Author Topic: A cat's VCE Journey! (Read 4101 times)

catpacksnapback · « **on:** March 05, 2019, 08:54:56 pm »

- With all of the glitz, glammer, terrification, casualties, and anxieties one could ever hope for! Hi there!

I'm very new to AN and there's almost no doubt that I have already broken something. This is my apology in advance. I am so sorry. Now that that's sorted, speaking of new - what a fantastic thought! The idea of keeping a journal and seeing that of everyone else's is so inviting. So that's what I'm going to do.

And I'm very scared. Wish me luck!

Here's some information you might like to know about my studying:
(I have added this late, because I realized much of what I say (and/or my occasional sounding like a lunatic) is lacking some well-needed context!)
• I'm (most likely) studying my VCE over 3 years, and started this thread in the first year (2019), graduating in 2021.
• All of my studying is through Distance Ed/Virtual School Victoria/DECV.
• I am aiming for a high ATAR (in a perfect world, 99+) but I am giving my aspirations a whole lot of wiggle room!
• And speaking of lunacy, I would love to study Medicine. The dream is to get into Monash's BMedSc/MD.
• Most importantly, purple is my favorite color. (Probably.)

insanipi · « **Reply #1 on:** March 05, 2019, 09:01:29 pm »

Quote from: catpacksnapback on March 05, 2019, 08:54:56 pm

- With all of the glitz, glammer, terrification, casualties, and anxieties one could ever hope for! Hi there!

I'm very new to AN and there's almost no doubt that I have already broken something. This is my apology in advance. I am so sorry. Now that that's sorted, speaking of new - what a fantastic thought! The idea of keeping a journal and seeing that of everyone else's is so inviting. So that's what I'm going to do.

And I'm very scared. Wish me luck!

Hey hey! Best of luck, I know you've got this, but it's okay to be scared too!

What's your goal(s) (if you know them) after VCE?

Welcome to the forums though, excited to see you here!

catpacksnapback · « **Reply #2 on:** March 05, 2019, 09:04:21 pm »

So this is my first update.. I think. I'm studying at VSV (formerly known as DECV) and am doing 4 subjects in units 1 and 2 this year.
I played it real safe with my subject choices and so far - 5 weeks in to Unit 1's 16 weeks - I'm quite fond of them!

I'm currently studying Biology, Psychology, Literature, and Chemistry.

My study method for Biology and Psychology seems to be working really well - it looks like those are the subjects I'll be getting ahead in - but Literature and Chemistry are a couple of beasts of their own! Literature doesn't have a textbook.. which is something I tend to rely on very heavily. Fortunately English has always been my """strong suit""" (very arguable) so I can get away with it, but the tricky part is that Chemistry's coursework doesn't follow the textbook, either.

I got enrolled into Chemistry late (and by that I mean this morning, 5 weeks in) and have now been set with the task of catching up to the tune of five weeks of work and a SAC (why on Earth is SAC 1 so early?!). That's fine! Chemistry is already proving to be my hardest subject.. but I think I can handle it. (Perhaps hope is a better word to use.)

So that's where I'm at! Right now I'm up to date in all subjects except for Chemistry. I finished my first week of work today and am halfway through the Week 2 SAC. Psych teacher is super happy about my progress in psych, and I'm really excited about that. Biology teacher is terrified of my notes, and so am I.

Current health issues that are hindering my education are still unresolved. Waiting for any improvements or developments. Fingers crossed.

catpacksnapback · « **Reply #3 on:** March 05, 2019, 09:07:59 pm »

Quote from: insanipi on March 05, 2019, 09:01:29 pm

Hey hey! Best of luck, I know you've got this, but it's okay to be scared too!
What's your goal(s) (if you know them) after VCE?

Welcome to the forums though, excited to see you here!

Hi there!

Thanks for the warm welcome - and for the good luck! I get the feeling I'm gonna need it, hahaha!
My ideal course - though it feels far out of reach - is, no doubt, Monash's BMedSc/MD double degree.. but otherwise, I'm honestly quite stumped for plans! Hopefully this year's studies will give me some more insight.

catpacksnapback · « **Reply #4 on:** March 07, 2019, 11:54:45 am »

Fun updates! So as of right now I'm only doing 4 subjects. We're 5 weeks into the year and I'm up to date in my Literature, Biology, and Psychology still. Still behind in chemistry! I have submitted 2 out of 5 weeks of work (currently working on electron subshells for week 3). Almost done with SAC 1.

Due to my goal, however, some lovely AN people have advised that I should try to pick up a 5th subject - Methods, ideally. Math isn't my strong suit, but my "expectation level" (why couldn't they just give me grades?) for Math was exactly the same as all of my other subjects - if not graphs specifically being a little lower (but still within the expectation range) - last year. I'm torn between whether I should take Methods or Health and Human Development, because Health in year 10 was my strongest subject (I think?) - so it would be easy enough.. so what if I took both? Not sure! But definitely going to look into picking up HHD 3/4 if nothing else (I've already done 2 units of Media).

..With that being said, I contacted the school and the careers coordinator AND subject coordinator have been asked to send me some information, so that's exciting. Hopefully I'll be able to pick up methods 2, 3, and 4 without 1 due to being a bit far into the year already. Really scared if I'm gonna be totally honest! But right now, I'm just trying to figure out if I should go 4 subjects, 5 subjects, or 6. Crazy headache right now, though. Back to Chemistry!

Joseph41 · « **Reply #5 on:** March 07, 2019, 02:58:31 pm »

Just want to say, I think it's really great you're putting a lot of thought into this and want to do well. That's promising in and of itself!

We'll be here to help you out no matter what you decide, so I'm looking forward to ATAR Notes being able to share this journey with you as it progresses.

catpacksnapback · « **Reply #6 on:** March 08, 2019, 08:32:05 am »

Quote from: Joseph41 on March 07, 2019, 02:58:31 pm

Just want to say, I think it's really great you're putting a lot of thought into this and want to do well. That's promising in and of itself!

We'll be here to help you out no matter what you decide, so I'm looking forward to ATAR Notes being able to share this journey with you as it progresses.

Ahh! Hi there Joseph - thanks so much for the reply.

That means the world to me. I can't tell you how glad I am to have found this forum (maybe my pestering of it is a good indicator!) but your kind words and the assurance of everyone in this lovely community is such a breath of fresh air, really. I'm excited to have the opportunity to share!

Joseph41 · « **Reply #7 on:** March 08, 2019, 10:19:47 am »

Quote from: catpacksnapback on March 08, 2019, 08:32:05 am

Ahh! Hi there Joseph - thanks so much for the reply.
That means the world to me. I can't tell you how glad I am to have found this forum (maybe my pestering of it is a good indicator!) but your kind words and the assurance of everyone in this lovely community is such a breath of fresh air, really. I'm excited to have the opportunity to share!

And we're excited to have you! What a match.

catpacksnapback · « **Reply #8 on:** March 10, 2019, 10:39:24 pm »

Updates updates updates!
I have been well and truly ticking over whether I should take my VCE over 3 years, and the answer is looking to be yes.
Already being a year level ahead of my average age bracket will see me graduate at the same age that most students graduate at, and though I always liked the "I'm the youngest!" bragging right, I don't think it's worth risking a lower ATAR - or a higher stress level - for! (+ other issues - it might pan out that way regardless of whether I want it to or not, but at least I'll be prepared if I start thinking about it now!)

It's looking like my subject lineup will be Literature, Psychology, Biology, Chemistry, and then next year and the final year, Methods, and Health and Human Development. Those last two were not part of the equation before, but in the name of aiming for a higher score, there's no harm in spacing things out and taking a couple more subjects on.
..That being said, I still have no idea what math to do. (I still don't like maths at all and I'm still extremely wary of my abilities (or lack thereof) - not sure how that's something I'm going to decide. Methods is the placeholder.. but I'm not sure how I'd manage!)

School aside, I'm really hoping my doctors are able to figure something out on the health front. Of course, that's the true factor that will make or break the next 2-3 years for me, so here's hoping. Unfortunately, if I continue at this rate, I will have to drop these ambitions and invest my time into managing myself - or at least what's left of me! Feeling a bit gloomy, but that's nothing some shells won't fix.. subshells.. orbitals.. s, p, d, f, 2, 6, 10..

Bri MT · « **Reply #9 on:** March 11, 2019, 06:22:14 am »

The ambiguity you're facing at the moment is probably pretty stressful; I hope it comes closer to being resolved soon

You might have done this already, but it might be a good idea to send a message to whoever taught you maths most recently & see if they've got a perspective on this. Given the way VSV cohorts work they might not have much of an opinion but it could be worth a shot.

Have you looked at the study design for maths or further yet?

catpacksnapback · « **Reply #10 on:** March 11, 2019, 08:06:02 am »

Quote from: miniturtle on March 11, 2019, 06:22:14 am

The ambiguity you're facing at the moment is probably pretty stressful; I hope it comes closer to being resolved soon

You might have done this already, but it might be a good idea to send a message to whoever taught you maths most recently & see if they've got a perspective on this. Given the way VSV cohorts work they might not have much of an opinion but it could be worth a shot.

Have you looked at the study design for maths or further yet?

Thanks so much

I hope so too. Ambiguity was never my thing!
That's a fantastic idea, though. I spoke to a VCE math teacher sometime last year (who helped me with my Year 10 work) who suggested I take on a VCE mathematics subject.. but I don't remember which one. Dang! Hopefully she's still around, maybe I'll be able to get some insight. Thank you!

And that's a great point - for some reason I actually haven't been able to find the study design for any of my subjects, but the methods enrollment advice notes some key topics that foundation may or may not be required for (all of which I do not remember unfortunately).

catpacksnapback · « **Reply #11 on:** March 11, 2019, 08:14:52 am »

Ahh - shame. Looks like all of my old math teachers are no longer at VSV but I have a feeling she was suggesting general/further.

catpacksnapback · « **Reply #12 on:** March 12, 2019, 06:24:49 pm »

Huzzah! It continues!
I spoke to my coordinator, who agreed that I should be doing VCE over 3 years. Perhaps I should change this to "catpacksnapback's very long VCE Journey". I can't complain, though. Happy to have the chance and hopefully my performance reflects it! She also suggested that I continue doing Psychology this year, and possibly take a gap year - finishing 3/4 in 2021 instead. So things are good!

Subject-wise I'm still not finding Literature to be very engaging (at all) - I love Jekyll and Hyde, which is what the upcoming SAC will be about, but I get the feeling that's due to pop culture - not something I can rely on for the rest of literature. It's really not my strong suit, even though english has repeatedly been my best subject. Still really upset that English Language isn't offered at VSV - I would LOVE to study English Language, that sort of thing is so my field - though I'm also somewhat resenting myself for not taking Latin, even though it's quite hard, I feel as if I would have enjoyed it. Oh well!

Psychology, however, is still my favorite! My teacher is incredibly encouraging and that's always lovely, even if we don't communicate all that much. (Sometimes the only stand-out notes I get on my work are "this is a very clean diagram". I love it.) Accidentally worked way ahead and seem to have 3 weeks more work material completed than I thought I had - including all of the SAC material, which I received in the mail.

Biology has fallen to the wayside a bit but that's on me - still up to date, of course, but I think we have another SAC coming up (something to keep in mind next year - I should be more vigilant with writing this down and perhaps scheduling it). Looks like we're getting into the systems next, which is exciting! Will be a nice break from talking about plasma membranes and all of the teeny tiny stuff. I did the heart dissection prac a week or so ago, though. Biology teacher is SUPER helpful, pointed me in the right direction re: study designs and offered to walk me through it. Asked if I planned on a high ATAR - I was wondering what gave it away, and then remembered that it was the long weekend. (Sorry Bio teacher!)

AND FINALLY, Chemistry! Oh, chemistry. I submitted my first SAC earlier today. I hope I did well, but for a subject that irked me pretty bad last year, I gotta say I'm quite happy with my progress! Still very concerned about my retention (or lack thereof) but I've been taking notes like a lunatic (as usual) to try and compensate. 6.02 * 10^23.. s, p, d, f, / k, l, m, n, / 2, 6, 10, wait what?. Chemistry teacher is too overloaded with work to respond to questions (she's the only one in the entire school AFAIK) so I'm sort of winging it. That being said, 3 weeks out of 6 submitted! Hoping I'll be fully up to date by the end of this week.

I wonder how much I repeat myself here. That aside, thank you ATARnotes for allowing me to vent here once again (I have many pent up thoughts about my subjects that are so easy to air out in this journal!) and thank you for reading!

catpacksnapback · « **Reply #13 on:** March 12, 2019, 06:37:31 pm »

...Oh! And to further take advantage of this quick moment of cognizance and chattiness, I might just quickly talk about my study method.
I have found the perfect groove for my learning style and situation for a few of my subjects.

Since I'm doing virtual schooling, this perspective may be a bit limited, but may apply to holiday studying, or after-school studying - if anyone for whatever reason is looking for some pointers on their own study style!

So my Psychology and Biology work is COMPLETELY aligned with my textbooks. I took one of those "learning style" tests (I believe they test you according to three criteria - visual learning, interactive/tactile learning, and auditory learning) and unfortunately scored dead even in all three, but it turns out that if I sit down and spend an entire day on just reading the textbook, taking notes, and working on the recap/end-chapter questions, I can get a pretty comprehensive understanding of the coursework in advance! Turns out - they don't expect their students to read the textbook (at all - in fact, they don't even reference it), and have instead consolidated most of the work into videos (without subtitles or transcripts), which I frankly cannot stand at all, so I'm REALLY stoked to have figured out that I can just read these instead! Of course, there's situationally specific information that they expect you to gather from the coursework, but knowing all of the definitions and concepts firsthand gives you a CRAZY advantage.

Sadly this doesn't apply to Chemistry (for some reason the curriculum is jumping all over the place) or Literature (I wish there was a literature textbook!) but it's giving me an extremely obvious head-start on my work in Bio and Psych. It's a really rather simple idea - and it likely sounds silly, that I have just discovered that my textbooks are so important - but for the sake of remembering it later, or sharing it with you, I've put it here in my journal! Self disciplined learning is kind of insane at the best of times. I may be losing my mind, but I'm excited to be doing it in such a welcoming environment! So thank you.

catpacksnapback · « **Reply #14 on:** March 18, 2019, 01:26:32 pm »

(Less of a school update, more of a life update, but definitely pertaining to school! Will likely remove this soon for fear of making my thread a little bit depressing.)

So! Once again.. we meet at that "good news that's bad news" crossroad. After a number of tests, the doctors still don't know the cause of my cognitive decline. It's not any of the things they tested for (hence - good news!) but today, we finally reached a couple of conclusions. One being that they have no idea (which I suppose could be considered more of an anti-conclusion), the other that I'm going to have to learn to adjust and just hold on as things keep deteriorating.

I gotta admit - slowly losing what you knew of yourself and the sense of things around you is kind of terrifying. If not for being so tired, maybe my fear would be more outward. This week is the week of most of my first Year 11 SACs. The results are going to hurt.

The new concern is that I'm going to have to start really thinking about these next three years. Of course, my performance this week should be indicative enough, but in the scope of things, if I don't improve (and if I don't improve fast), the chances of me making good on any of the number of aspirations I've gathered are nothing. I'm going to have to start seriously ticking over my VCE and whether I should be going through with it, or if I should start looking into work now, and drop my subjects if not the next 2 years altogether.

Search the forums now!