey! Glad you almost finished your biology depth study!
I think summary notes are not useful if you just straight up copy the information from the textbook word for word. This is what I did last year for biology, and I remembered nothing.
What I'm doing now is that I'm actively trying new ways to getting information to my head, just like Jamon said, in the form of summaries. So what I do is that I read a particular chapter or a particular section relating to a syllabus dotpoint, and then writing down everything I remember without looking. I look back to the textbook and then fill in any missing information in a different colour. However, this is only one part of my revision process. I make sure to always review it a couple of days after doing this process. In a session, I look at a syllabus dot-point and then answer it in my head, looking back to my summary just after. It is important you space out this review session as well. This is known as spaced repetition and it is an effective way to memorise something. For example, what I'm doing now is that I do the process, review the next day and then review it 2-3 days after. This means that I'm recall the information when I'm on the verge of forgetting it, thereby making the memorisation process much more effective.
However, you should also try to do as many questions as you can find, and understand how to answer a particular question as well. Only do the above process if you don't remember anything at all. Questions will help you immensely if you know the content!
Hopefully that was helpful, let us know how your trials go!
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Hey! Glad you almost finished your biology depth study!
I think summary notes are not useful if you just straight up copy the information from the textbook word for word. This is what I did last year for biology, and I remembered nothing.
What I'm doing now is that I'm actively trying new ways to getting information to my head, just like Jamon said, in the form of summaries. So what I do is that I read a particular chapter or a particular section relating to a syllabus dotpoint, and then writing down everything I remember without looking. I look back to the textbook and then fill in any missing information in a different colour. However, this is only one part of my revision process. I make sure to always review it a couple of days after doing this process. In a session, I look at a syllabus dot-point and then answer it in my head, looking back to my summary just after. It is important you space out this review session as well. This is known as spaced repetition and it is an effective way to memorise something. For example, what I'm doing now is that I do the process, review the next day and then review it 2-3 days after. This means that I'm recall the information when I'm on the verge of forgetting it, thereby making the memorisation process much more effective.
However, you should also try to do as many questions as you can find, and understand how to answer a particular question as well. Only do the above process if you don't remember anything at all. Questions will help you immensely if you know the content!
Hopefully that was helpful, let us know how your trials go!
so helpful thank you!! I really like the idea of actually recalling it in your mind first then actually seeing where the gaps in your knowledge are; then you know what to work on. I am in year 11 at the moment and I think I am in the same trap you were in last year, especially for biology, of just copyingdown information. I definitely want to get out of this habit early.
Best of luck to you for your trials :D :D
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hello everyone!
it is nearing the end of term 3 year 11 and it is a very scary thought that next term I am in year 12!! I will be finally getting my senior jacket which I am so excited for and the common room as well.
Though now I am getting all my notifications for exams and I did not realise how long they went for (everyone in year 12 probably thinking just you wait ;D ;D). But for me 2 hours on maths is a very scary thought.
Also I have been a bit sad because Year 11 means many lasts as we can't do things in Year 12 cause we are so busy. My last year of public speaking, my last year of the school theatre production :'( :'( I am a person that absolutely hates change and traditions coming to an end. So I have been feeling down about that lately.
Anways now to study for prelims!!! :-[ :-[
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one more week till prelims. Slightly freaking out because last month I was getting hardly any shifts at work last month and I asked for more. Well I may of stabbed myself in the back because now I have a shift, friday, saturday, sunday and monday. The weekend before prelims!! I am freaking out and I don't know whether to turn down these shifts or still go. Because I still very unprepared for my exams, especially maths!!
If anyone has any advice that would be so very appreciated
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one more week till prelims. Slightly freaking out because last month I was getting hardly any shifts at work last month and I asked for more. Well I may of stabbed myself in the back because now I have a shift, friday, saturday, sunday and monday. The weekend before prelims!! I am freaking out and I don't know whether to turn down these shifts or still go. Because I still very unprepared for my exams, especially maths!!
If anyone has any advice that would be so very appreciated
School should always come before work - I can't stress this enough because work will always find someone to cover your shift :-)
Best of luck for prelims!!
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FINALLY the end of prelims! I am so happy that they are finally over but I know only the 'best' is yet to come :P
Really challenging but loved not having to go to school except for when we had an exam so the flexibility was really good.
I will update how I went when I get all results but this is how I think I went:
- ENGLISH: Sonnet's from the Portuguese by EBB. Pretty confident on this one. I love English so hoping my marks reflect this and the exam was bearable.
- DRAMA: was on the same day as English! Already knew the exam questions, we had to write two essays in 1.5 hours. I am confident in my essay questions I am just hoping that I actually answered the question properly
- BIOLOGY: honestly have no idea how to feel about this one. I am happy with how I went but i do know that I could've gone much better. I really do not know what to expect.
- MATHS ADVANCED:wow this one was interesting! :-X I did get my results and I passed and topped my class which I am happy with, but again there are so many silly mistakes that I understand now but in the exam I just forgot about. I was worried that I was going to have to drop to standard after my prelim results, but my teacher said he does not think I should be dropping so I am pretty content with that!
- SOR: probably my favourite exam. ;D the marking criteria virtually told us everything we needed to know so I went in there with my quotes memorised and yea I am pretty happy. I just hope I don't jinx myself and get bad results
- LEGAL:I am dropping this subject solely because of my teacher so I wasn't too worried if I didn't do as well as I usually do, I did try, but I went into the exam and it was pretty good :) I am happy that I went well, or think I did even though I am dropping
- SAC: last but not least society and culture. I am pretty overwhelmed with his one. I was expecting the exam to be pretty easy and I had my points for my essay question, that I thought it would be on, all planned out. Well to my surprise it was definitely not what I had planned for. The essay question was very broad and the essay was so hard to manipulate and support with evidence. Thats the only thing with SAC, it is not straight forward or cookie cutter, you really have to think outside the box.
overall I am feeling pretty content where I am, and at the end of the day it is what it is and there isn't anything I can do to go back and change it anyways. :)
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Well Done PeriPeri101! Sounds like you put a lot of effort into the exams :D, also congrats on topping your maths class too!
Coolmate 8)
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Hey PeriPeri101! Have you started Year 12? How are you finding things? ;D
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Long time no see!
I have been so busy with my first lot of assessments for Year 12. This term is going so quickly!
Some major things that have happened for me this term:
- we got out year 12 jackets!!! wooooo. but we can only wear them two days a week :'(
- we also got a common room kitchen! it's pretty cool
If anyone has been following this thread they know how much I hated legal, not because of the content but because of the teacher. I was very surpirised with my end of year 11 report when she gave me a B (yes i know this is still a good mark ;D). When I asked her why she said 'Oh you want to come back to legal already?' Yea nah!
I think it's just reflective of how bad it was because a major chunk of people dropped, including top achievers.
Anyways. I had my first lot of assessments for Year 12 which I have not got my results for but this is how I thought I went:
ENGLISH: I honestly don't know. I managed to put in all my memorised quotes and the points I wanted to make. I just hope the essay actually answers the question. It was on 1984 and human experiences
SOR: Don't know how to feel about this one either! Pretty happy but the teachers at my school mark very harshly with SOR and our school always goes pretty well, so we will have to see
MATHS ADV: take home assignment which I spent SOOO much time on. So I really hope that is reflective in my marks
BIO: assignment at home for a model on Protein srtucture. I used the app ProCreate to create a time lapse drawing whilst my voice over the top explaining the processes. We also had a written component in exam style in class which went pretty good as well
SAC: ICT presentation on a PIP proposal and what I was wanting to do. Was quite straightforward so hopefully I get a decent mark for that
DRAMA: we have performances and written essays that are open book that we do each week that accumlate to our overall mark
Overall I am pretty happy with how it is going. I am finding it pretty tough finding that balance between work, school and being able to go to the gym and all my extra curricular activities. I have been getting stressed as I know this is petty but still on L's and everyone is getting their P's and I am so behind!!! Anyways that is my rant done and dusted ;)
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UPDATE
with only one week and a bit till we go back I am slightly freaking out!!
I realised I never updated my first HSC assessments results so here they are:
ENGLISH ADV: 16/20. I have no idea whether to be happy or sad with this one, it was in class essay on 1984. Like it's okay?? But I just wasn't satisfied
SOR: 17/20. Pretty happy with this one! Can't complain
MATHS ADV: 26/28 and ranked 8 in the year !!!! I was so happy with this ;D ;D
BIO: Part A video assignment: 20/20
Part B exam : 8/8 for one q and 5/8 for 2nd q. Pretty happy with this one too
SAC: 16/20. Not happy with this one. But I know I didn't put in the amount of effort I could've
DRAMA: we have just been working on our IPs!
Now I am just focusing on trying to get all my notes done and holiday homework. :( these holidays have gone WAY too quick
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Now I am just focusing on trying to get all my notes done and holiday homework. :( these holidays have gone WAY too quick
That's a mood! Congratulations on some great scores! What are you doing for your IP in drama?
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That's a mood! Congratulations on some great scores! What are you doing for your IP in drama?
I am doing a performance! I was inspired by a play that I saw when I went to the NIDA open day called pool (no water)!
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Update time.
This post will definitely be very interesting looking back on.
It has been a C R A Z Y couple of weeks. My Task 2 Assessments are nearly over... they are essentially exams but with the title 'assessments.' My last exam is tomorrow, but i even have the option of not doing it if I don't want to.
Covid-19 has most certainly shaken up everything this year. Some exams I have had only 50% are actually showing up. I am still doing the exams because they are good practice and I want results and feedback; but I am not staying at school other than that.
These last days of Year 12 are being completely turned around. I am really trying to look on the bright side of things, but still feel like I am being robbed of my senior year and missing out on so many things. Year 12 camp, excursions, talks, formal, graduation, schoolies and even school itself are things I am not sure I will be doing this year. A lot of my friends feel the exact same way, it's really heartbreaking but the fact is, is that we are safe at the moment so thats all matters.
But it will be definitely interesting to look back and see how this year ends up panning out, because at the moment the future is very uncertain