Adam's/Mada438's Roller coaster ride of the HSC

[Mada438]

Entry 1-02/12/2017
Hey everyone
So my actual name is Adam (yes-my username is just my name spelt backwards, how uncreative am i!!)
Some things about me: I'm 17, turning 18 next febuary. I ski and ride motorcycles (i could write about them all day). I have had the job of delivering catalouges since i was 14 (AND I HAVENT BEEN ABLE TO FIND ANOTHER JOB FOR 3 YEARS!!). My main forms of prastination are social media and video games (I am ashamed, i can't stop). I compulsively eat lots of food while still looking like a stick that you could snap in half with your hands. Sometimes i write poetry and quotes in a journal of mine (But i struggle for inspiration sometimes) and my snapchat streaks are actually quotes (PM me for my snap name if you want to start a streak and have me send you quotes every morning! )
A little bit about the subjects i do
Advanced English: I have no idea what to think about this, because everyday is a constant battle between me thinking dropping down to standard will be easier, but advanced will scale much better so it will push my ATAR higher (Whats better? Band 5/6 in Standard or Band 4/5 in Advanced) All in all, im not struggling too much, i love my teacher and for now i might keep Advanced
General Maths UGH I USED TO THINK I WAS GOOD AT MATHS. That was until the start of year 11 when i tried Advanced. 6 weeks in, i was half a chapter behind because i didn't understand anything and i kept shitting myself everytime our teacher showed us past prelim exam papers for advanced. So i was like noooooooo "fuck that im outta here" so i dropped down to General. But i still suck at maths. Had my first maths test for year 12 (Finance, Algebra, area and measurement) and i got 63% ARGHHHHHHHHHH So i think i may need a tutor if im going to even get a band 4 in maths
Society and Culture Here's where it gets better. I absaloutely love society and culture so much. Its my favourite. Problem is every assignment is hella vague and up to inteperetation. But somehow i fluked year 11 and got 18/20s in all my assignments. Hopefully, i can do that for my continuity and change presentation next week (which has been the vaguest assignment EVER). Also, i need to start my PIP and i have no idea what to do.
Business Studies I really enjoy business studies, and my teacher is probably the only reason i don't crumble under the sheer amount of stuff we do. She is wonderful and the subject is pretty good. I got 25/30 for my operations assessment so im going alright
Modern History I loooove modern. But my teacher is honestly the worst. He's a good man, hilarious and makes lessons entertaining with his witty remarks, but his teaching methods aren't good. The only reason im surviving is that I've discovered that i have a natural disposition for history. But im sticking with it and hoping for good results. I shouldn't be too bad in this. My WW1 exam is next week.
Now what the hell do i do about Extension History??? I really like the concept of History Extension, but there's a few things wrong with it. 1: My teacher sucks 2: I don't know what im doing half the time (scratch that, NEARLY ALL THE TIME) 3: I don't want to really do 2 major works, I don't trust myself to handle that. I think i may drop!!

So thats my rant done.
All in all, school is alright, im just gonna keep grinding through. My subjects are all alright or pretty good. I have a solid group of friends and im ready for the holidays.
3 more weeks or something! HELL YEAH!!!!!!!
God that felt good to write!!

[fantasticbeasts3]

hi - welcome to the journal squad! i hope AN has been a super welcoming community (definitely one of the best online communities not even going to lie about this)

bit of advice:
1. p l e a s e don't drop to standard. first, it's a little too late for that - you'll have to catch up on standard content. second, people who dropped from advanced to standard sometimes find it harder to adapt, and generally don't do as well (the top standard students in my year all started in standard!) third, scaling. just don't drop to standard. pleaaaaase don't.
2. start looking for maths tutors! if you think it's helpful, do it. i know people (including me) who didn't get a tutor and regretted it, so if you think you're going to get better marks, a tutor may be good :-)
3. history extension is an amazing subject, but if you're finding there's more pros to dropping, compared to cons, maybe dropping is a good idea. if you're unsure about doing 2 major works, that's alright too! just start as soon as possible, because you're going to be rushing later! i dropped because i started the major too late, and that was probably the best decision for me. maybe keep it until half yearlies, and if you really don't think you can keep going with it, drop :-)

best of luck with the rest of year 12!

[Potatohater]

Heyo!
Hopefully you enjoy this "roller coaster ride" of a year, it'll be over before you know it!
I know in my thingy at the bottom I don't mention general maths tutoring but I'm happy to do that for you provided you live in an area that's easily accessible by public transport. (I don't have my P's yet...)
There's also the general maths threads, you may have come across them already, and Rui can answer your questions, even if he seems intimidating at first haha it'll be fine.
Also advanced English is a super good course so I reckon stick with it, even if you're only going average, it's really fulfilling and the texts look better (sorry standard)
As for extension history, as fantastic beasts said, give it a crack and weigh up the pros and cons so you can make sure it is 100% the best thing for you or not
Good luck!

[Mada438]

Thankyou to the both of you!! I will definatly take on board what you have said!!!

[beatroot]

Hey welcome to the hsc journey journal board!!!  

I know how you feel about SAC. It is so confusing but flexible in a way that you could interpret the topic on your own. There's technically no right or wrong answer as long as your interpretation makes sense (that's how I got through year 12 SAC). What electives are you doing for SAC? If you need any help with your PIP, you can always PM me or read this lil guide that I wrote. What social issue are you most passionate about? As for doing two major works, I believe it's possible!! I found that people who did two major works during their HSC year manage their time better than those who only have one or none. Extension History sounds super interesting though!! If you were to do it, what will you do your major on?

gl with the rest of year 12

[Mada438]

Hey welcome to the hsc journey journal board!!!  

I know how you feel about SAC. It is so confusing but flexible in a way that you could interpret the topic on your own. There's technically no right or wrong answer as long as your interpretation makes sense (that's how I got through year 12 SAC). What electives are you doing for SAC? If you need any help with your PIP, you can always PM me or read this lil guide that I wrote. What social issue are you most passionate about? As for doing two major works, I believe it's possible!! I found that people who did two major works during their HSC year manage their time better than those who only have one or none. Extension History sounds super interesting though!! If you were to do it, what will you do your major on?

gl with the rest of year 12

Okay so for social change and continuity we're doing india and japan. As for electives i'm not entirely sure, but i think we're doing belief systems-islam and something in popular culture-not sure though!
I will definately pm you about my pip, i really don't know where to start with a topic!!
In terms of social issues im passionate about, i don't know where to start. I guess i have a really big bone to pick with politicians as well as human rights abuses and supression of freedom and cultural genocide (CHINA IM LOOKING AT YOU FOR GODS SAKES). I also just read an intriguing article about children caught up in this culture war regarding transgenderism.
The other problem with the extension history major work as i have even less of an idea of where to start!!!

[Mada438]

18/12/17 Okay so i was going to do this on the 15th (last day of school) but i forgot, so im doing it now
FIRST TERM OF YEAR 12 IS COMPLETE!!! 
I'M SO HAPPY THAT ITS 25% DONE! I now have six weeks where i don't have much to do. Roadtrip, here i come!! 
So at the end of first term here's my few results that i have
English AOS: 12 for short answer, 11 for creative and 11 for essay, i reckon thats pretty good (is it?)
Maths: Not sure about my actual mark but i got 61% i really need to improve that   
Society and Culture: Did an assignment, but havent got my mark. Pretty sure i got a B though
Business Studies: Got 25/30 for my operations assessment task (10 MC and a section 4 response-8/10 for MC, 17/20 for section 4 response)
Modern History: AYYYYYEEEEEE got 25/25 for my WW1 source analysis exam (doing you proud susie!)

Thats all my results so far, its not too bad considering i only need an 80 ATAR. So gap years have really started entering my mind as an alternative to jumping straight into uni. But for that, i need money (AND I CURRENTLY HAVE NONE-I NEED A JOB!). But some of the overseas volounteering programs sound really cool! (so does this ski instructors course in Japan-i loveeeeeee skiing!)

I passed my black belt grading last weekend, so im pretty happy that i now have a black belt in taekwondo! 
I saw Star Wars episode 8 the other day, i thought it was amazing. I will forever love star wars (some people hate on it, i don't know why, i love it!) I highlu recconmend people go see it.

I still need a PIP topic for society and culture (sorry beetroot). I've been looking everywhere!! Still don't know though!! 
Oh yeah and i ended up dropping history extension after all and im feeling okay about that decision. Its not bothering me that i only have 10 units. I go this!

To finish on a positive note, its Christmas next weekend and i got an early present in the form of A NEW MOTORCYCLE (which i love)

Thats all for now!
BRING ON NEXT YEAR

[elysepopplewell]

Suddenly "Mada" makes sense! In my head I've been thinking "Mazda without the Z..."

Glad to have you on board and around Adam

[Mada438]

Suddenly "Mada" makes sense! In my head I've been thinking "Mazda without the Z..."

Glad to have you on board and around Adam

HAHAHAHA thanks elyse!
Glad to be around too!!   

[Mada438]

I originally posted this somewhere else, but i thought this would be a nice addition to my journal as part of my post holiday post
An open letter to the holidays
Dear holidays
For the most part you sucked
You turned me into a lazy ass who for six weeks, did barely any of his holiday homework, any sort of exercise that wasn't running around with friends, ate junk food, played video games, watch lots of tv, stayed up late, slept in late and let his room turn into a warzone. You did all of those things. You've left me a big mess to clean up so thankyou for that.
But despite everything, you weren't 100% horrible, i got to forget that i was at school for six weeks, got to relax from a year of exercising my body to a high degree, eat food that i don't usually get to eat, do things for large periods of time that i don't get to do so much anymore and change my sleep schedule without caring. You allowed me to do so many things; go the beach, sleep at peoples houses and generally hang out lots, go roadtripping, go on adventures and lots of other things. You allowed me to recharge my batteries.
Although parts of my brain feel like i could've spent this time differently (and probably better), you gave me six weeks where i could function without that many thoughts of my mind.
I'm going to have to deal with the consequences of spending my time like this,i'm going to have to clean up the mess you made of my daily routines, but thats okay, people are going to probably say there was 1001 better ways to spend my time, but thats okay.
Because at the end of the day, as long as i can say "holiday was well spent" then my holiday truly well spent, no matter the consequences or what other people think.
So thankyou for the bad bits, thankyou for the good parts
I am ready to face the grind of 2018!

But i also did more, i got a job at a local cafe and racked up some good cash and brought myself a new phone (Samsung galaxy s8) and a FULL tank of petrol (you have no idea how rare that is). But sadly, after 3 weeks, i got let go because i wasn't needed anymore. But thats okay, i racked up some good money and got a new phone, two things i did not envision happening at the beginning of the holidays in December 2017.

I've also been seriously considering a gap year instead of going straight into uni, im not set 100% but i love the idea of it and travelling and volunteering overseas and everything!

Well thats all for now
BRING ON 2018

[Mada438]

6/2/18
Not much to report except for two things
1: I got my wisdom teeth out today and im in soooo much pain from it and can barely speak.
I also have to have the rest of the week off, so i'm gonna have A LOT of stuff to catch up on when i get back (yay me)
2: So this year, i got moved down a class in general maths. A lot of people dropped down from advanced at the beginning of this year, so my class (the top general class) had to get rid of some people as it was too big, and unfortunately one of those people was me.
I am not happy about it  even though i wasn't going spectaculary in maths, my original teacher was my best bet at achieving a high mark, and i responded really well to his teaching methods.
I'm not so sure with this new teacher. She's pretty nice and we have some class banter, but as a teacher im not sure she's the best for me and im not sure i respond as well to her teaching methods. That really worries me, because im pretty bad at maths most of the time, and i need to get a decent mark if i am going to get my aim of an 80+ ATAR (for arts at Usyd or ANU). I've been looking at few tutors to use, but they're all pretty expensive
and im not sure what to do...   

[Yertle the Turtle]

Entry 1-02/12/2017
Hey everyone
So my actual name is Adam (yes-my username is just my name spelt backwards, how uncreative am i!!)
Some things about me: I'm 17, turning 18 next febuary. I ski and ride motorcycles (i could write about them all day). I have had the job of delivering catalouges since i was 14 (AND I HAVENT BEEN ABLE TO FIND ANOTHER JOB FOR 3 YEARS!!).

Hey Adam, good to see this journal. Wow, I have that job now in Melbourne, working for Salmat and it's awesome, right?!

Have fun in HSC, good luck, and look forward to following your journal!

[Mada438]

13/2/18
So its my, birthday in 2 weeks (the 27th), im turing 18 and i couldn't be more keen!! 

My friends and i have already began to plan our "schoolies" adventure-a week down in port macquarie in a very, very large house. There's gonna be 10 of us down there, and i must say that im already looking forward to it! 

Now for the rant...

So we've got a new maths teacher for this year, as i have said before (BECAUSE I GOT MOVED OUT OF MY CLASS-still not happy about that  ) and quite frankly, the thing i miss the most isn't the teacher, or the people in the class...ITS THE AIR CON. My new room was 32 degrees during our maths lesson and it was absolutely horrible.
This teacher is a lot different too. She's much slower and methodical with teaching specific things, which i don't mind but i think she's a little too slow still. And my new class never learnt a whole chapter (statistics) so the teacher is teaching that whole class is just learning it for the first time, and me along with everyone who got moved out of my old class is just sitting there, because we're pretty much 2 chapters ahead of this class-we've already learnt everything they're doing so we can't do much atm. Also, she's not even permanent, she's a casual relieving the position temporarily until the end of term 1. So come next term, i may have yet another teacher which is something that i shouldn't have to deal with in year 12.

Also, an update on my special provisions application, im looking at getting a keyboard for my exams so i can type and not handwrite them (because i have problems with writing for long periods of time-and with speech so i can't use a scribe). NESA is being a bunch of idiots and is being very stubborn which im sick of. I submitted a mountain of paperwork already, saying why i need to use a computer, can't handwrite and have a scribe etc along with a car full of my medical records. Now they're asking for some of my old exams for year 11 (back from before i used a keyboard) that include extended responses, with some of my more recent extended responses (using a keyboard) to compare weather i actually write more using the keyboard;i basically have to prove that the keyboard is actually viable.
Honestly, as if my extensive medical records proving i have hand and speech issues are note enough to prove i need this, they're still asking for more proof. What worries me most is that they may not say that there is enough of a difference to justify its usage. Even if this gets through, i've been told that there will be MORE paperwork after this.
Why are they so stubborn??? 
I'm not happy about this, because it will significantly impact my performance in my exams if it doesn't go through. 

The rant is now over, just some things i needed to get off my chest

[kauac]

13/2/18
So its my, birthday in 2 weeks (the 27th), im turing 18 and i couldn't be more keen!! 

My friends and i have already began to plan our "schoolies" adventure-a week down in port macquarie in a very, very large house. There's gonna be 10 of us down there, and i must say that im already looking forward to it! 

Now for the rant...

So we've got a new maths teacher for this year, as i have said before (BECAUSE I GOT MOVED OUT OF MY CLASS-still not happy about that  ) and quite frankly, the thing i miss the most isn't the teacher, or the people in the class...ITS THE AIR CON. My new room was 32 degrees during our maths lesson and it was absolutely horrible.
This teacher is a lot different too. She's much slower and methodical with teaching specific things, which i don't mind but i think she's a little too slow still. And my new class never learnt a whole chapter (statistics) so the teacher is teaching that whole class is just learning it for the first time, and me along with everyone who got moved out of my old class is just sitting there, because we're pretty much 2 chapters ahead of this class-we've already learnt everything they're doing so we can't do much atm. Also, she's not even permanent, she's a casual relieving the position temporarily until the end of term 1. So come next term, i may have yet another teacher which is something that i shouldn't have to deal with in year 12.

Also, an update on my special provisions application, im looking at getting a keyboard for my exams so i can type and not handwrite them (because i have problems with writing for long periods of time-and with speech so i can't use a scribe). NESA is being a bunch of idiots and is being very stubborn which im sick of. I submitted a mountain of paperwork already, saying why i need to use a computer, can't handwrite and have a scribe etc along with a car full of my medical records. Now they're asking for some of my old exams for year 11 (back from before i used a keyboard) that include extended responses, with some of my more recent extended responses (using a keyboard) to compare weather i actually write more using the keyboard;i basically have to prove that the keyboard is actually viable.
Honestly, as if my extensive medical records proving i have hand and speech issues are note enough to prove i need this, they're still asking for more proof. What worries me most is that they may not say that there is enough of a difference to justify its usage. Even if this gets through, i've been told that there will be MORE paperwork after this.
Why are they so stubborn??? 
I'm not happy about this, because it will significantly impact my performance in my exams if it doesn't go through. 

The rant is now over, just some things i needed to get off my chest

Hi Adam...

I really feel your pain in relation to teacher changes - I was in a similar situation in term 4 last year, having a sub teacher for English most of the term, and then a new teacher to replace the previous permanent one this year. It sounds like you are pretty ahead in maths, so it would be best to use it to your advantage! If your teacher allows it, perhaps you could use the time spent on the topics you have already learnt as revision or crank out some past papers. Or even reading/working ahead on new topics...

As for your provisions application, it really sucks that they are being tedious in confirming things... But unless there is anything else you can do at the moment to speed up the process, then worrying about it heaps probably won't be very helpful. I'm sure it will all work itself out soon...

Your schoolies trip sounds fun! I have a vague idea of where I might go for schoolies, but I haven't got anywhere near planning it yet haha.
Stay cool! (Especially tomorrow, it's supposed to be very hot). 

[Mada438]

23/3/18
So i haven't posted in ages but i thought i should try to update it some more

So pretty much since the end of week 6, school has started to slow down. The first 6 weeks of school absolutely flew by, but these past few weeks haven't and I'm not quite sure why 
So recently, I've completed a modern history essay which i think i did really well in but haven't received my marks yet (fingers crossed for that)
I had a business studies exam last week in which we had to write about how positioning and market segmentation relate to the 4 P's (with case studies). It was a really hard question and i kind of struggled with it. But in the end, i got 16/20 which I'm happy with.
And on Thursday i had an English exam........................................
I really really dislike English exams  It was in module A-1984/Metropolis and i really struggled with getting a draft formulated and actually remembering all of my concepts etc.
I got into the exam, wrote my draft word for word and then everything went downhill from there. I didn't finish my last body paragraph and didn't even begin a conclusion. I think i might've bombed it but I'm not holding out much hope for a good mark.

Those 3 assessments mean I've been neglecting my society and culture pip which i really should be getting on top of

I'm part of one of the schools who hasn't done their half yearlies yet. Mine are in week 10/11 but thankfully i have only 4 to do (English isn't having one)
I have business studies week 10 on Tuesday (Assessed in all areas of marketing and operations)
Society and culture that Thursday (Assessing continuity and change and honestly i don't know what else)
and then...
the following Monday i have maths FOLLOWED by modern history only an hour and a half after maths 
Which i am definitely not keen on given i struggle with maths (it's assessing like half the HSC course and all of prelim) and although i am good at modern history there is a lot of content to get through (WW1 and our national study-Germany).
At least that will mean i get virtually an extra week of holidays. But if that's the price i have to pay...then i don't want it.

Got a friends party to go to this weekend which i am looking forward to!
And then next April on the 28th I have TWO people have 18th parties and I'm really good friends with both of them and i am honestly torn between which one to attend...

Anyway, that's it for now. I'm gonna start trying to update this more, I'll see how it goes
For now; over and out