k's VCE journal :) - (class of 2025)

Rey_of_sunshine

frog_of_spades year twelve can definitely be a lot of fun but it can definitely be a lot.
Psychology is definitely an awesome choice (definitely not biased here) and I do like the way unimelb teaches it in first year from my hes subject.
I hope you enjoy Camp and I wish you luck for the Hansen scholarship.
I was one of the applicants earlier this year and I made it through final round and got waitlisted. It's definitely an amazing opportunity but either way unimelb has a tonne of scholarships on offer so there will always be something that can help.
Enjoy the rest of this year and you're gonna smash it next year, I just know it 🙂

frog_of_spades

Rey_of_sunshine Hii I appreciate you replying! 🙂
Just wondering do you have any tips for the Hansen Scholarship application? I've done my research and it looks like a lot of time and effort but will definitely mean so much to me if I'm successful in my application next year.

Also ty! I hope I can do well, just have to manage my stress levels and keep enough of a balance to still enjoy my hobbies and hang out with friends during year 12, even if only a little. Maybe a study group could help with that but i'll see 🙂

Good luck for your post year 12 journey!! I'm sure you'll do awesome too, enjoy the freedom from school lol

Newbie

Nice….looking forward to read more xxx

Rey_of_sunshine

frog_of_spades I'd definitely reccomend a study group because it kind of holds you more accountable than by yourself at home but I also just do not have a good home environment for studying.
For the Hansen, while they do look at finances and stuff, what they really are looking at is who you are as a person, so like final round it's pretty much just interviews where they ask you questions to figure out what kind of person you are and how that will fit best into the program. They're just looking for you to be your genuine self as much as possible, and they're all very nice so don't stress if you get nervous for interviews or anything because they were all lovely people.
I wish you the best of luck!

FH

frog_of_spades best of luck, k! it’s great that you feel ready for year 12, and that you have study methods sorted that work for you— that honestly places you in a good position.

for general 3/4, i’d say go for it. it’s quite easy content wise, however it’s easier to make silly mistakes which can impact your score. and you are right in saying units 1/2 doesn’t matter much.

and thank you for following my journal, i cant wait to read yours as you update!

frog_of_spades

Rey_of_sunshine Hii thanks for the tips!! I definitely want to start a study group next year if I can! I learn a lot by discussing the content with my friends or classmates so a study group would definitely be a great idea

Thank u for letting me know about the Hansen Scholarship; I'm a bit nervous about it tbh and i'm meeting with my school's careers counsellor today about a few scholarship options. Hopefully it goes well 🙂

Rey_of_sunshine

frog_of_spades yeah talking things over is always great and it's definitely understandable to be nervous, I was terrified before every interview especially because I've never done them before. Genuinely the biggest tips I have is just to try and find ways to not stress too much about it.

frog_of_spades

UPDATE!! (Long overdue lol) (will also be very long, bc of my very long absence from my journal... (sorry in advance!!))

Hiii. Was meant to update my VCE journal after coming back from leadership camp, but once I got back head start started and things got really busy! I didn't forget that I'd started this at least but couldn't find time to update 😭

Firstly, some mini updates...

I changed my maths subject!! Good riddance to methods! Yay! I got to start general during head start, so i very luckily did not have to sit through another methods class whilst my crazy ADHD brain attempted to focus on anything but sine and cosine and everything else lol. General really hasn't been a challenge so far, I finished the holiday hw super early, got a little ahead in head start classes, but ofc I don't want to assume the whole Units 3 & 4 will go this way, as I've heard that the finance topic can be challenging (or maybe it was another AOS? i forgot 😭).
I am really grateful that my year 11 coordinator and the school careers counsellor understood my challenges, especially being neurodivergent (auDHD) and were able to accomodate the change of subject for me so quickly!
Leadership camp: was quite fun. We learnt about our different leadership styles and got to do some really fun challenges as well as start planning out our ideas for 2025. but sadly i did have an experience there that was not so great 🙁

Ok so how did head start go?

My first subject of head start was unfortunately general maths, and even tho I'm super happy to have dropped methods, it doesn't help the fact that either way i do not like maths very much 🙁 on a positive note i have some friends in my classes 🙂

I don't remember the order of the rest of my subject for head start but i'll still give an update on how they all went...

Art: really fun! lots of brainstorming ideas which i find really fun! 🙂 I did get a bit overwhelmed with trying to finish whole artist research pages in each lesson. But i tried not to pressure myself too much since I could finish them over the holidays. Which I have done!
The artists I'm researching are Hans Holbein, Gwen John, Frida Kahlo, Vincent Namatjira, Yinka Shonibare, and maybe some others. My theme is self-identity: conflicts and contradictions, and i'm exploring what aspects of myself i feel shape my personal identity, the impacts of others on how i see myself, as well as how do parts of my identity conflict or contradict each other. In particular I'm focusing on my experience being neurodivergent, how I experience being autistic and ADHD, my ancestry and relationship with my relatives, etc. I'm thinking about focusing on self-portraiture and symbolism, to represent myself not necessarily in a realistic art style but in a way that I feel represents who i am, whilst working on the pieces. My preferred media is digital art (I use an XP-Pen screen tablet, programs on my Mac, and photoshop usually), but I also loved printmaking in year 11, and like painting (watercolour and acrylic) so I'd still like to experiment with these as well 🙂 (this all might not make so much sense, sorry if u don't get it since these are just my random ideas!!)
I am anxious about how fast-paced the year will be and how that will impact Art tho, bc ik this subject requires lots of time and effort, and I'd hate to neglect it at any point. I experienced a pretty significant burn out in year 11 that impacted on the consistency of my folio, and I'm worried about it happening again tbh. Folio students will get it 😭
Literature: pretty chill tbh. we analysed poetry by Sarah Holland-Batt. Her poetry is really amazing, and quite different from other texts we've studied in Lit so far. Holiday hw isn't much just reading our set texts: Alias Grace (novel), Smart Ovens For Lonely People (short story anthology), Uncle Vanya (play), and Throat (poetry collection). Alias Grace was so interesting, looking forward to studying this for the adaptations and transformations AOS. Also Uncle Vanya should be really interesting too. We studied Chekhov's 'The Cherry Orchard' in Unit 2 and I found it quite interesting learning about the text's context and cultural significance, as well as Chekhov's absurdist comedy approach.
English: Well, i finished reading our unit 4 text during lesson 1 lol. It was not relevant to our head start classes at all but I absolutely loved We Have Always Lived In Castle!! No judgement pls! 😭 (cuz ik a lot of people don't like it, one my friends being one of them). I just really like gothic fiction, and the feminist aspects of the text. Plus i love a good unreliable narrator lol. I don't personally hate the sisters, they are just really fascinating to me. I do not like cousin Charles tho, ofc!! Getting ready to write a killer essay for this one, hopefully.
But anyways, back to head start; we're starting with Creating Texts. We covered all the mentor texts and analysed them a little, before brainstorming our own ideas. And just like with everything when it comes ideas i've got plenty. probably too many, which explains why i've left my holiday hw of drafting my assessment piece till last... it's currently in progress. and i start school on thursday so i do need to finish it. But i struggle with structure 😭 i've got an overwhelming amount of ideas, and even tho i've settled on what i want to write about, ik i can't just go wild and write a piece without a structure, however interesting it may be. I want to be a writer of some kind myself so maybe i have a little high expectations for this AOS.
In order to deal with my issues with structure I might just stick to writing an article, so it is somewhat structured but I can be creative with my writing style and purpose of the piece. Ik it has to 'explain, persuade, reflect, etc..' but can it be more than one??
We've got the framework of personal journeys so I'm thinking to write about my experience of being neurodivergent; so to reflect? But i also want to address the diagnosis process; so to explain? Like it's my personal experience, so therefore reflecting, but also factual, so explaining? Then again I could make it a little persuasive, trying to convince the reader on the importance of the diagnosis process, and why labels can be important, e.g- seeking accomodations. Sorry this bit is probs me just rambling 😭 maybe other neurodivergent people might get it?? Anyways, i'll figure it out. I might just try writing a sort of summary about what i want to get across (purpose of the piece), and then work out my audience from there. I've noticed I struggle with utilising language for specific audiences in written responses (narratives in particualr), but not when it comes to speeches for some reason. My Unit 1 English teacher said it's bc despite aiming to write for a teenage audience predominantly I use language that what be too sophisticated for most teenagers to understand? Idk, i think i just wrote to many narratives that were not literal in any sense. Basically I like metaphors. And turning my whole piece into one. But it also might be bc I'm experienced with public speaking and have been competing in it since the start of highschool. I don't have this problem with speeches tho. So I did consider writing a speech for Creating Texts, bc I could at least imagine presenting it, and adjust my language and structure based on my hypothetical audience, but idk really 😭😭😭 more rambling, i'm so sorry to those reading!!! I'll figure it out eventually.
Psych: BEST FOR LAST!! I absolutely love Psych. fav subject. and i doubt i'll change my opinion on this by the end of the year. Seriously tho, I'll update my thoughts on psych throughout the year, but when a subject just happens to be a special interest, not sure i'll stop loving it. I went to the ATARNotes in person lecture at RMIT for psych, as well as general and english, but the psych lecture really stood out. The person presenting was also so nice and answered all of my questions, (i had many things I wanted to ask!!) And I've finished all my holiday hw for this subject, plus I'm ahead!! I just love learning about psychology, and even for research methods tho it's not as interesting as the actual content it's nothing I haven't seen before, having already finished Units 3 & 4 Bio last year. Also is it just me or is there an overlap between some content from the general maths data topic and Psych research methods, like the statistics stuff?? Also for past students, when would u recommend doing practice SACs and trial exams? Any tips for Psych in particular?

I start back at school on Thursday, but still have no idea what subjects I have when, since we don't have the timetable yet, (the school literally took down our timetable page!!), but I'm feeling ok about going back. And VERY excited for psych 🙂 as i'm sure u can tell. But sadly i still have English hw to finish 🙁 I need to finish my language analysis essay; we have to analyse the text from the 2024 VCAA exam. I would appreciate any tips from past year 12 students!! especially for language analysis and creating texts! I don't find language analysis particularly hard, for context i was rank 1 for this SAC in year 11, but i just don't find it so interesting, and lack motivation. I also need to finish my Creating Texts piece. and yeah i'm just gonna call it a 'piece' until i decide what it actually is that i am writing 😭

Anyways, byeee for now! I will maybe update once i finish my English hw idk. But trust i won't disappear this time, I'll at least update first day back at school! Good luck to all other students no matter what year level! and good luck for uni students!! One of my coworkers is starting first year uni soon, and it sounds very exciting so wish all u guys luck!

frog_of_spades

After working more on my Psychology notes, I ended up finishing my Creating Texts draft for English!! But it is concerningly very much over the word limit 😭 I swear I always do this, but I think I'll just wait to hear my teacher's feedback first and then cut it down :/

I ended up writing a personal essay, the purpose being to reflect. I am not certain who the audience might be for my piece yet, especially since it ended up being so personal. It makes feel a bit icky (sorry for a lack of a better word!!) to have written something quite personal for a school purpose. So I might find some way to incorporate some of what I've drafted written into an expository article instead with some reflective, personal anecdotes included. Doing this instead might make the tone less apparent, because the focus of an expository article is on explaining something rather than expressing certain emotions for the purpose of persuasion or personal reflection. But there would be a more easily identifiable structure, which I have the idea might be better in terms of making my piece easier to score higher based on the limited rubric.

Now I just have to finish my Language Analysis Essay for English and then my hw will be done!!! But I might just leave that for tomorrow, even though it might be a little rushed since I go back to school on Thursday. Not too worried about it tho.

possible_to_return_passport

I read Trevor Noah over the holidays and we had a quiz on it the first day back :/ Also, Unit 4 text?!?!?! I don't think I have processed that school doesn't last forever.

frog_of_spades

possible_to_return_passport A quiz first day back!! Unlucky ig 🙁 How was Trevor Noah? I haven't heard of that author or any of their texts before.

I actually decided to read WHALITC before I found out we were studying it for Unit 4. At the time I thought it was our Unit 3 text for some reason :/

I also haven't processed that 13 years of mandatory education will be over for me after this year either tbh!! I still can't believe I've already finished a Yr 12 subject (Units 3&4 Bio, as higher study) last year, or that I'm actually in Yr 12 now! Like how are we supoposed to comprehend that?!
Honestly, I'm just trying to stay up to date with schoolwork and ask questions if I'm unsure to try avoid the anxiety that comes with Yr 12 as much as I can.

possible_to_return_passport

frog_of_spades

I'm just taking advantage of the common room lmao. It's a really nice place to study compared to Y11, where we didn't even get a study room because our cohort was so disrespectful and got locked out of senior building for two weeks :/

Trevor Noah's a comedian and has his own show in America. Born A Crime essentially details his early life to present time and his experiences born under the apartheid in South Africa. People were divided by racial groups; white, black and coloured, and whites were not allowed to have children with blacks, but Trevor was born to a Xhosa mum and a German father.

frog_of_spades

Week 1 of Year 12 is officially over!

Here's how it went for me:
Day 1:

Got to skip the first period bc of Yr 12 assembly and homeroom stuff. I normally wouldn't be celebrating this but I skipped maths, which is always a win for me lol
Second period Psych. I was very excited for Psych before I got to class ... but then we ended up revising research methods, so not so fun unfortunately. I did get to ask my teacher lots of questions as well as discuss my goals for the subject and study score aspirations. I really would like to achieve an over 40 study score for Psych. But my teacher said why not aim for a 50, which honestly surprised me. I know I did really well in Psych in Yr 11, not dropping below a 90% on all my SACs and exams, and even got 100% on one SAC, but I never considered the possibility of scoring a perfect or close to perfect study score. I already am ambitious, but kind of want aim even higher for my study score for Psych now based on what my teacher said. but I don't want to set my expectations too high, only to do worse than i want to.
-Third period Art Creative Practice. We went over the new VCAA rubrics for our SATs and Unit 4 SAC, which ngl was pretty boring bc i don't like going through all that admin stuff. In the second half of class my teacher checked in with all of us, and checked our folios. Luckily I finished all my holiday hw for Art a week or so before school started again so I was able to show her my work with little anxiety. We then started our research for a chosen artist and one artwork that we will need to analyse later in a written report that I think might be graded.

Day 2:

Again got to skip first period, this time English, due to a whole school assembly and then a camp info session. At the assembly myself and other students got announced for our leadership roles for Yr 12 which was exciting! Though we had to play videos introducing ourselves as leaders to the whole school which was a little awkward, especially since one of my fellow Wellbeing Captains edited our video and it really stood out from the others 😭
Second period I had Literature. We each had to analyse a section of 'Alias Grace', which we will need to present next class. I didn't get too much done bc I spent most of the time discussing the text with my friend as well as my Lit teacher, and two other Lit and English teachers who came to help out our class. Basically, I talk too much, but i really don't mind bc I enjoy discussing the books I read
Last period I had religion bc I go to a Catholic school so it's mandatory :/ I'm not religious myself so i find it kinda pointless, but obviously no offense tho. Most of my classmates use this class as a study period anyway. And my teacher seems nice. He explained that if we have upcoming SACs or need to catch up on work it would be ok if we use his class to study.

Overall, the first two days of year 12 were pretty chill. I've got some hw for Art, Lit, and English, but I think I'll be able to get it done. I've already finished the Lit hw, finishing my analysis on the last section of 'Alias Grace'. So I can use the 30mins we get at the start of next class to finish off the work to instead get ahead on my annotations of the text. I've started my Art hw annotating some concept sketches I've done, and have begun research on my chosen artist and artwork for the upcoming written report. For English I want to rewrite my Creating Texts piece as a different text type, as well as edit my Language Analysis essay which is due at the start of class on Tuesday. I get that this is still a decent amount of hw, but I also want to continue working ahead on my Psych Notes and practice questions so I can get some feedback from my teacher.

I realise I write a lot here, too much I think :/ so will try and make my next updates more concise 🙂 Byee for now

FinFin-3rdYearUni

frog_of_spades
Good to see you had a good first week back at school!
I went to a Catholic school too. The first semester of R.E was a spirituality class, then the second semester became another study period. It wouldn't be counted in your ATAR, so don't stress about it. Hope all the homework isn't too much, enjoy your weekend

Dosanjh (NHS)

You are in year 12, I just started year 7😭