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Author Topic: samonmars' VCE/School journey  (Read 7150 times)

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samonmars

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samonmars' VCE/School journey
« on: February 23, 2018, 06:43:22 pm »
+15
Hi!

So, I was looking through the other threads on this board and I thought, "Wouldn't it be cool to start my own journal, and then look back on it when I'm in year 12 and laugh at how naïve I was?"

And following that thought, I decided that that sounded like a pretty good idea. So here we are. 

My name is Sam, and I am just starting Year 9 this year. I'm a pretty anxious person, and I am so anal about planning EVERYTHING. Which is part of the reason why I'm on this forum right now. I already know what I want to do in the future, and I want to make that my goal. Everything I do to get to that point is just a stepping stone on the road to my dream career. (Psychiatry)

I do generally well at school at the moment, but I feel like there is still heaps more to do in my spare time which can lead to me doing even more well. I may say I hate school, but I think it's pretty good. I actually love school, and I love learning. I love finding things out and analysing those things. I am a workaholic, at age 14. I love doing heaps of work and pushing myself to do more and more. It's pretty unhealthy.

One of the main electives I'm doing this year is Japanese, and I plan to continue it into Year 12 because I love it so much. I've actually unconsciously been pre-learning stuff I didn't need to know without even knowing that's what I was doing, because on the Summer holidays after Year 7 I decided to learn as much as I could and now I actually understand what I'm learning in class, and doing stuff out of the VCE textbook. I've even spoken to my Japanese teacher about doing harder work since I basically know all of the material being taught, and she advised I go out and buy the VCE Kanji workbook, which I did only just yesterday. (From Gumtree, and at the very last minute as the woman was handing the book over did she say there were some answers already written in it) How good is that? Unfortunately not much of my class has as much of an interest as me because I think there's one other person I can actually count who knows all of the Hiragana. Which is pretty disappointing.

I have also developed a newfound love for mathematics. I don't know where it came from, but I'm not about to tell it to go away. I want to do Methods in Year 10, and then maybe Specialist in VCE. Better start paying attention now.

So right now I'll just update intermittently. If something interesting, exciting or important happens relating to VCE or just my life in general I'll probably put it here. Hopefully I won't lose all motivation before I reach Year 12 and abandon this half-way through, since it'd be kind of cool to have a relic of my past where I had no idea what I was getting in to. If the Internet even exists before I reach Year 12. We might have brain chips that let us communicate with each other inside our minds by then, who knows?  :)

Anyway, it's nice to meet you! If you're reading this from the future, hello! I hope I got the ATAR I wanted and got into Biomedicine at Melbourne. (That's just a dream, though).
class of 2021!

Calebark

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Re: samonmars' VCE/School journey
« Reply #1 on: February 23, 2018, 06:47:18 pm »
+4
Welcome to ATAR Notes! That's some strong enthusiasm you got there -- I admire that.

Congratulations on being what is perhaps the first Class of 2021 user ;)
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samonmars

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Re: samonmars' VCE/School journey
« Reply #2 on: February 23, 2018, 06:52:45 pm »
+5
Welcome to ATAR Notes! That's some strong enthusiasm you got there -- I admire that.

Congratulations on being what is perhaps the first Class of 2021 user ;)

Woo! I'm proud to be the first of many struggling future Year 12 students! 8)
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cookiedream

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Re: samonmars' VCE/School journey
« Reply #3 on: February 23, 2018, 07:09:03 pm »
+5
Funnily enough, this reminds me of the letter I had to write to my future Year 12 self when I was in Year 9! Receiving it in Valedictory, it really hit me as to how fast the four years went and just how naive I was back then hahaha

Oooh Biomed at UniMelb is a great course! Seeing that you want to go into psychiatry, I'm curious why you want to go through the postgraduate pathway into medicine rather than the undergraduate :)

Looking forward to future updates!
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Re: samonmars' VCE/School journey
« Reply #4 on: February 23, 2018, 07:21:57 pm »
+3
Welcome Sam! Lovely to see the enthusiasm for Japanese and psychiatry. I did VCE Japanese and went on to get a minor in Japanese studies at uni. If you ever need help, please feel free to PM me.  :)

Anyway, I'm excited to hear more about your journey. All the best!
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samonmars

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Re: samonmars' VCE/School journey
« Reply #5 on: February 23, 2018, 07:22:40 pm »
+2
Funnily enough, this reminds me of the letter I had to write to my future Year 12 self when I was in Year 9! Receiving it in Valedictory, it really hit me as to how fast the four years went and just how naive I was back then hahaha

Oooh Biomed at UniMelb is a great course! Seeing that you want to go into psychiatry, I'm curious why you want to go through the postgraduate pathway into medicine rather than the undergraduate :)

Looking forward to future updates!

I already know in Year 12 I'm going to look back on this and think, "You have absolutely no idea what you were getting in to..."
I actually hadn't even considered just going straight into the undergraduate Doctor of Medicine at Monash, it would certainly chip some years off my university study. I must admit I did like the sound of UniMelb's course just because it was UniMelb and it gave me a solid goal to work towards, but I'll definitely look into that in the future.  :)
« Last Edit: February 23, 2018, 07:25:09 pm by samonmars »
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sarangiya

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Re: samonmars' VCE/School journey
« Reply #6 on: February 23, 2018, 11:21:04 pm »
+3
When I read this I kind of see myself in you lmao. Especially in regards to psychiatry (a past career idea of mine)/med in general, Japanese and anal planning tendencies.
Also similar with regard to not considering undergrad med. From year 9 (like you) until this year I was set on postgrad until I begin to get anxious to start practical work instead of three years of almost pure study. In saying that though, the difference of two years in the long run (post vs. undergrad) is actually far more minute than most people make it out to be. I'm sure you'll figure out what works best for you.
Why psychiatry?

Looking forward to future updates :)
Sometimes you make choices, and sometimes choices make you.

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samonmars

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Re: samonmars' VCE/School journey
« Reply #7 on: February 24, 2018, 09:35:59 am »
+3
When I read this I kind of see myself in you lmao. Especially in regards to psychiatry (a past career idea of mine)/med in general, Japanese and anal planning tendencies.
Also similar with regard to not considering undergrad med. From year 9 (like you) until this year I was set on postgrad until I begin to get anxious to start practical work instead of three years of almost pure study. In saying that though, the difference of two years in the long run (post vs. undergrad) is actually far more minute than most people make it out to be. I'm sure you'll figure out what works best for you.
Why psychiatry?

Looking forward to future updates :)

Hello! I've seen you around here quite a bit and I have to say I admire your dedication. Jumping into VCE at Year 8 sounds incredibly difficult, especially when I think of how immature some of my classmates were in Year 8. You're definitely someone who I aspire to be like :)

It sounds like I still have quite a big decision to make regarding my post-year 12 study, and I'm glad I still have enough time to figure it out.

As for why: I love psychology. I love the analysing aspect of it and I love everything related to the brain. Choices, memory, especially mental illness that alters someone's perception. I think psychiatry is just that one step further from psychology, and it interests me more because I am also very interested in medicine and medical practises.
class of 2021!

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Re: samonmars' VCE/School journey
« Reply #8 on: February 24, 2018, 10:14:36 am »
+1
Good to see the dedication here, I'm sure I couldn't have cared less about VCE in Year 9 :) Good luck, and keep it up!
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sarangiya

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Re: samonmars' VCE/School journey
« Reply #9 on: February 25, 2018, 09:35:30 pm »
+2
You're definitely someone who I aspire to be like :)
How flattering!! Thank you ! The feeling is kind of mutual. I wish I had the motivation and good sense to utilise ATARNotes when I was in your position !

As for why: I love psychology. I love the analysing aspect of it and I love everything related to the brain. Choices, memory, especially mental illness that alters someone's perception. I think psychiatry is just that one step further from psychology, and it interests me more because I am also very interested in medicine and medical practises.
I can totally relate! Sounds like you're passionate and would enjoy learning about psychiatry :))
I always loved the pharmacological aspects of psychiatry. The idea that medications could alter a person's emotions, behaviours and/or cognition is just so fascinating.

I'm so looking forward to any updates you make! Enjoy school life and I hope you pick up some great ideas from here!!
Sometimes you make choices, and sometimes choices make you.

♡ Subjects ♡
2015: Japanese SL [42]
2016: Psychology [43] Philosophy [36] Japanese SL [50] [Premier's Award]
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samonmars

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Re: samonmars' VCE/School journey
« Reply #10 on: February 26, 2018, 07:08:48 pm »
+6
Date: 26th Feb. 2018 at 6:51 PM
Mood:  :o
Cool song I like: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXXD1Qxpisw
Hi again. First of all, I'm mainly just writing this entry down as my Official First Post! Savour it, because it's the only one you'll get. I want to write this now to get it out of the way and kind of preface what the rest of my entries will look like. I still think doing this is a good idea, because it'll be amazing if I keep this up until Year 12 and have a little journal written from when I was just starting my little innocent Year 9 days. Admittedly, I won't be able to find much to write about for at least the first year, so I apologise if it looks sparse. I'm not gonna write every day and be like,

"Dear diary, today I had a maths test. It was really hard."

"Diary diary, today my friends and I sat in the shade because it was really hot today. It was refreshing."

"Dear diary, today I handed in my English assignment. Also, someone in my class moved my books off the table and I was mad."

Because that would just be stupid, even for me. And really boring to read. (Not much happens in Year 9, as you can tell.)

So, I might just update periodically with some cool stuff, like information I learnt or my thoughts about things that've happened. Important things.

Anyway, here's some tiny updates just so this seems more like a journal post than an explanation:

I've finished my maths assignment and my English essay and I'm really proud of both of them. I'm trying to put heaps of effort into my work now so I hope that it shows to my teachers. :D I'm also trying to challenge myself in maths. I want to ask my teachers for some extra resources but I'm not really comfortable to do that right now.

And, my mother wants me to speak to her friend who's a psychologist. I hope I can learn some cool stuff from her and know some more about her experiences.

Thanks for reading this mess! I hope you can join me on my journey and by the end of it read about my failures. It could be kind of like a novel, I'll write something and be like, "I'm thinking of taking a different approach to studying," and you'll be like, "nooo don't you dare do that!", and then you'll read my entry from 2 weeks later and I'll be like, "I just failed my exam," and then you'll yell at your screen like, "I told you not to do that!"

Lol, everything aside, that's all I have for now. Until next time.  :)
class of 2021!

samonmars

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Re: samonmars' VCE/School journey
« Reply #11 on: March 25, 2018, 11:23:46 pm »
+3
Date: 25th Mar. 2018 at 10:52 PM
Mood:  :P
Cool song I like: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FmUw1MmIYvU
Hello, ATARNotes! It's been almost exactly a month since we've last seen each other, and to be quite honest not much has actually happened. It just feels like time is flying by, and it's hard to slow down and take a breather once in a while. I guess writing these little memos is the only time I get to reflect on my life before it keeps on running away from me and I have to try and catch up to it. Pretty wild.
It's been busy in the sense where you aren't literally busy all the time, but it's the busy where one day it's Monday and you're wondering why life must curse you, and two minutes later the end bell rings on Friday afternoon. And nearly the end of term 1 already!

Some small updates: I (finally) got the results for my maths assignment back tonight, and I'm super happy with the 96% I got. :) It's the highest I've got in maths in the last few years and I'm super happy and proud of myself that my effort paid off. I got 100% for my English essay and I was also really happy about that too, although not as proud because maths has never been my strong suit where English is. I'm thinking of using some of the resources for maths to do some extension work on the holidays because it's interesting me more and more. If anyone has any ideas of how I can do this, please let me know. :D

I've done some things with my friends in the last few weeks, and I always love their company. I saw Love, Simon with my friend at the cinema for an advanced screening on Friday night and loved it. It'd been worth the wait after finishing the book (and absolutely adoring it), and personally I think the movie did the book justice to the best of its ability. Another couple of friends came over to study for our Japanese tests with me. I did my Japanese speaking, writing, listening and speaking tests and was generally confident. Some things I know I got wrong afterwards though, which was pretty annoying, but it's something I can look out for next time. :) I impressed my teacher in the speaking test though; even though I was nervous, I knew my stuff and I think that showed lol.

An interesting slash mortifying slash fascinating thing has happened in my Japanese class recently. Apparently 2018's year 9s are reckless because we had a girl actually walk out in the middle of class. So, we have a new teacher this year who really isn't that bad. She's a little bit over-the-top, and prints out a gazillion things for us to the point of ridiculousness, but she's not mean at all and she's very invested in our progress. But apparently a few people can't handle this (they actually have to do work this year for a subject they chose to continue in year 9!!), so they literally walked out. My teacher asked a girl where her textbook was (she didn't even have it), the girl said "I don't know," and the teacher said "I'm going to wait until you give me an answer," not in a mean way or yelling at all, and the girl just walked straight out of there. And didn't come back. Shortly preceded by two other girls walking out two lessons later because they didn't want to stick to the seating plan assigned to them. Seriously?! I don't understand it. The subject was compulsory in year 7-8, so I understand negligence here, but for people who willingly chose it to not be up to year 9 standard and then complain about it when the teacher tries to get them up to speed... it's just confusing to me. Anyway, there's my Tales From The Class Of 2021 for the day. Hopefully I can bring you some more in the coming years.

Some other things, if you're interested in my life for some reason:
- I went to Apollo Bay for 4 days. I absolutely love it there. End of story.
- I'm getting new glasses.

Okay! Well, that's my yearly update for you. Not very interesting, but hopefully it can provide some insight into my "crazy" life. Not very VCE either, but in the coming years that's sure to change so I suppose this is a short break from that. :) I'll probably update next into term 2, or whenever I feel like it. Until next time!
class of 2021!

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Re: samonmars' VCE/School journey
« Reply #12 on: March 25, 2018, 11:28:47 pm »
+1
Congrats on the amazing results! Props to you for your initiative in starting this journal in year 9 - I hope you stick around and keep on using it, it'll be an awesome thing to look back on in the future :)

Do you have anything excited for the upcoming holidays?

samonmars

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Re: samonmars' VCE/School journey
« Reply #13 on: March 25, 2018, 11:38:48 pm »
+2
Congrats on the amazing results! Props to you for your initiative in starting this journal in year 9 - I hope you stick around and keep on using it, it'll be an awesome thing to look back on in the future :)

Do you have anything excited for the upcoming holidays?

Thank you! I really hope I keep using this later on too because I really want to have this to look back on when I graduate high school. It's always the small things that end up mattering the most. ;D

I'm doing a couple of things! I'll be with my family for Easter up in Sorrento which I'm really looking forward to because it's lovely near the Great Ocean Road. I'm also planning on getting my hair dyed again so that'll be certainly an interesting result. Other than that, just chilling; enjoying the break from 7:30 AM wake-ups and probably doing some more reading. :) Thanks for asking!
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samonmars

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Re: samonmars' VCE/School journey
« Reply #14 on: May 20, 2018, 11:57:35 am »
+5
Date: 20th May 2018 at 11:51 AM
Mood:  :-X

I've just finished my last NAPLAN ever. It feels good, because NAPLAN is annoying and stupid, but it also makes me realise how close I am to senior school. Why does it feel like I only started year 7 last week, and now I'm almost in year 10? It's surreal.
I'm going to year 9 camp tomorrow. Five days in the middle of nowhere. I'm getting Survivor vibes from the whole thing, and I actually remember in year 7 basically dreading it already, but thinking, "Nah, it's okay, it's not for another two years. That's ages," and now it's tomorrow. What's up with that?

We started Lord of The Flies in my English extension class and I really like the book. it's actually really interesting which I didn't expect.

Other than that, I'm just posting because I feel like it's what I must do. Please pray for me on camp, and that I don't a) get squashed by a drop bear, and b) don't get salmonella from some kid not cooking their food right. Peace.
class of 2021!