Brewing Positivi-Tea (melberry's HSC journey)

[melberry]

I generally like to keep things positive, but obviously HSC year hits hard for everyone one way or another. I'm creating this thread to track my personal progress/keep myself accountable but hopefully to also spread some positivity to anyone who comes to this page. That's not to promise no ranting from time to time, but leaving encouragement for the next person to come by this page will be greatly appreciated <3 I'm also open to chat about pretty much anything, so feel free to ask me something/just say hi.

Some stuff about me
- Year 12
- Subjects: (listed at the end of my post)
- Aiming to get into B Comm (Public)/BCII @ UTS
- Loves books, poetry, fencing
- Runs strictly on tea and water - no coffee for me xD

As of today, I've already gotten my first HSC task results back, and was pretty pleased with everything (except 4U math cough cough cough). The next task will come in the next five or six weeks, and I think I'm on track. I want to go through my HSC year without any regrets, or with as few as possible.  HSC is fast approaching, and I don't have the luxury of saying I have a year to study anymore. I was super apathetic in Year 11 for an unknown reason that it scared me, and I'm only starting to regain motivation again. I'm fairly confident I can get into the course I want, but my brain still prefers procrastination over pushing myself to do my "best". I'm still doing the co-curriculars I love, and I have cut on some of my procastination, so I'm hoping my productivity will spike as a result. Hmmm... apart from that I'm on good terms with my friends, but my schedule is packed this term and time management will be an issue for me. I hope that I will gain more confidence in test scenarios as time goes on!

I hope you guys are doing well, and thanks for clicking on this thread ^^

Positivitea for the day: Even the simplest design of a paper plane has the potential to go the distance.

[AngelWings]

Hey Melberry!

Always great to see another HSC journal up and running. I like the positivi-tea you're hoping to share here.

- Runs strictly on tea and water - no coffee for me xD

I feel ya. Tea and water for the win.

I'm still doing the co-curriculars I love, and I have cut on some of my procastination, so I'm hoping my productivity will spike as a result.

What sort of co-curriculars do you enjoy/ do? (Oh and good luck on the procrastination situation! It gets better with a little practise.)

[melberry]

What sort of co-curriculars do you enjoy/ do? (Oh and good luck on the procrastination situation! It gets better with a little practise.)

Hello there, thanks for the encouragement!
I enjoy singing so I am in the choir, and as mentioned before, I love fencing and am in the fencing club ^^ Unfortunately, because of time constraints I've had to drop being a library monitor although I still do spend most of my free time there. I'm not partial towards more dynamic/passive co-curriculars, but I have had a long-lasting commitment to choir and fencing so there's no plans on stopping in Year 12 

[melberry]

So the past two days have been pretty productive; I read over my eco notes on the train to school and went to tutoring after school. Upon returning home, I consolidated my economic article research for my case study. I spent my study periods working through complex numbers questions (my rank for 4u atm is pretty dismal so I want to ace this next exam to pull myself up). Overall, pretty good

I'm feeling pretty okay with my eco and english study because I learn as I make my notes and do my research. However, I am unsure on how to approach math study for 3u and 4u from now on because I have a longer list of things I need to do (and don't know what order to do them in):
- flash cards of 3u and 4u formulae
- revision and consolidation for the next assessment task
- redo year 11 and year 12 assessment tasks
- past HSC papers
- textbook exercises (not school assigned, but just practice questions)

As of now I'm doing bits and pieces of each for 3u and 4u, but I'm pretty sure that's not the most productive way of completing everything. So I'd like to know how others think I should approach this, and hopefully build up better study habits and strategies. Thanks!

Positivitea for the day: Smile, because you make someone's day.

[Bri MT]

I'm not sure if this helps, but:
- reading flashcards can be used on the train fairly easily, so that might be lower priority for when you're at home
- similarly, making flashcards could be a high priority if you're running out of train-friendly tasks
- I would usually complete textbook questions before assignment-style ones (but only if I knew I had time to do both - otherwise I'd just do the assignment ones)
- full papers are a step up from assignment-style questions and I would usually leave them until later.


This is just generic advice not tailored for 3u and 4u but I hope it helps

[melberry]

This is just generic advice not tailored for 3u and 4u but I hope it helps

Yes, this has helped! Thanks a lot, it's my first time actually using flash cards since primary school xD

[smamsmo22]

Hey! Best of luck with HSC this from an '18 VCE student (:

I agree with miniturtle's advice; I actually found flash cards super helpful for more content/theory heavy subjects (for me; chem and PE) and found time on public transport/walking home was always well spent when I had some to go through
I don't know much about 3u and 4u and what subjects you're referring to (sorry... my knowledge of HSC is limited to none ) but I don't know how important flashcards would be for subjects like maths. Personally, I found practice questions a lot more useful for maths (textbook questions to consolidate, followed by exam/assessment level questions) as your maths assessment/exams will always be asking you to apply and actively use formulae/theory, rather than just recall it /give a definition as you would when using flash cards. Maths study for me pretty much always consisted of practice questions! And if there's any part of the question you don't understand, make sure you have someone go through it with you (teacher, tutor, friend, someone on ATAR notes etc) until you really understand the method and can use it independently. But that's just my opinion based on my VCE (Methods) studies last year

I hope those tidbits were somewhat helpful and if you want any more advice (not HSC specific haha) feel free to ask

[melberry]

I hope those tidbits were somewhat helpful and if you want any more advice (not HSC specific haha) feel free to ask

Thanks for the advice! That's pretty helpful, and I get what you mean about practice questions over flash cards for math. I find tha my content heavy subject (economics) is going pretty okay without flash cards, so I'll probably use them for quotes instead

[melberry]

Hello there! Update for the past week:
I started using flashcards to learn my Japanese kanji, and it's been very effective so far. I also started using them to memorise math formulae before putting them into practice (one of my biggest problems is I would know how to approach a question, but ended up using the wrong formula). I've been able to get through more past papers and textbook questions

I've been feeling emotionally drained recently, but positive thinking has helped me through most of that ^^ As in, looking back at little messages I wrote to myself before the HSC year commenced to remind me why I'm working so hard. Time management has always been one of my weakest points, and I can't seem to find the time to complete tutoring + school homework, and I'm thinking I may have to sacrifice some of the time I use on past papers.

Any thoughts? I feel a bit lost, but I want to get the hang of this!

Positivitea for today: When all seems lost, know that this too will pass

[Joseph41]

Positivitea for today: When all seems lost, know that this too will pass

"Let it go, this too shall pass
Let it go, this too shall pass"

[mango8]

Any thoughts? I feel a bit lost, but I want to get the hang of this!

Hi there! I've been enjoying your journal lots and lots, I think your mindset is incredibly motivating! I'm loving the positivity because this time in vce gets really difficult to stay optimistic. I'd definitely like to start using flashcards, seems like they can be really useful. How do you motivate yourself in the harder times? What are your future goals and aspirations (I saw you are keen to get into Commerce, what draws you to that)? And ooh fencing!! I've always wanted to do that! I was in a choir years ago, had loads of fun! Do you practise weekly/do performances often? Maybe we'll see a cover soon I don't know anything really too much about the hsc so am keen to hear more, I defintiely feel you on time management. Hope to hear from you soon!!