FH You don't get casual clothes days? that sucks! and thanks, comic con is pretty much a massive get together for nerds (things like comics/dnd/cosplay etc) that's happening in June, so a little while away but I'm still excited.

    Officially finished term 1 (a third of the way through classes which is terrifying), and the year 12's at my school got an easter egg hunt! it was cheap chocolate and tasted kinda odd and was weirdly grainy but it was a lot of fun to have a bunch of us going around grabbing as many eggs as we could and stuffing them in our pockets or carrying tjem in our clothing. Plus I gave a ton to my little sister and a couple of her friends who proceeded to tell me I'm nicer than her because of it lol. I also found out from the other psych teacher at my school that I'm sitting around rank 1 (not 100% certain) but yeah, which is cool but also kinda scary considering I only got an 85% on that SAC and it was with a cheat sheet.. not looking forward to the psych exam.
    Anyways, happy easter everyone!

    15 days later

    Had my first university assignment for HES yesterday, a group oral presentation and I think we did well. I was so frigging nervous but we didn't make any mistakes and then I did really good at the question section at the end which was awesome! I was really lucky with my group, they were all really nice and we worked well together.
    Next assignment's going to be an essay on the same topic so like it should be okay.
    I've gotten some work done these holidays, probably not enough actual study but I'm hoping motivation will return as school starts again.
    Hope everyone's feeling ready to head back on Monday and that you've enjoyed the break!

    First day back and everything seems okay though the stupid powerpoints in the study centre so my laptop was flat for half the day which sucked.
    Still have some English and Business holiday homework stuff to finish off but I've done most my work so eh. The business stuff wasn't essential so it's not high on my priorities.
    I have a business SAC next week and a psych SAC and we start our hospitality SAC too which is going to be sooo much fun all at once. I think hospitality shouldn't be too bad but not looking forward to business or psychology at all.
    Also not looking forward to our English unit much but it's tolerable but I am happy with my SAC results for We Have Always Lived in the Castle (95%!) and hoping to talk to my teacher during tommorows double about what exactly to improve upoun for next time and stuff.

    Oh and personal life stuff, I now know I know people going on Saturday of comic con and Sunday so I won't be alone which is fun! Plus cosplay stuff is meant to arrive soon which is both exciting and a little nervous because like it's expensive so I just hope it doesn't look trash lol.
    Anyways, hope everyone's doing okay

      My English teacher came up to me in class to congratulate me on my score so I now know I'm tied rank 1 which I'm very happy about!

      • FH replied to this.

        Had my hospitality excursion today, we went to a 5 star hotel, got to eat from their buffet which was incredibly delicious and my class was honestly awesome, I've become really good friends with one of them so we hung out all day as well as with some others from the class and it was just so much fun! Not too much to say but like that was one of the best excursions I've ever had.

        PERSONAL UPDATE BUT LIKE IM SO EXCITED BECAUSE ONE OF MY COSPLAYS FOR COMIC CON CAME IN.
        Tried it on and my friends say it's super pretty and like it's such a vibe but I need to fix some stuff to make it fit better (expected) and style the wig to make it fit comfortably/look right but yeah. The other cosplay is waiting at the post office so I'm super excited to get that as well and then figure out if/what adjustments are needed to get them ready for comic con.
        Anyways hope everyone is going well

          Rey_of_sunshine
          OMGGG 95?!

          IM SO HAPPY FOR YOU!! i was wondering if you were able to lend some tips on writing analytical responses that actually make sense (ESPECIALLY IN TIMED CONDITIONS T-T). Im really interested in WHALitC but when it came to the actual sac I flunked bad

          like my topic revolved around how influenced characters were to class and wealth...so I was saying how it influenced the backwoods to treat the villagers poorly

              _risa_ Thankyou so much!
              Honestly when it comes to analytical pieces I think 3 of the biggest things I focus on are imbedding of quotes, author intent and my vocabulary.
              Once you have your 3-4 ideas for the body paragraps (I normally go 3 but it's up to you and how much you think you can write), the important part is having textual evidence (quotes/key scenes) to back it up. So having a few basic quotes memorised is important, even if it's just single words/short phrases. So an example of a sentence from my essay is: 'This deep-seated fear likely is a result of the social reprecussions she faced during the trial for her family's murder, as the town despises the Blackwoods for the deaths and their non-conformitive nature, going so far as to taunt them about the passings by chanting rhymes about how "Connie" sent the Blackwoods "down in the boneyard ten feet deep". '
              Then it's important to mention author intent, whether by saying the author intends to or by mentioning how the specefic literary technique/quote/scene supports their overarching message, or if it suggests something to audience.
              Essentially the quotes are the what and the author intent is pretty much the why from my understanding.
              When it comes to language I try to have a few synonyms/similar words available for key words (e.g. isolation, ostrasization, social exclusion etc) to diversify language choices, also adding in some other 'fancier' words like juxtaposition, catharsis or malleable. Additionally having a variety words to convey what the author is doing (presents/reveals/demonstrates/depicts/exemplifies/suggests/implies etc) is something I've had to work on a little.
              The specefic feedback I got on my piece was to use certain terms prefered by my school (e.g. anti-semetic) and to add in maybe 1 or 2 more key scenes to go with the quotes.
              Honestly when it comes to the timed conditions the only advice I can give is practice under timed conditions, and when it comes to essay planning in the time, do what works for you (so like I don't do detailed plans, I'll jot down my 3 body paragraph ideas and that's kind of it, maybe a relevant quote/word I don't want to forget but normally not. But I know a lot of people work better with detailed plans so it's about trial and error and choosing whatever works for you).
              If you have any specefic questions or stuff I can help with I'm happy to try and answer anything, hope that was at least slightly useful

                THANK YOU T-T!!
                That was much more than what I was expecting honestly. I think I should review the author's intentions and how to write that throughly in the response.
                Again, your help is very much appreciated and hopefully you're able to continue this year with just as high results as your current SAC.
                🙂

                  _risa_ That's completely alright, I'm glad I was able to help and I'm happy to answer any other questions you may have in the future 🙂

                    Not too much happening in my school classes at the moment, I did get a 92% for part 1 of my hospitality SAC which is nice and I should be getting my business results soon-ish.
                    I'm currently meant to be working on my essay for HES psychology (I kinda am not entirely sure what I'm doing so it's a bit stressful and I won't do great but theres not much I can do besides write what I can and turn it on time). Should be getting the results for the group project oral in a couple days tho which will be good.
                    I've also talked to my school with a friend and we're going to be giving a presentation to people about CHES and it's programs to try and get more people signed up for next year because our school's communication and information about it last year were... minimal.
                    Interestingly though, this same friend now know's who I am (they found this account/diary lol) which was something I wasn't particularly expecting so that was kind of funny. Turns out another account I've talked to a few times on here is one of their friends so they discovered it based off the conversations we had on here lol. TBH I haven't exactly hidden much about the school's subjects/my classes because I figured majority of the people at my school are probably not the sort to visit ATAR notes discussion page at all, and the ones that are likely to aren't really the type to judge me.
                    Oh and just another personal life update, my 2nd cosplay (also a genshin cosplay) is here and fits me well which is so exciting, just need to do a few things here and there for both cosplays and I'll be comic con ready.
                    Anyways, hope everyone is going well!

                    Just got back my first ever uni assignment results (group oral) and I got 8/10! The section I was in charge of got top marks and we did frigging awesome, I am so happy with the results lol.
                    Don't have anything else to say so hope everyone else is going well!