jiaozis vce journal

jiaozi

hi everyone. i’m jiaozi (not a real name; it literally means dumpling in chinese). i’m in year 11, and my subjects this year are visual communication design, english, philosophy, media, and legal studies 3/4. next year, i’m switching english to literature because i’m really good at it, and i’ll be changing visual communication to history while keeping the rest of my subjects the same. also i literally can’t stand legal studies; it’s the bane of my existence. and no, i don’t do math.. don’t judge lol. all i want is to graduate as soon as possible because i really dislike school, even though i’m on the student council, which is kind of ironic...

i wasn’t sure whether to start a vce journal because everyone else here seems so smart doing physics, methods, and specialist, but i decided to do one anyway. i really want to graduate and become a journalist, and maybe be an author on the side, though that might be out of reach. i love writing! i used to want to be a film director, but my parents shot down that idea (asian parents). when i graduate, i want to go to the university of melbourne or rmit university if my parents don’t let me study abroad. but if they do, i definitely want to leave the country and study abroad. if anyone here has advice on that, i’d really appreciate it!

KingYen

jiaozi Hi There! Welcome to the Atar Forums! If you want to study abroad, make sure you look at the country's courses and requirements to get a good idea of what you will be learning. Make sure to try and learn the language of the country you're trying to visit, unless it's USA, UK, AUS, NZ and Canada (They speak French in Québec). Let me know if you have any more questions!

marshmallow

jiaozi i really want to graduate and become a journalist, and maybe be an author on the side, though that might be out of reach. i love writing! i used to want to be a film director, but my parents shot down that idea (asian parents). when i graduate, i want to go to the university of melbourne or rmit university

#twinning

FH

jiaozi i really want to graduate and become a journalist

another journalism prospect!? i study journalism at monash and absolutely love it, and i'm sure it is something you could enjoy too!

best of luck with the vce journey and i am looking forward to reading your journal 🙂

velvet

jiaozi another literature student!!! 😛 my asian parents also shot down my film director dreams lol but yknow what they can't stop us from pursuing what we like once we're free from their grasp..
looking forward to your updates 🥰

jiaozi

KingYen hey! :3

yeah, i've been doing a bit of digging into courses and requirements, it's wild how different they are everywhere. i'm kinda tossing up between vietnam, hong kong, japan, or china for studying abroad! ~

the language thing is def on my mind. i've actually got a pretty decent handle on japanese, which is a massive plus for japan. my chinese is alright, like, i can get by, so china or hong kong wouldn't be a total disaster on that front (even though they speak English in Hong Kong universities, and Cantonese outside). but vietnam? absolutely zero vietnames lol, so that's making me lean away from it a bit, you know? feels like a massive hurdle to add on top of everything else. (｡•́︿•̀｡)

will def hit you up if more questions pop up (if you don't mind) and thanks again! ദ്ദി ˉ͈̀꒳ˉ͈́ )✧

jiaozi

FH oooh monash! seriously, it's super good to hear someone's also doing journalism and actually loving it! makes me feel way better about wanting to pursue it. i kinda got worried because people around me were telling me that there are 'no real jobs' in journalism... gonna need all the luck i can get lol

jiaozi

velvet omg another one! that's so real about asian parents and just HATING the film and art industry, like what is that about?.... =͟͟͞(꒪ᗜ꒪ ‧̣̥̇)

at least i'm doing media 1/2 that's something, even if it's in a crappy public school classroom, i'm still getting somewhat close to it.. ✩°｡⋆⸜(˙꒳˙ )

FH

jiaozi i kinda got worried because people around me were telling me that there are 'no real jobs' in journalism

ugh i've heard this COUNTLESS times... but there will always be news to tell, thus always be job prospects, so please don't be discouraged

jiaozi

25 of june (2025), entry #2

haii everypony,,

so, i probably haven't even said it, but lowkey, i'm actually aiming for valedictorian. ik, ik, sounds ehhh, esp since i pretty much hate school, but gotta shoot your shot, right? my subjects are mostly chill, so that helps. still on student council, basically the resident poster-maker, which is my claim to fame, even though most of the girls in my year think i'm a weirdo and "emo" just because i accessorise my uniform. (guess i'm a witch who needs burning at the stake for wearing black)

anyway, english is actually getting GOOD now. we're finally doing macbeth, and while everyone else is stressing over the "old english," i'm quoting, "out, damned spot! out, i say!" (i really like macbeth..)

then there's visual communication design. just chucked in my portfolio for outcome 3, and honestly, hmm, not happy with it. one, i still despise this subject. it's all architecture art, zero of the creative stuff i thought it'd be.. total catfishing from the subject description fr. and two, i know i slacked off. which, for someone dreaming of valedictorian... (no comments)

BUT!! philosophy is actually great. my teacher always calls on me (its okay though because i actually know the answer and shes my favourite teacher anyway) and since the class is dead quiet, i'm usually the only one talking. some classmates def think i'm a nerd. the only real complaint is this girl who just joined our class. she used to bully me in year 8, and of course, she rolls her eyes at me on day one and sits with another old bully. great.. other than that, philosophy's actually great, smacked a 100 on my philosophical essay, so that's something.

legal studies 3/4 is still my personal hell, but i'm actually starting to get it together. just scraping by before, but i'm trying to lock in and actually high achieve because it's super important for my atar, and i'd never forgive myself if i tanked it.

and lastly, media, that's the fun bit! i'm working on a video essay about makoto shinkai and his work, pulling in different bits from tv shows, movies, anime, etc. ecstatic for that because i'm a huge fan of his work too :3

yeah, thats pretty much it. i rlly wanna be valedictorian and study abroad at a diff uni or if thats not possible i wanna either go to rmit uni or melb uni~

velvet

jiaozi studying abroad is so real :3 everyday i dream of studying in europe or something living that international student life u know

jiaozi

FH yeah!! journalism is like a dark art. it thrives on the chaos of the world, and every whisper has the potential to become something powerful.

calebark

Good luck with your journey! People are right, there aren't lots of jobs in journalism, but someone has to get the job anyway and that could still be you. Just because something is competitive doesn't mean it isn't worth trying. 🐢

And you're absolutely right -- they really have the potential to make something powerful. In particular I love to follow the work of an investigative journalist from The Age called Nick McKenzie. He's most known for his recent work on construction corruption and war crimes in Afghanistan. If you're curious I'd recommend looking at some of his more well-known articles — it may interest you and really shows that a good journalist can have such an impact.

jiaozi

11 august (2025), entry #3

sooo, i totally forgot to write in here for a minute. my bad.

mid-year i caved and bought new stationery. yeah, i know, sounds dumb but it’s actually been kinda clutch. got this hello kitty pencilcase that’s way too cute for this beige, boring, minimalist hellhole school. somehow it helps me not completely lose myself in all the monotony and blandness.

media class finally threw back a grade for that makoto shinkai video essay: B+. not bad, but also not the A i lowkey wanted. but i gotta take the wins where i can.

legal studies 3/4 sac is this friday after school, and yes, i’m already dreading it. gotta cram like hell and pretend i care for this crap subject. i know i should be on top of visual communication design too, but honestly? i. do. not. care. should care, but it feels like a waste of brain cells.

english has been alright. did my macbeth practice essay with some unseen prompt and it was... fine. like, not great, not terrible. just whatever.

philosophy’s been mostly good but lowkey boring at times. got some homework to catch up on, because apparently that’s a thing i have to do. surprise, surprise....

oh yeah, and i had course counselling recently. big moment, apparently. officially picked my subjects for the big last dreadful year aka year 12. brace yourself, the lineup is:

literature
media
philosophy
history
business

because why not pile on the deep thinking and existential dread with a side of history’s endless cycle of human stupidity?

KingYen

jiaozi OH THE HUMS THE HUMS

jiaozi

14 august 2025, entry #4

hello humans

legal sac is tomorrow, and i gotta stay after school till 5. like, how is that even legal? (get it guys hahahahaha,,) anyway it wrecks my plans because tuition starts exactly at 5. basically i’m gonna be rushing straight from one boring hell to another with zero breaks

looked at my chinese zodiac (wooden rat btw), it said i should stay calm and trust my prep.. so that's something.

can’t wait for all this to be over but i have even more sacs the week after OMG.