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March 29, 2024, 02:13:28 am

Author Topic: Katie's Year 12 Journey  (Read 6889 times)

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KatieWolf

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Re: Katie's Year 12 Journey
« Reply #15 on: December 22, 2019, 10:58:07 pm »
+7
Another holiday update!
I wouldn't normally do another holiday update, but I feel the need to write down how I am feeling about next year.

I'm pretty positive I can reach my goals as described in my introductory post. However, I am a person with very high expectations for myself. I would love a 90+ ATAR, but I am extremely afraid I won't get my dream goal of 95+ no matter how much work I apply!

I met a very lovely Year 12 student from my specialist math class who averaged high 90s in every single SAC. I was so certain that they would get a high study score, but they told me they got a 30 raw. That scares me considering they were probably the most dedicated student in the entire Year 12 cohort!
Although I want around a 34-35 raw for spesh, I am afraid that I might not be able to achieve that. My teacher LOVES to spoonfeed and gives us SACs that are very very similar to the revision, so it's not hard to achieve high. In saying that, we don't really apply ourselves properly. He skips some topics due to the lack of time we have since spesh is such a long course, so I am very scared I will walk out my exams feeling horrible. Hopefully I can get my goal with enough commitment outside of class!

To be completely honest, I wouldn't say I go to an absolutely amazing school. It's great in terms of what facilities are available, etc. However, in terms of academic excellence, our school isn't exactly the best. I will admit that I am not happy with my teachers for next year as they can be quite unbothered... However, I do majority of my studies outside of class, so I hope that doesn't make too huge of an impact!

I also decided I wanted to get an English tutor. I was going to get a tutor for methods/spesh but I really can't afford it and I have my peers to help me if needed. I've been highly recommended by a Year 12 friend of mine to a lovely tutor who seems very dedicated and intelligent, so I can't wait to see what she can provide me and how I can improve! I've never been given much feedback on my performance by past English teachers, so I am very glad to know I can finally receive detailed feedback on my work!

I had recently ordered checkpoints brand new for spesh and chem. Browsing through ATARNotes, many have been advised that checkpoints are extremely helpful especially for the majority of subjects I am doing. So now I have the 2020 checkpoints for spesh and chem, as well as the 2018 checkpoints for HHD and 2017 for methods given by some very kind Year 12s! I find that even keeping the older versions will allow me to fully apply myself without memorising questions when it comes to practicing recent exams, so I am glad I grabbed those copies!
I have been working very hard for the past week. The start of these holidays I wasn't very motivated to give myself a headstart to next year until I recieved my biology study score. I definitely overestimated myself and after writing my goals down I have become SO motivated to do well.
My goals for these summer holidays is the following:
- To complete all given holiday homework (pretty obvious)
- To complete all of my HHD Unit 3 flashcards
- To at least try and complete all exercise questions for each subject
- Try to write at least 2-3 practice language analysis essays from past VCAA exams (so I can compare at the end of the year next year and see how much I've improved!)
- Watch Edrolo if I can't be stuffed
- Write notes for the beginning 1-2 chapters of HHD and Chemistry

I am so very passionate to get the ATAR of my dreams and I am really willing to do whatever it takes to get the score I want! I've always enjoyed learning and going to school every day makes me very happy, so I really REALLY hope I can end Year 12 on a good note and see my ATAR with a huge smile on my face!
2019: Biology [39]
2020: English | HHD | Math Methods | Specialist Math | Chemistry

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marble2

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Re: Katie's Year 12 Journey
« Reply #16 on: December 23, 2019, 07:56:11 pm »
+2
congrats on your amazing study score Katie! you sound super motivated and dedicated and I have no doubts your hard work will pay off!!
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KatieWolf

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Re: Katie's Year 12 Journey
« Reply #17 on: January 10, 2020, 06:29:25 pm »
+7
"6 months from now you will wish that you have started today"
This is a quote I found while seeking for motivation during the holidays to get ahead of my subjects and start studying while I can.
Although I have been notified on many occasions to "not get too ahead of myself", I still feel it is necessary for me to begin studying for my Unit 3 SACs by creating revision documents, flashcards, etc.
I've completed all of my holiday homework as of January 10th, and I don't go back to school until February 3rd. I've been enjoying my break, however, I feel like I could empower myself by going even further.
So, I've begun writing notes for all of my subjects. I'm writing my Unit 3 notes for Chemistry and HHD so I don't have to waste time when a SAC approaches making the notes instead of actually studying them. I have a habit of making sure everything is neat and concise for me to read.
Methods and spesh, I'm not exactly sure what I want to do. I would do more questions but we're doing them in class anyway and if I get it all done now I won't be able to refresh my memory throughout the year with new questions. I'm thinking perhaps I should find practice exams and begin them, and hope that I don't remember my answers at the end of the year?
English I am going to start getting into the habit of reading for leisure. I find that my vocabulary and expression isn't very good, and the only other way I can improve my abilities is through reading. I hope to find books that can assist me; please reply if you have any book suggestions to help!
I'm not feeling as confident as I was initially. Now that I've exposed myself to the homework and particularly the rest of the course for my subjects, I'm not exactly sure if I'm going to get the scores I want due to how difficult the work is. I am really worried that I will lose motivation.
I also haven't been feeling well. I have insomnia and anaemia and, although I take supplements daily, I don't seem to feel energetic throughout the day at all, meaning I'm not exactly motivated to do work. I hope that this improves when school starts!
I also recently enrolled for tutoring for English and Chemistry. I'm doing Chemistry from Tutesmart with my friend, so I'm very excited to use their facilities and learn a lot more about how the program works!

The next time I post will most likely be a week or two after school begins, so let's hope I get everything I want to done these holidays and I remain consistent throughout the first weeks of school!
2019: Biology [39]
2020: English | HHD | Math Methods | Specialist Math | Chemistry

KLD 2020

Evolio

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Re: Katie's Year 12 Journey
« Reply #18 on: January 12, 2020, 03:36:02 pm »
+3
Hey Katie!  ;D
Wow, that quote is really motivating! I'm going to imprint it in my mind to boost my motivation levels whenever I'm not feeling it.
Quote
I've completed all of my holiday homework as of January 10th, and I don't go back to school until February 3rd.
Wow, that's awesome! You're super organised!

Quote
I'm not feeling as confident as I was initially. Now that I've exposed myself to the homework and particularly the rest of the course for my subjects, I'm not exactly sure if I'm going to get the scores I want due to how difficult the work is. I am really worried that I will lose motivation.
Yeah, I can relate to this so much! But, you know what? We've just got to work as hard as we can and never give up because if we do, we won't even have the chance of getting those magnificent scores. No matter how many times we fail, we've just got to get back up and keep trying like your life depends on it. Maybe it does.

Quote
I also haven't been feeling well. I have insomnia and anaemia and, although I take supplements daily, I don't seem to feel energetic throughout the day at all, meaning I'm not exactly motivated to do work. I hope that this improves when school starts!
I hope you feel energetic and motivated soon!

See you!



KatieWolf

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Re: Katie's Year 12 Journey
« Reply #19 on: January 13, 2020, 06:11:01 pm »
+1
Hey Katie!  ;D
Wow, that quote is really motivating! I'm going to imprint it in my mind to boost my motivation levels whenever I'm not feeling it.Wow, that's awesome! You're super organised!
Yeah, I can relate to this so much! But, you know what? We've just got to work as hard as we can and never give up because if we do, we won't even have the chance of getting those magnificent scores. No matter how many times we fail, we've just got to get back up and keep trying like your life depends on it. Maybe it does.
I hope you feel energetic and motivated soon!

See you!

Hey Evolio! Thanks so much for your support, I really appreciate your kind words! Best of luck to you, let's smash this year!
2019: Biology [39]
2020: English | HHD | Math Methods | Specialist Math | Chemistry

KLD 2020

KatieWolf

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Re: Katie's Year 12 Journey
« Reply #20 on: February 08, 2020, 03:28:58 pm »
+6
Update Time!
I survived my first week of Year 12! Hooray!
Here are my thoughts thus far:
- Things have been running pretty smoothly. I've been getting ahead for a lot of my subjects.
- I've made all of my AOS1 notes for chemistry and I'm currently ahead in terms of textbook questions and content, so I'm feeling great about chemistry!
- HHD I could perhaps push myself further and do the same thing that I did with chemistry since I'm getting a bit lazy. I'm definitely trying to write up my AOS1 notes this weekend and perhaps next week.
- Methods I've been keeping up to date with the content and I've gone 1-2 sub-chapters ahead. I don't want to get too ahead of myself since I want to go at a steady pace.
- Spesh is the same deal with methods
- English has been very stressful although I have been trying really hard to write analysis notes for my texts.

My tutors are lovely for English and chemistry so I'm very happy with where I am standing :)
Things I am struggling with:
- I find that I am a very competitive person. One particular individual in my methods/spesh class has already completed both textbooks back to front and is already working on practice exams. I try not to think much of it but I constantly think to myself, "should I be working ahead too?" I'm hoping I'll get ahead at some point so I can begin my practice exams early-mid July!
- In a similar fashion, I'm obsessed with the idea of constantly working towards something. I'm so tired already with how many notes I've been collating, how many questions I've been doing and overall I think I've gone a bit overboard for the first week of school! I should definitely tone it down.
- I find that I am already overwhelmed with stress at the fact that there are so many well-performing students in my cohort. One major goal I have this year is getting dux, however, I am against so many competitors that I am stressing myself out WAY too much about it.

Hopefully this stress subsides and this obsession with performance does too!  :)
2019: Biology [39]
2020: English | HHD | Math Methods | Specialist Math | Chemistry

KLD 2020

Evolio

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Re: Katie's Year 12 Journey
« Reply #21 on: February 08, 2020, 05:44:37 pm »
+2
That's great about Chemistry! You're really organised with your notes and your chapter questions!
Quote
- In a similar fashion, I'm obsessed with the idea of constantly working towards something. I'm so tired already with how many notes I've been collating, how many questions I've been doing and overall I think I've gone a bit overboard for the first week of school! I should definitely tone it down.
- I find that I am already overwhelmed with stress at the fact that there are so many well-performing students in my cohort. One major goal I have this year is getting dux, however, I am against so many competitors that I am stressing myself out WAY too much about it.
I can relate to this so much! I've been doing so many Specialist questions this week and it's made me feel drained already and it's only the second week of school! What I found helped me was to just chill out on one of the weekdays, not do any work, and just watch a movie. That made me feel relaxed. You should take a break doing something you like, even if it's a tiny one, to relax you and this will help you recharge your mind. Also, about the well-performing students, I can relate to that a lot! Being constantly surrounded by EXTREME high achievers makes me feel very anxious sometimes and it makes me so stressed thinking about how hard I need to work and what I need to do to surpass them.
It's great that you're aiming for dux! That's really inspiring and I know that you have the potential to achieve it!  ;D
Looking forward to future updates!

J_Rho

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Re: Katie's Year 12 Journey
« Reply #22 on: February 08, 2020, 05:57:00 pm »
+2
Here are my thoughts thus far:
- Things have been running pretty smoothly. I've been getting ahead for a lot of my subjects.
- I've made all of my AOS1 notes for chemistry and I'm currently ahead in terms of textbook questions and content, so I'm feeling great about chemistry!
- HHD I could perhaps push myself further and do the same thing that I did with chemistry since I'm getting a bit lazy. I'm definitely trying to write up my AOS1 notes this weekend and perhaps next week.
- Methods I've been keeping up to date with the content and I've gone 1-2 sub-chapters ahead. I don't want to get too ahead of myself since I want to go at a steady pace.
- Spesh is the same deal with methods
- English has been very stressful although I have been trying really hard to write analysis notes for my texts.
Oh wow! It's great you're getting ahead, good luck with your hhd stuff but make sure to take care of yourself!
- I find that I am already overwhelmed with stress at the fact that there are so many well-performing students in my cohort. One major goal I have this year is getting dux, however, I am against so many competitors that I am stressing myself out WAY too much about it.
Oh man I relate to this so so much!
— VCE —
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KatieWolf

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Re: Katie's Year 12 Journey
« Reply #23 on: February 08, 2020, 06:22:40 pm »
0
I can relate to this so much! I've been doing so many Specialist questions this week and it's made me feel drained already and it's only the second week of school! What I found helped me was to just chill out on one of the weekdays, not do any work, and just watch a movie. That made me feel relaxed. You should take a break doing something you like, even if it's a tiny one, to relax you and this will help you recharge your mind. Also, about the well-performing students, I can relate to that a lot! Being constantly surrounded by EXTREME high achievers makes me feel very anxious sometimes and it makes me so stressed thinking about how hard I need to work and what I need to do to surpass them.
It's great that you're aiming for dux! That's really inspiring and I know that you have the potential to achieve it!  ;D
Thank you so much! It gets difficult balancing my life with school work but I'm sure with practice and organisation I can cope :)

Oh wow! It's great you're getting ahead, good luck with your hhd stuff but make sure to take care of yourself!Oh man I relate to this so so much!
I'll try my best!
It's great to see I'm not the only one feeling this way in regards to being the top-performer and competing against everyone else!
2019: Biology [39]
2020: English | HHD | Math Methods | Specialist Math | Chemistry

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talic

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Re: Katie's Year 12 Journey
« Reply #24 on: February 08, 2020, 06:36:31 pm »
+1
Hey! Just wanted to say good luck for your studies and everything, I'll definitely be following this thread! I just read yours and was motivated to make my own!

KatieWolf

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Re: Katie's Year 12 Journey
« Reply #25 on: February 08, 2020, 07:37:10 pm »
0
Hey! Just wanted to say good luck for your studies and everything, I'll definitely be following this thread! I just read yours and was motivated to make my own!
Thank you so much! Good luck to you too :) I'm glad to see that I inspired you to make your own! Let's get through this together  8)
2019: Biology [39]
2020: English | HHD | Math Methods | Specialist Math | Chemistry

KLD 2020

ashmi

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Re: Katie's Year 12 Journey
« Reply #26 on: February 08, 2020, 07:56:20 pm »
+1
Hey Katie! Just found your journal and I'm really enjoying the content on it ;D

It is so good to see the amount of work you have accomplished this week! Be super proud of yourself cause that is an amazing achievement. :D

- I find that I am already overwhelmed with stress at the fact that there are so many well-performing students in my cohort. One major goal I have this year is getting dux, however, I am against so many competitors that I am stressing myself out WAY too much about it.

Hopefully this stress subsides and this obsession with performance does too!  :)
I can relate to this on a spiritual level here. Make sure you take a break every once in a while and look after yourself! In the end, if you do your best effort that is all that really counts. Aiming for DUX is amazing and I can see that you definitely have the skills and potential to get there!

Keep us updated on any new things that come up this year :)

KatieWolf

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Re: Katie's Year 12 Journey
« Reply #27 on: February 20, 2020, 05:32:54 pm »
+10
My motivation has really gone down the drain.

- English: I've actually began to grow a liking for the subject now that I try to delve deeper into the ideas, but I still find myself so unbothered to writing practice essays. Luckily i've been up to date and i'm still writing about 1-2 practice pieces per week, but I have a bad feeling that will drop off soon.
- Methods: Oh my god I actually cannot stand methods right now. It is so INCREDIBLY boring and I just can't find myself enjoying it right now.
- Spesh: Definitely my favourite subject at the moment. Sounds a bit funny since Methods is my least favourite, but it really just depends on the math topic. Right now we are covering complex number equations, which is one of many topics I enjoy doing.
- HHD: Very boring but not unbearable. I have my SAC next monday which I am feeling half confident about, so hopefully this weekend I can gather more motivation to study it more.
- Chemistry: Chemistry is looking good for me at the moment. I'm not stressed about falling behind and I relatively enjoy the subject thus far.

My goals for the next term:
- To achieve a 25/25 on the first HHD Sac
- To achieve at least 85% or above in the English creative SAC
- To continue writing 1-2 practice essays per week for English
- To be ahead in all my subjects and complete all set class work
- To continually revise over my HHD content through flashcards and notes to save the burden at the end of the year
2019: Biology [39]
2020: English | HHD | Math Methods | Specialist Math | Chemistry

KLD 2020

KatieWolf

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Re: Katie's Year 12 Journey
« Reply #28 on: March 01, 2020, 11:16:47 am »
+7
Last week I completed my HHD Sac.
My initial goal was to score a 25/25
Do I feel confident I'll achieve that?
I think it's possible, although I'm not one-hundred per cent sure.

I found the sac to actually be quite difficult. I studied so hard over the weekend:
- I completed all textbook questions
- Completed all edrolo videos
- Completed the JacPlus studyon questions
- Completed checkpoints
- Went through flashcards at least a solid 20-30 times
Yet, I still left the sac room not confident.
I could be overthinking it. Last year, I cried over my 3/4 biology SAC because I thought I got everything wrong, when I scored 100% in the end anyway. I'm hoping that will be the same case this year!

Additionally, I have my english creative SAC tomorrow.
To be completely honest, I am not confident with it at all. I've written out my creative and statement, but I feel like it doesn't give a "WOW" factor. I can't explain it, but it just feels so dull when I read it? I've shown my friends and they've all given feedback, yet I am still doubting myself.
Hopefully things work out well.

In terms of my other studies:
- I'm falling slightly behind in spesh due to how much time I've been dedicating to HHD and english in the past week.
- Methods and Chemistry are okay since I've completed questions and notes ahead of the class.

My new goals for the upcoming weeks:
- Achieve that 25/25 for HHD
- Achieve at least 85% for my English creative
- Catch up with Spesh again
- Complete my chapter 5 and 6 notes for Chemistry before we begin chapter 4
- Finish chapter 4 for Methods
- Write at least 1-2 essays/language analysis pieces per week (now that creative is technically over)
2019: Biology [39]
2020: English | HHD | Math Methods | Specialist Math | Chemistry

KLD 2020

KatieWolf

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Re: Katie's Year 12 Journey
« Reply #29 on: March 20, 2020, 08:31:46 pm »
+3
A positive update! Well, mostly positive
So, my goal stated last post was to achieve a 25/25 for my HHD sac and above 85% for my English creative piece.
- I ended up getting 25/25 for HHD
- I also ended up getting 85%+ for English.
I'm not 100% sure as to what I got for English since my teacher hasn't posted our results yet, but she told me I definitely got over that percentage!
Overall, I'm pretty happy about that. It wasn't much of a surprise for HHD since the sac was pretty easy and although I felt slightly unconfident on 1-2 questions I scored full marks anyway!
I am SUPER surprised about English. I did NOT see that coming. I'm super super happy about that


- The not-so-good news is that I did my chemistry SAC. And I bombed it.
I left the room crying for the rest of the day. When I tell you I genuinely think I failed, I mean it. Perhaps not fail in terms of not passing the outcome, but below 50% for sure. I'd be so happy if I got 50%+ at this point.
I don't know what happened. Chemistry is one of those subjects for me where I try super hard and still get a bad score. I did every checkpoint question, every topic test question, every textbook question. I watched every video, read every page of notes, etc. I pretty much put my 100% into it for a solid 2 weeks straight, yet I still feel it didn't pay off.
I feel a bit better knowing like half the class also started crying from how hard it was. I felt it was a little unfair in a way - I believe the first SAC is meant to test knowledge from chapters 1-6, but it was pretty much 90% chapter 3. Happens to be chapter 3 is my worst topic. Pretty sad  :(

Oh well, it's only one sac anyway. I know I shouldn't let it get to me too much, and whatever score I get is just an indication for me to try even harder next time and rethink my study methods!

My goals for this week are:
- Achieve 25/25 for the next HHD sac on Monday
- Catch up on my spesh questions
- Catch up on my methods questions
- Write notes for chemistry ahead of class
- Finish theme/scene summaries and analysis notes and character notes for English (We're studying the play Extinction now!)
« Last Edit: March 20, 2020, 08:34:57 pm by KatieWolf »
2019: Biology [39]
2020: English | HHD | Math Methods | Specialist Math | Chemistry

KLD 2020