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March 28, 2024, 11:53:05 pm

Author Topic: Dragging myself towards my goals  (Read 8015 times)

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pepper77

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Dragging myself towards my goals
« on: September 11, 2018, 11:12:16 pm »
+12
Hi everyone, I'm pepper77 and my memory doesn't work!  ;D I tend to forget what I'm doing/have done pretty easily, which is pretty embarrassing. I've found that bundling up and having a set routine helps me rebuild events, so I'm going to try writing a journal of things I'm likely to forget. I'm taking Physics (my favourite), Biology, English Language, and Chemistry. I'm also studying a tiny bit of Year 10 maths and 1/2 Methods on the side (gotta prepare for next year!!), and am hoping to work up the energy to play around with some Spesh concepts someday. Don't read this if you're looking for inspiration.

My main goal for this year is to get a study score of 35 in Biology! 40 is sickeningly high, and 30 is the bare minimum (if I don't get that I want to repeat). 35 is unlikely and difficult, but just close enough to attainable that I want it. Sub goals are to learn how to study effectively, and to learn to function with a tiny bit of depression and a fair bit of anxiety. In the long-term, I want to do my best during VCE and learn as much as I can so that I'll get into a university course that will let me learn even more. I don't care about my ATAR, I just want the score that will get me in to... oh, wait, I need a great ATAR for that. Crap. I guess that means I'm aiming for 99!!!

So, today:
Spoiler
ok I'll be honest I don't remember most of it. Lol. I had a full day, and when I got home I was so tired I couldn't move for a solid 4 hours (assuming I got back at 3.30)! I wanted to do some studying, but that's not going to happen. That's okay, though. Last time I pushed myself to study when I knew I couldn't, I got stuck in my chair for a few hours and had to go to bed late. I know my limits.  :P

I stayed awake through Biology! I always doze and it sucks. I stayed awake this time only because it was a prac day and because there was an open flame >30cm from my hand for most of it. Toasted pepper was almost a thing.

Physics is on today/tomorrow. It's my favourite subject, so I've been pretty diligent up until recently. I made a lot of really useful notes and understood the work pretty much straight away, though I've been getting mediocre SAC results since the beginning. I don't know why; I used to be a straight A no-study student hahaha. I have old motion homework I haven't done, so I've been copying out the worked answers. I can't tell how to do the problems because I no longer remember the formulas and I never wrote notes for motion, but the worked answers are bringing it all back. It felt great when I started predicting the answers and getting them right. Who says cheating doesn't help you learn?  ;D Now I just have to work out how light works. God I hate Jacplus. They like to hide their worked answers instead of just putting them in the damn book.

I recently took a Chemistry SAC I expect to be maybe 50-60%, and a Physics SAC I scraped 40% on (that's what the old homework was about. I'm in a slump so I didn't do it.) That's 20-30% below what I usually get, but it doesn't matter because it's 1/2 and that's what happens during a slump. I'm just glad I passed. I'm expecting a Bio test back soon, which I'm excited for. It was a really fun test. I hope that means I'll get higher than my usual C.

Tomorrow I will do at least 3 math problems and watch one Edrolo video for Biology. It probably sounds like a baby step to you geniuses, but I promise for me it's more like a jump. If I have more time, I'll do a bit more Physics.

I've been trying to write this post since 9pm... Oops.. Added goal for tomorrow: go to bed before 11.

Bell9565

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Re: Dragging myself towards my goals
« Reply #1 on: September 12, 2018, 12:26:46 pm »
0
Hi Pepper77, I think a lot of us can relate with the memory problems!

What year level are you in and are those subjects VCE ones (1/2 or 3/4) or whatever year you're in's level? (I only ask because it says you're doing year 10 maths and some 1/2 to prepare for next year!)

Spesh is super fun so if you get around to giving it a shot I highly recommend it.

I think you should be capable of 35 from what you have said! I suck at remembering things and got through by remembering and understanding the concepts rather than attempting to rote learn and memorise. Also do a lot of practice exams which, in my opinion, are the best study tool come VCE.

What uni course are you thinking of doing? The subjects you are doing open a lot of doors and your obvious thirst for knowledge will assist you even more at uni where it's a lot more self directed.

I hope all your study goes well!  :)
2017 - Further Mathematics (50), Biology (49)
2018 - English (39), Mathematical Methods (44), Specialist Mathematics (38), Chemistry (50), UMAT (100th)
ATAR - 99.35

pepper77

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Re: Dragging myself towards my goals
« Reply #2 on: September 12, 2018, 11:38:01 pm »
0
Oh my gosh, this is the wrong board. How embarrassing.  :-[ I meant to post that in the journal board, sorry! (Guess that's on me for posting at 11pm, lol.) @Sine could you please move this?

snip


ahaha thanks. I'm in Yr11, so they're mostly at my level. They're all 1/2 except Biology. (I put off Spesh because I don't enjoy learning maths in a classroom.) I have an older sibling who did Bio and got a 35 with similar SAC scores, so I've been badgering them for advice and they said pretty much the same thing.

And I want to do a BScience, although I'd be okay going into an English-related course.

Sine

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Re: Dragging myself towards my goals
« Reply #3 on: September 13, 2018, 12:12:32 am »
+2
Moving it to the journal board now - wasn't too sure which board you wanted to post in! e.g. vce journey journal, accountability etc

Welcome to AN and good luck with all your goals.
« Last Edit: September 13, 2018, 12:14:42 am by Sine »

AngelWings

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Re: Dragging myself towards my goals
« Reply #4 on: September 13, 2018, 02:08:37 pm »
0
And I want to do a BScience, although I'd be okay going into an English-related course.
Hey there, Pepper77! Sounds like you're walking a similar path as I did.
I really enjoy reading your colloquial writing style; it somehow packs a lot of charisma into it.
Good luck with your studies and memory!  :)
VCE: Psych | Eng Lang | LOTE | Methods | Further | Chem                 
Uni: Bachelor of Science (Hons) - genetics
Current: working (sporadically on AN)
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pepper77

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Re: Dragging myself towards my goals
« Reply #5 on: September 13, 2018, 10:23:03 pm »
+1
Spoiler
Well, I got 93% in my English Language SAC.. I should feel pleased, but I feel guilty. I don't study it at all outside of class and I'm still first. It feels unfair, somehow (there's this student who makes these amazing colour-coded notes who deserves it way more than I do).  :-\ A classmate I don't really know congratulated me, though, so that was a nice little ego boost. And it is 1/2 so what does it matter? I should just enjoy the one benefit of being part of a weak cohort. rip my average though

Didn't watch the Biology video because I ended up doing 12 problems, not 3. So, I guess I jumped, but I jumped too far and landed on one foot. Maybe I wasn't specific enough. Tonight, I'm going to look at the role of organelles. It's later than I thought (2 hours? where did you go?!) but it's not even 5 minutes. Surely I can sit still for 5 minutes without getting stuck in thought.

(Also, I signed up for an ATARNotes lecture on Biology. Maybe it'll help? It can't hurt, and it's not like I was going to study hard on my birthday  ;D. Who knows, maybe an eccentric professor will kidnap me and hide me in her office until exams are over, releasing a slightly-confused teenager with a brain full of interesting facts about ribosomes. or a perfect study score. I'd be happy with either.)

Hey there, Pepper77! Sounds like you're walking a similar path as I did.
I really enjoy reading your colloquial writing style; it somehow packs a lot of charisma into it.
Good luck with your studies and memory!  :)


more like crawling thank you! I'll take all the luck I can get.   ;)

pepper77

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Re: Dragging myself towards my goals
« Reply #6 on: September 16, 2018, 10:24:42 pm »
+2
Nothing much to add, and the little bit I'm posting tonight isn't that interesting, but I wanted to post anyway to hold myself accountable.

Spoiler
I'm wiped out. (Do people still say wiped out? I guess now they do.) I have to make a poster for Biology, but I haven't really done much of it. I need an introduction, a discussion, some kind of table of results, pictures, acknowledgements. I'm so tired, you guys. I'll do the results table first, since I already have the data. Then I'll work on the introduction and the discussion. I feel like I'd enjoy this if my future wasn't (partially) riding on it. I'd really like to work in a lab, conduct my own experiments and make posters explaining what went down so that other people can enjoy the end result. I'd even be happy just assisting someone else. Realistically it won't happen, but gosh darn it I want to dream!

On a positive note, I just remembered that October exists. (Dunno how/when I managed to forget about a whole month especially considering all the birthdays that happen then, but yeah I continue to surprise myself.) So I have a little bit of time to catch up on sleep before hell.


Man, it's all starting to pick up. I'm kind of glad - this means I don't have any time to freak out about Animal Crossing on Switch. (2019!!!!!!!! ...Oops.)

pepper77

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Re: Dragging myself towards my goals
« Reply #7 on: September 19, 2018, 07:23:02 pm »
+3
I just ate an entire punnet of strawberries. 0 needles, 0 regrets.

Spoiler
I finished the poster and submitted it an hour before the deadline. I'm glad it's gone... I probably won't get above a C, but I don't care. I just wanted to get rid of it. I feel like it could have been a good project, but it wasn't fun at all. Probably because I don't care about E. coli enough to study it out of class. I like the evolution/dating part of this subject best.

Over the holidays I have to write a 1k word essay (was 1.5k but someone threw a fit and the teacher reduced it hahaha) on Indian English. I'm half Indian, how hard can it be? Pretty damn hard, because I know 0 Indian people and -1 alive Indian people with accents.  :'( I was going to do Taglish since my old facebook has more Taglish than English, but chose not to since that's a pidgin.

We did a weird experiment in Physics the other day. Cut up some jelly into what were supposed to be lenses and shone light through them. The lenses were more like amorphous blobs tbh, but mine did refract the light the way it was supposed to. Yay. I got a bit of a talking-to for working alone and was sent to work with my classmates. It was more fun working with them (because I didn't know what they were trying to do and getting them to talk is kind of hard), but it's a lot harder to get anything done (because I didn't know what they were trying to do and getting them to talk is kind of hard). I'm not sure if I prefer this to working on my kitchen counter in an empty house. Not much equipment and solitude vs piles of equipment and people. Hmm.

There's an EPI coming up for Physics. I don't care about motion, but since it's probably the easiest topic to study I'm picking it.  :P (If a Year 11 student from the future is reading this and trying to choose a topic, I'm going to study a pendulum and how its mass/string length affects the velocity. 10/10 easy and will make your teacher happy. Someone else is going to run electric currents through pencils, which sounds a lot cooler but is probably going to be harder.)

I forgot to do my maths homework... End of term can't come fast enough. My tutor won't mind (she's somewhat lenient because rather than teaching me concepts she's trying to make me more confident), but I do. It feels like I'm setting myself up to fail next year.


Edit: WAIT I just remembered. EXAMS. WHAT DID I GET ON MY EXAMS.
« Last Edit: September 19, 2018, 07:26:09 pm by pepper77 »

Bri MT

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Re: Dragging myself towards my goals
« Reply #8 on: September 19, 2018, 07:28:07 pm »
+2
I just ate an entire punnet of strawberries. 0 needles, 0 regrets.

Spoiler
I finished the poster and submitted it an hour before the deadline. I'm glad it's gone... I probably won't get above a C, but I don't care. I just wanted to get rid of it. I feel like it could have been a good project, but it wasn't fun at all. Probably because I don't care about E. coli enough to study it out of class. I like the evolution/dating part of this subject best.

Over the holidays I have to write a 1k word essay (was 1.5k but someone threw a fit and the teacher reduced it hahaha) on Indian English. I'm half Indian, how hard can it be? Pretty damn hard, because I know 0 Indian people and -1 alive Indian people with accents.  :'( I was going to do Taglish since my old facebook has more Taglish than English, but chose not to since that's a pidgin.

We did a weird experiment in Physics the other day. Cut up some jelly into what were supposed to be lenses and shone light through them. The lenses were more like amorphous blobs tbh, but mine did refract the light the way it was supposed to. Yay. I got a bit of a talking-to for working alone and was sent to work with my classmates. It was more fun working with them (because I didn't know what they were trying to do and getting them to talk is kind of hard), but it's a lot harder to get anything done (because I didn't know what they were trying to do and getting them to talk is kind of hard). I'm not sure if I prefer this to working on my kitchen counter in an empty house. Not much equipment and solitude vs piles of equipment and people. Hmm.

There's an EPI coming up for Physics. I don't care about motion, but since it's probably the easiest topic to study I'm picking it.  :P (If a Year 11 student from the future is reading this and trying to choose a topic, I'm going to study a pendulum and how its mass/string length affects the velocity. 10/10 easy and will make your teacher happy. Someone else is going to run electric currents through pencils, which sounds a lot cooler but is probably going to be harder.)

I forgot to do my maths homework... End of term can't come fast enough. My tutor won't mind (she's somewhat lenient because rather than teaching me concepts she's trying to make me more confident), but I do. It feels like I'm setting myself up to fail next year.


Advice for the EPI: keep it as simple as possible - seems like you're on a good track so far. 

Good luck with your wellbeing,
 learning, and assessments! 
(In that order)

pepper77

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Re: Dragging myself towards my goals
« Reply #9 on: September 21, 2018, 12:52:17 am »
+2
snip

Will do! I do kind of want to do something exciting, but I think it's better just to play it safe. Thanks for the luck.

Spoiler
So today my Bio teacher handed out these revision booklets and a practice test. Well, it turns out I forgot all the biology I learned over the course of the year. Except for the stuff I taught myself. I guess I really am just not suited to classroom learning. I'm upset that all the time I spent on questions was for nothing, but I'm also really really happy that I retained information from January. January!!  ;D

Yesterday we had (presumably) the last chemistry prac of the term, which was a lot of fun. I like the precision that titration demands. It's calming to focus on a single drop while people in the background smash burettes and squirt water into the backs of their throats. (Fingers crossed we don't get holiday homework, someone might taste the acid.)

Had a tutoring session... It went terribly. I never learnt logs in Year 10, and while we were going over that I completely forgot basic addition. I got stuck thinking 3+3=9 (I think the six got flipped around in my head??). Usually the worst thing I do is forget how to say numbers or repeatedly write the wrong number down. So embarrassing... Oh well, worse things have happened. Near the start of the year, I got called up to the front of the room and forgot how to write "6" in front of thirty-odd people who probably think I can't divide. ;D


I want to study over the holidays.. but I just discovered that I like stitching.. but I have to study...

Also, no idea what I got on my exams. I wonder how I went on the GAT?

pepper77

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Re: Dragging myself towards my goals
« Reply #10 on: October 04, 2018, 11:17:46 pm »
+2
...I slept through the holidays. I slept through the holidays. I did one practice exam at school, but I didn't start either of my 1000 word essays. And I don't remember who I'm working with on the Big Important Chemistry Project, or if I've emailed my Physics teacher asking for the stuff I need for my EPI. Are we allowed to swear on this forum?

I knew I was going to crash at some point, but I assumed I already had over June-August (that's when it usually happens). I should've known it was too good to be true! I guess this means that, if this isn't a big one, I should be mentally okay during November.

I couldn't sleep at all a few nights ago and ended up writing 800 words of non-school-related stuff (I'm reasonably happy with it btw, but it's no essay), so I can crank out writing. Just not before 12am. And it was 6am when I broke 700, so... FML. (I could write 800 words of an English Language essay in 2-3 hours during term. Weird!)

No spoiler, because I haven't done any work worth writing about. I did turn 17, which is why I've been so dead - I like other people's birthdays, but I hate mine because it always falls in the holidays and that means my family drags it out. Multiple days of attention and not being allowed to express emotions other than "happy, but not too happy"? No thanks!!

I want to end this downer of an update on a less-miserable note, but idk what to say. I did well (or at least, okay) on my Biology practice exam? I left an entire page blank because it was completely unfamiliar, but otherwise it went quite well. It was a fun test, and I got to sit quietly next to a window in the sun for 3 hours. Also a C + median rank = 30, as far as I know. Plz don't correct me if I'm wrong, I just want to write something happy hahaha Anyway, I hope anyone who's reading this had a better break than I did, and that you're all feeling rested.

pepper77

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Re: Dragging myself towards my goals
« Reply #11 on: October 07, 2018, 10:23:26 pm »
+1
So school starts back up tomorrow... I lost the 5th and the 6th but I'm feeling better today. I wrote 800+ words of my physics essay and finished it. Probably won't get a great mark, but at least I've done it. It was actually pretty interesting, though I won't say what it's on just to be safe. Just wish I'd written the stupid thing earlier. (While I wrote I listened to a track from Hollow Knight's ost, which I doubt I'll ever get to play due to VCE + the moths in my wallet. :'( At least listening's free. Christopher Larkin is a god.)

I haven't done my Eng lang essay or cited my sources for physics, but I have class and a free period tomorrow so I'm not fussed. I'm looking forward to going to school (whaaat?!) and finding out how I did on the bio practice exam.

Parent-teacher interviews are coming up soon. I did abysmally in physics during term 3, and I'm pretty disappointed. Hopefully the teacher doesn't think I'm too dumb to continue next year. I'm going to stop thinking about PTI now. I want to spend my last few hours before school relaxing.

pepper77

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Re: Dragging myself towards my goals
« Reply #12 on: November 01, 2018, 11:26:05 pm »
+2
WOW okay it's been a while. I really don't have much to report, since there haven't been many SACs. I did my physics EPI, which went.. badly. I have data, and I should be able to submit a valid poster, but the first day was bad enough to make me dread going back to physics. Though now that that's over, I'm enjoying studying for the upcoming exam. Sitting down with a textbook and just going through a bunch of questions alone was always my favourite part of that class. I've also been doing a titration SAC in chemistry. It's going even worse than my EPI, but I'm lucky enough to be working with some fun people.

So, yeah, I haven't been doing well since before my last post. Can't really function as a human being, can't stay awake in any of my classes, yada yada, all that good stuff. Tomorrow's the bio exam. I have not done a single practice exam on my own. (I got 55% on the one I mentioned earlier!) I'm going to go, write down whatever I can remember, and then rest. I hope I get a seat near the window.

Like this thread's title says, though, I'm dragging myself face-first towards my goals. This year has been tough and I know I won't get that 35, but that wasn't my only goal. The ATAR I want is still a realistic goal. And I'm still doing my best. New goal: get a summer body, as in a body without dark circles around its eyes. 8) Halloween is over! The sunken-eyed zombie look is OUT.

If anyone reading this is getting ready to sit an exam, good luck!

Bri MT

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Re: Dragging myself towards my goals
« Reply #13 on: November 02, 2018, 08:11:35 am »
0
Good luck!


And I'm sure you'd feel better about your EPI if you saw my year 11 one.  It was an absolute mess and some of our data made no sense whatsoever (not that we could really understand the rest of our data either).

What's going on with your titration?  Might be able to help you understand what's happening if you give more info :)

Best of luck for bio - and remember that this does not define you (or even your ATAR - you've got time to change that still) !! :)

pepper77

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Re: Dragging myself towards my goals
« Reply #14 on: November 30, 2018, 12:46:09 pm »
+4
So, I haven't updated this in a while. It's the last day of school so I thought I should do it now, before I go home and forget everything. I got an A on the titration assignment!! I don't actually recall what was so weird about the data, but I guess it wasn't unsalvageable. (Or I waffled on in my writeup and confused my teacher into giving me a good mark. Whatever, either is fine.) Anyway, that was a four-person assignment. I did pretty much all of it and didn't study for my chemistry exam, which I got an E+ on. So that cancels out the A, leaving me a B student. I think.

I got an E on the physics exam. After the late nights with That Gosh Darn Titration Poster I'm just happy to have passed, even though I don't have an amazing project to save my average. I'm continuing with units 3 and 4 in 2019 and I really really like my new teacher and class. I feel like 3/4's going to be better than 1/2 was. No idea how I went with my EPI or my English Language exam, but I definitely passed so who cares? English is English.

I wish I could end this update on a positive note, but I really can't, so I'll just say this and then go back to browsing stackexchange or whatever. I'm... really really getting into English Language. I've been reading about linguistics in my free periods and it's horribly interesting. I don't want to get attached to a subject I can't make a career out of :'(

Anyway, thanks for reading this silly post. Hope you all did well on your exams :) but more importantly, I hope you all get plenty of rest over the holidays.