whys' VCE journal

[ashmi]

Hey whys,

It's alright to feel the way you do and I do agree with Choco, Evolio and Geoo.

Everything will be alright. There is no such thing as anything being set in stone till you do the final exam. You can DO IT! You can of course get that 40+! The one thing about the VCAA system is that even if you slip up here and there, it still let's you do well in the end.

You have set yourself out really well already so don't let one thing bring you down. We all know that feeling when you try desperately hard and don't even get a score that's marginally close to what your effort shows.

Keep looking forward. Whatever you do, don't look down. We believe in you. We always will, no matter what happens. Tonight, try to minimise work, fill up on food and get an early night's sleep. 💕

You will be fine and if you ever need a hand, AN here will help you out anyday ❤

[whys]

Hey guys,

Thanks for the motivation and encouragement! I feel much better and I'm ready to fight English (and win). There's always time to improve! It's important to be positive and optimistic, because you don't achieve anything from crying about things that have already happened. On another note, I really hope our year twelve camp isn't cancelled because of the coronavirus. So far it isn't, but the future is pretty unpredictable.

I don't think I've said this on my journal (or anywhere, for that matter), but I'm a fan of organic chemistry and I despise inorganic chemistry. Which means thermochemistry and electrochemistry can literally leave, thanks. BUT, my amazing chemistry teacher has changed everything! I think chemistry is really interesting now (even the inorganic bits) and I'm really interested in what we are currently learning (thermochem). When we did electrochem at the start of the year, I knew I wouldn't like it. But as classes went by, I found myself more and more intrigued by chemistry. It was originally my least favourite subject, but let's take a look at the stand now:

EDIT; I'll add the positions of the subjects I did last year!
1. Psychology
2. Biology
3. Chemistry
4. Methods
5. Food Studies
6. -
...
100. English

I don't think any subject will overtake biology at any point of time this year. Methods and chem will probably interchange throughout the year. English will always be where it belongs, at the very bottom. I didn't expect to love chem this much! But I guess teachers change everything. A really intelligent teacher who loves what they do AND are amazing at teaching are very rare to come by these days, but these are the types of teachers I have for bio and chem, and I'm very grateful for that. They make classes worth going to (not that I skip other classes, but you know what I mean). I don't think having an amazing teacher in methods would have changed anything for me, apart from the fact that I would have probably been better at the subject. I always will like maths and no teacher can change that for me. I liked English last year; I really did. But now... let's just say that teachers can really change your perspective and your interest in a particular subject!

[Chocolatemilkshake]

Glad to see you're already feeling more positive whys and YES Biology is the BEST!! (curious to see how you'd rate the subjects you did last year against this years subjects?)
I hope your camp goes ahead!

[whys]

small update~

I feel really anxious about all this coronavirus jazz and what that means for VCE students, especially since ScoMo said:
Mr Morrison said if a school was to close today, it would likely not reopen until September at the earliest.
"That means the disruption that would occur from the closure of schools around this country, make no mistake, would be severe."

This just makes me even more worried, because what would that mean for us? Would we end up graduating with the class of 2021 or just suck it up and complete VCE as normal? Because I highly doubt VCAA will do anything substantial about this. I feel scared and alone. I know there are thousands of students out there in the same boat as me, and thousands more who are affected even more. It's such bad timing and luck that the virus comes down the year we're graduating. I understand why school closure is important and will be implemented in the near future, but it makes me worried seeing as it's so unpredictable and no one has any back-up plans. Medicine seems like a goal too far to reach now. Everything seems like a goal too far to reach now.

[Geoo]

I feel really anxious about all this coronavirus jazz and what that means for VCE students, especially since ScoMo said:
Mr Morrison said if a school was to close today, it would likely not reopen until September at the earliest.
"That means the disruption that would occur from the closure of schools around this country, make no mistake, would be severe."

This just makes me even more worried, because what would that mean for us? Would we end up graduating with the class of 2021 or just suck it up and complete VCE as normal? Because I highly doubt VCAA will do anything substantial about this. I feel scared and alone. I know there are thousands of students out there in the same boat as me, and thousands more who are affected even more. It's such bad timing and luck that the virus comes down the year we're graduating. I understand why school closure is important and will be implemented in the near future, but it makes me worried seeing as it's so unpredictable and no one has any back-up plans. Medicine seems like a goal too far to reach now. Everything seems like a goal too far to reach now.

It is 100% okay to feel like this, it's a very scary time. The uncertainty of it all combined with it being our last year really is a cause for anxiety, so your not alone. I already know my school is being affect, but i'm lucky that I am already online. The best thing to do it just keep open communication with your school, and be prepared for anything. They may shut down schools to everyone except year 11's and 12's. Who knows. It will definitely be an odd year but it will work out in the end. I do know that we won't be going to 2021 unless some people would like to repeat year 12, VCAA still hasn't said much so we won't know until then.

Try not to jump to conclusions about medicine yet, there are going to be many people in the same boat as you! I'm sure you will get there. Enjoy the rest of your week, and remember to wash your hands !

[ArtyDreams]

I 100% share (like many of us) your anxiety whys! Its totally normal to feel like this. Its a new sitaution we are all in, and unfortunately, we need to adapt to this 'new normal'

Please look after yourself and stay focused. Its so hard not knowing what the future holds, but know that I'm sure we will all be supported somehow, and will get through our final year of school. (eventually)

And stick with your goals! You never know whats going to happen.

 

[TigerMum]

Hey whys,

As a few people have already said, it is totally OK to feel anxious or nervous about the current state of things, I've been feeling the same way as you!
Try to keep in contact with your teachers and email them as much as you need to, I'm sure they'd love to assist you seeing as they aren't teaching at school.
Finally, I have a lot of confidence that you will be able to achieve your goals this year if you stick at it. Your absolutely amazing result last year says you are not only capable but an extremely persistent worker.
Best of luck for the rest of the term, we're all in this together! 

[whys]

Best of luck for the rest of the term, we're all in this together! 

Thank you TigerMum . We'll get through this together.

Please look after yourself and stay focused. Its so hard not knowing what the future holds, but know that I'm sure we will all be supported somehow, and will get through our final year of school. (eventually)

Haha, love the 'eventually'. Who knows when we will graduate?

Try not to jump to conclusions about medicine yet, there are going to be many people in the same boat as you! I'm sure you will get there. Enjoy the rest of your week, and remember to wash your hands !

Thanks Geoo! Remember to wash your hands too!
I have a bio SAC on Wednesday! I'm sort of excited, sort of nervous? I still need to get through checkpoints and practice SACs. I hope I can do really well on this SAC! On the negative side, I am so behind in methods and I need to catch up like a whole chapter before Monday since my methods teacher checks homework every week (which really sucks). I also have to write an argument analysis essay for homework, as well as an extra body paragraph. I hope I can get all this done while also studying sufficiently for bio. I'm also curious to see how the next week and term 2 will pan out.

[whys]

Hi everyone! There was a really short gap between the previous update and this one, but I'm quite annoyed so I want to type this out haha. In the hypothetical situation that term 2 won't run due to lockdown, my school is letting people do SACs they miss next week at home. This means people aren't going to come to school this week so they can just do the SAC at home and cheat. I'm really really annoyed about this. I understand the people who are staying home as they are sick, etc, but to those who stay home on purpose so they can cheat? That's so unfair. The rankings will be completely messed up. Even though its the exam that matters more, it's still a horrible idea because rankings DO matter. They DO affect your study score. Why can't they just make the people who miss the SAC come to school and do it? There's not going to be like 100+ students so it's easy to distance them, and you only need to supervise them for an hour. I mean, this is all just in the hypothetical situation that schools go into lockdown and term 2 runs online, but I'm still. So. Pissed.

Okay, on a slightly more positive note, I'm feeling quite prepared for the bio SAC! Just gotta catch up on methods and do the English homework. The content in bio is super enjoyable, just like in psych! I think they're almost equal in terms of how much I like the content (but psych trumps bio by just a little bit, haha sorry bio). I'm really keen to start cell signalling and immunity! (We've already started it, but what I mean is properly study it after the SAC is over). DNA manipulation/nucleic acid stuff is cool too, which we'll be doing in term 3, so still gotta wait a while! I haven't even looked at chemistry for over a week, however. I promise I won't neglect you, chem, in the school holidays! .

Let's get to the UCAT. My practice calendar looks very much like a mosaic (on Medify it shades in the days you've done lots of practice, some practice, little practice and no practice differently) as it's been really on and off. I'll probably end up grinding in the holidays, since the maximum amount of practice I can do for UCAT on school days is around an hour. Any more, and it eats up too much of my time and I fall behind in my other subjects (I'm already behind anyway though). I really want to do a few mock exams in the holidays, so I need to get as much practice as possible to improve! I suck at AR, as always, but all the other sections are going great. 14 seconds per question is just not enough for me, I need a minimum of a minute to fully work out the pattern, which really sucks, so I'm only really expecting like a 400-500 scaled score for that section (which is really bad, but what can I do?) . I'll keep trying my best and hope that I can magically improve in AR.

I hope everyone has a great week, and hang in there, the school holidays are almost here!

[ashmi]

Hey whys!

In the hypothetical situation that term 2 won't run due to lockdown, my school is letting people do SACs they miss next week at home. This means people aren't going to come to school this week so they can just do the SAC at home and cheat. I'm really really annoyed about this. I understand the people who are staying home as they are sick, etc, but to those who stay home on purpose so they can cheat? That's so unfair. The rankings will be completely messed up.

This is seriously messed up! How on earth are they going to do authentication checks and 100% make sure that no one is cheating? Doesn't that just ruin the whole point of a SAC in the first place? I would be annoyed with this too because they mean so much, even when it comes to the final exam. They might have to change the SACs to instead of being a test like SAC to an assignment based type because there is no way they can make sure everyone is being honest.

On the other hand, it's amazing to hear you feel confident for your Bio SAC!!   Good luck and I'm sure you will do an amazing job!
Also, love the progress you are making with your UCAT practise~ You are doing a beautiful job already and everything will pay off.

Thanks for updating whys and I hope to see another one soon~

[Chocolatemilkshake]

Hi whys,
I agree with Ash, that's actually ridiculous and defeats the purpose of SACs. Hopefully it doesn't have to come to that but if it does, I'm sure you can bring it up with your school, surely they realise people will cheat.

I'm glad you are enjoying bio and I'm sure you'll smash the sac! Also, I always feel inspired when I hear the work that you are putting into the UCAT and I promise that it will totally be worth it in the end!!
Enjoy the final week 

[Geoo]

Ok, so I am going to go against the grain and say that doing the SACs at home isn't really that bad. I have been doing my SACs at home for years at VSV, and it is quite a common practice with Distance ed students and other types of online schools all over Australia. I mean, there is this guy in my English class who is doing his VCE via VSV in south Africa, where he gets his SAC sent to him via email (his parents get it).
There are certain measures in place, such as the SAC is given or emailed to their supervisor (generally a parent), and it is there responsibility to ensure that the SAC is done correctly. It gets two authentication signatures and then that's it.

I am not saying that there won't be any cheating, there are always going to be those people that do it, but it is a system that has been done for many years, and it all really comes down to the exam. I like to think of it as even if you cheated and looked at your textbook or got extra time, you still need to know what you are doing in order to do well in the SACs, so I really don't think it is that big of a deal.

This is just my two cents though, and your frustration is valid.

[whys]

Thanks ashmi and CM! Also, thanks for the input Geoo. I'm not as mad anymore - I guess the school really has no other option except for doing those SACs at home. People could cheat, but it's beyond our control.
Howdy, friends! It's day 2 of quarantine holidays and I really needed the break! I basically have done nothing the past few days, and I'm not sorry (despite that pile of schoolwork that's getting bigger and bigger...). I also have some good news: I seem to be improving (slowly) at AR! Maybe I can bring my score up to at least a scaled 600-700 by exam time (if the UCAT even happens this year). I've been pretty slack with everything, but I guess that's to be expected during the holidays? At least I'm not playing hours of video games like I was last year .

I'm going to continue preparing for the bio SAC throughout the holidays, as well as work on my argument analysis skills for the next SAC. I also need to catch up with chemistry, which is the worst at the moment because it's the subject I'm most behind in. I really want to get ahead in all my subjects before term 2 because I hate being behind. Since I can't really go out, unless it's for groceries or something like that, I'm trying to make the most out of each day. I've been going walking every day around the lake in front of my house and hopefully, I can keep doing this and not be a lazy potato like I usually am. I also tried to be healthy, but I gave up on that because it's never going to work haha.

I started drawing today! I made some swatches with ink washes (I use Winsor and Newton) and started experimenting. I didn't start a piece yet - I'm still getting into the groove since it's been so long since I've drawn anything. I'm a bit rusty! I hope I'll have a piece finished by the end of this week. I'm also planning a painting on this really big canvas we have at home that my mum's been telling me to paint on for ages so she can hang it in the living room. So, these holidays I'll finally get to that! One more productive thing I did today - I cleaned my study! It was super messy before, with papers flying everywhere and stationary scattered around the room. I didn't have anything organised so I couldn't find anything. Now, it's so much better! I can actually go and get my chem databook if I need it, since I now know where it is!

How are everyone's holidays going?

[J_Rho]

Thanks ashmi and CM! Also, thanks for the input Geoo. I'm not as mad anymore - I guess the school really has no other option except for doing those SACs at home. People could cheat, but it's beyond our control.
Howdy, friends! It's day 2 of quarantine holidays and I really needed the break! I basically have done nothing the past few days, and I'm not sorry (despite that pile of schoolwork that's getting bigger and bigger...). I also have some good news: I seem to be improving (slowly) at AR! Maybe I can bring my score up to at least a scaled 600-700 by exam time (if the UCAT even happens this year). I've been pretty slack with everything, but I guess that's to be expected during the holidays? At least I'm not playing hours of video games like I was last year .

I'm going to continue preparing for the bio SAC throughout the holidays, as well as work on my argument analysis skills for the next SAC. I also need to catch up with chemistry, which is the worst at the moment because it's the subject I'm most behind in. I really want to get ahead in all my subjects before term 2 because I hate being behind. Since I can't really go out, unless it's for groceries or something like that, I'm trying to make the most out of each day. I've been going walking every day around the lake in front of my house and hopefully, I can keep doing this and not be a lazy potato like I usually am. I also tried to be healthy, but I gave up on that because it's never going to work haha.

I started drawing today! I made some swatches with ink washes (I use Winsor and Newton) and started experimenting. I didn't start a piece yet - I'm still getting into the groove since it's been so long since I've drawn anything. I'm a bit rusty! I hope I'll have a piece finished by the end of this week. I'm also planning a painting on this really big canvas we have at home that my mum's been telling me to paint on for ages so she can hang it in the living room. So, these holidays I'll finally get to that! One more productive thing I did today - I cleaned my study! It was super messy before, with papers flying everywhere and stationary scattered around the room. I didn't have anything organised so I couldn't find anything. Now, it's so much better! I can actually go and get my chem databook if I need it, since I now know where it is!

How are everyone's holidays going?

It sounds like you've had a real good start to the holidays! I've been the same, I haven't done like anything yet but unlike you, I don't want to be on holidays although it's a great chance to make sure you've done everything you need to and get ahead! Do you have any tips for Psych?

[whys]

It sounds like you've had a real good start to the holidays! I've been the same, I haven't done like anything yet but unlike you, I don't want to be on holidays although it's a great chance to make sure you've done everything you need to and get ahead! Do you have any tips for Psych?

Ahh,,, the good old days of psych! I really miss those days . Psych is a really enjoyable subject, especially because you can apply all the content you learn to everything happening around you! Sometimes, I'd just be sitting on the couch with my hot chocolate when my mind would wander off to think about the sensory receptors in my fingers sensing the warm mug, and sending it to my brain via afferent pathways! Yes - I am weird like that. But I really encourage you to apply psych to real life! You're so much more likely to remember the content this way as well. Another tip is to learn to write concisely - I'd often ramble on about things I didn't need to, which caused my answer to go up to 4 lines, when all I needed was 2 lines for the marks. Your examiner doesn't want to sit there sifting through the crap you wrote to find where the actual answer is, so simplify it for them. I even recommend underlining certain words/phrases, which I didn't do on the exam, but I did it on my SACs to make it easier for my teacher to identify that I'd included everything I needed for the marks. I also don't recommend you write in dot points, because students often forget simple things like a comparison word between two statements (e.g. whereas). If the question asks to 'compare' or 'differentiate', then you won't get full marks if you don't include this word despite including all the other information you need. I also went to the ATAR Notes lectures for revision, which was a much more productive way to use my time than sleeping at home. I'd also recommend giving your teacher multiple 10 markers in the lead up to the exam for them to mark. I only gave my teacher a few throughout the whole year (my bad!) but I was really effective in marking my own anyway, and I'd send them to my friends so we could mark each others' response.

This leads to my other tip: study groups! I had two different study groups for psych and it was really useful. Before each SAC, I'd go through all the content with one of my study groups by asking each other questions from the content. It's really important to apply the content in scenarios, rather than simple questions like 'what is the role of myelin?', because these don't test your ability to apply information to a certain question. I also recommend that you make your own notes. I did buy the A+ notes, but I didn't use them at all because I believe notes are pretty much useless. The whole point of making notes is the process of compiling all that information, which helps you remember the info. I never really looked at my notes after making them, except if I needed to check something for clarification. I typed all my notes, but this was a personal preference. Some people like typing them, and some people like writing them out. It's really up to you!

Psych is all about practice. Input = output. Do as many practice questions as you can, and mark them. Mark them really harshly. It doesn't matter if you get only x% on your first practice SAC. If you neglect marking your SACs harshly, then you aren't learning from them and there was no point in doing the practice SAC anyways. I kept an excel document of all my practice SACs, exams and actual SACs. I'd have the marks I got, and all the mistakes I made. I'd look over them many times before an assessment/the exam was coming up so I wouldn't make the same mistakes again. My last piece of advice is to compile all the questions you got wrong/didn't know the answer to. For me, this included questions from the textbook (I did all of them), the workbook, practice SACs, SACs, any additional question books you may have, practice exams and any questions you asked your teacher. This is a really neat way to ensure you know everything you didn't know before. I don't think I could have gotten a 50 without this one tip! Also, please, please ask your teacher lots of questions! I'd ask my teacher at least 5 questions per lesson. It doesn't have to be this extreme, but asking questions is a great way to consolidate anything you don't know or need extra clarification for. It also helps solidify your knowledge. If you don't have any questions to ask, it's because you haven't gone into the content deep enough!

I really hoped the above dump of words helps in some way haha. If you have any other questions, feel free to ask away!