Unveiling the Universe: My High School Journey Journal of Astronomy, and Beyond

Godzu

Whoa, hey there! So, I recently stumbled upon these fascinating 'journal' posts on the forum, and I couldn't resist joining the bandwagon. Let's dive right in! You can call me Godzu, and I'm cool with any pronouns.

Right now, I'm taking a break from the end of all my IA2 assessments; had my Math IA2 just today. Sometimes life gets a bit too hectic, and you just need to pause and recharge, you know? So, here's a little intro about me and my high school journey so far.

My goal is to explore a career in astronomy since I'm really passionate about our planet and the universe. I mean, there's so much out there to discover, right? But the big question remains: what's the grand purpose of it all? Well, I'll let my future self handle that one. For now, my mission is to secure a good ATAR and chase my dreams.

My current subjects are:

Mathematical Methods
General English
Physics
Chemistry
Specialist Math
Philosophy

ABOUT ME
I can't believe I'll be graduating in 2023. Outside of school, I have a bunch of interests that keep me busy: I'm a massive sci-fi fan and can spend hours watching movies or reading books in this genre. I started learning Arabic when I was in grade 10 and have been in love with the language ever since. My progress has been quite steady, and I can now hold a basic conversation in Arabic (though not quite fluent at all yet!). I'm also considering learning other languages like French or Italian after graduation.

Another passion I have is that I love to play soccer. I play for my high school team, and it's been a rewarding hobby of mine. What makes it super better is that we have a fantastic coach who is always there for us, and pushing us to be our best.

Term 1 Summary
Everyone tells you that the jump from year 11 to year 12 is crazy, but let me tell you this the jump from year 10 to 11 was even crazier. Unit 1 and 2 was really rough, and almost all of the people in my class went from A's to B's. So if you survived year 11, then year 12 should be a breeze, and I've managed to obtain satisfied grades so far for the IA1's.

Specialist: 19/20
I got no clue how I got this, because last year I got 16/20, but I lost a mark for observations. So uhhh, that was dumb, but I'll take it.

Methods: 20/20
I was shocked, I have never got full marks for a PSMT and my teacher hardly gives full marks so that was pretty unexpected.

Chemistry: 10/10
Physics: 10/10

Now time for sad news
Philosophy: 21/25
English: 21/25
I put in A LOT of effort into these assignments and at the end I got dice rolled my marks. What's crazy is that I was getting 24's for the formative assessments last year and to see 21's this time wasn't pleasant. But in any case, what matters now is how I will improve on these marks.

But yeah I will receive my IA2 marks for most of my subjects really soon. I will hopefully keep updating you guys if anything major happens, but overall I'm proud of my achievements so far, and hopefully I can improve a lot this year. In a week, it'll be the last term 1 and it doesn't feel like it tbh this year about to go really fasttt hopefully I'll have a lot of fun and enjoy every time of it, that's all what matters right?

So yeah, I am probably going to leave now and that should be a wrap for term 1 of my high school journey so far. I'm excited to see where this adventure takes me, and I'm looking forward to sharing my experiences with all of you! Cheers! 😁

Godzu

Heyyy! Thought it's about time to update you on my journey. Journaling is kind of therapeutic not going to lie, but anyways just finished my internal assessments - and let me tell you, it felt like running a marathon, only mentally.

Before we dive any deeper, I want to apologize. My last update was supposed to be a happy-go-lucky summary of Term 1 and 2, and now it is like half way term 3. I might have been a little too focused on the grades and less on the journaling part. I promise to keep it more real from here on out.
After all, it's not all about scores and numbers, right?
I also told myself this after getting one of my marks, officially been through the 5 stages of grief. Some foreshadowing 😢

Now, onto the big stuff. I've been doing some serious thinking lately about the QTAC applications and what I want to do in the future. I've been considering doing a double degree - Bachelor of Engineering, majoring in Mechanical Engineering with a specialization in Aeronautics, and a Bachelor of Advanced Science, majoring in Physics. My ultimate goal is to go into research to discover and create new things. I want to do Aeronautical engineering because it ties to physics and space, and would allow me to create things more effectively if I know why things work, not just how they work, you know?

I mean, I'm all for diving into the unknown, and this seems like a cool way to combine my love for Physics and my curiosity for space. But here's the thing, would it be wiser to just stick with a Physics degree? You know, fully commit to the 'Universe Explorer' title without the side hustle? I'm having a serious Hamlet moment here - to double degree or not to double degree, that is the question.

But enough of that serious stuff. Let's talk about something fun. You know how I mentioned I've been learning Arabic? Well, I tried to use it the other day with a friend who's fluent, and let's just say, it didn't go as planned. I ended up saying some other stuff totally unrelated to the context. Super embarrassing, but we laughed it off. Arabic is a fine language and pronunciation makes a huge difference into the meaning of the word.

Also here's a summary into my internals marks:
Chemistry: 50/50
Physics: 49/50
Methods: 44/50
Specialist: 44/50
Philosophy: 70/75
English: 44/75

I quitted English as soon as I got my IA1 result which was, lets just say not so good, and well I don't regret my decision at. I have just accepted that English is not for me, and that English is a really hard subject. I didn't want to risk high effort and low results for it, where I could rather focus on other subjects. Also I have mocks next week so I have to start relearning unit 4 for chemistry, It's so hard.

Well, that's it for now. My journey continues, and I promise to keep you all updated. Here's to making the best of whatever comes our way. Remember, it’s not just about the destination, but also the ride. So let's enjoy every bit of it.
Also if any mods reading this, can you move this page to "journey journal", I don't know why I didn't put it there initially.
Cheers! 😄

AngelWings

Godzu I'm having a serious Hamlet moment here - to double degree or not to double degree, that is the question.

How about starting with a double degree and switching to single if you realise the double’s not quite what you want? Double degrees are typically harder to get into and single degrees often have more flexibility, so transfers in that direction have less impact later.

Godzu Also if any mods reading this, can you move this page to "journey journal", I don't know why I didn't put it there initially.

Moved to QCE Journey Journals as requested. Let me know if I’ve got the wrong state/ area and/or you want to include any additional tags. 🙂

Godzu

Hey,

Graduated with 98.2 ATAR, and am probably going to stick with Engineering at UQ.

Cya

jinx_58

Godzu

YO SICK AS DUDE!! So rock n roll!!

Prepared to become depressed af :p

-jinx_58