Life Update

The last post I wrote that was not related to Kokoda was on the 14th of April which makes the fact that it was only 19 posts ago one of the reasons I jokingly changed the title of this blog to "The Not-so-Daily Lukey" which I will change back to "Daily Lukey" once I get back into the swing of things again. Anyway, the point of that little fact was to show how long it has been (almost 6 months ago [that's half a year!]) since I wrote a regular post. In that time a lot has happened (I think, we'll see when I get down to it) and so today's post is a little bit of an update on what has been going on.

So I wrote that introduction two days ago and now I am here, writing the rest of the post. Welcome to the world of procrastination. Except, I procrastinated by doing other work so it was not entirely wasteful procrastination. Could it even be called procrastination then? Anyway, school has been busy lately, especially since it is VCE, and with my 3/4 Methods exam just four weeks away the work is becoming more real as I get through more and more practice papers. I have done well in my SACs so I have that but I also need to do well in the exam if I want to get a good score so there comes that. The plus side is that in four weeks, I will no longer be doing Methods. Although I will miss it because I like mathematics, it will be nice to not have that as one of my hardest subjects anymore so I can focus more equally on my subjects, particularly the ones I am struggling with. I guess nothing much really has happened though since Kokoda, though I do feel I could use a random thought Friday post right now (wait, I moved that to Saturdays but anyway) because, as you can tell, my mind is all over the place right now. Nothing much really has happened though. We've had a catch-up with the Kokoda group, a presentation night for the whole leadership program plus some minor Rotary events we help out at but it has been a while since we have all been together again, I think we need to organise something. It is sad how people drift apart some times but hopefully we can organise another Relay for Life next year which can act as our reunion of sorts. I'm on my school's first SRC (this is only the school's fourth year) which was a great experience but is sadly drawing to a close as the new SRC representatives are elected for next year. One of the best things about being in a new school (aside from the new facilities) is the new traditions you get to create as well as the community feel you get from it. So, we may have only been around for almost a semester but it was great to set some of the grounding and actually have some input into things at the school and inputting student ideas. I had better finish now as I think you are all pretty much up to speed. Of course there are always the personal moments that occur but that is why this is the internet, and not my real life.

Hope to get another post out soon, see you soon!

KOKODA IS COMING

So welcome back to the first post in ages! As the school term has come to a close there should be some more time for me to get more posts out. I also have to start writing my Kokoda series which will come out while I am over there in just over 10 days!! As Kokoda is drawing ever-closer there has been so much to do which is why this weeks 'the week that was' segment is mostly about Kokoda. However, before I continue with this I am just going to finish the introductory paragraph with something a little less related to Kokoda. Aside from all the Kokoda stuff which has taken up a lot of time recently, I have also had my first 3/4 Methods SAC which for those of you unfamiliar with VCE, counts towards my study score for the subject and, as a result, my ATAR which determines whether or not I get into my desired University Course. I was pretty happy with the result as I received 94% (and A+) which put me at Rank 3 out of the 166 students doing Unit 3/4 Methods at my school. It was quite the surprising (and exhilarating) moment which put me in a positive mindset for the rest of the year (hopefully, I am not from the future so I can not tell). Now, onto the Kokoda stuff.

Source: http://www.kokodatrackfoundation.org/history-of-the-kokoda-track.aspx

Since it has been so long since I have written a post updating you all on my Kokoda journey I am actually not sure where to start so if things are a little out of chronological order or a little random, I am very sorry. Vaccinations were this week. After many weeks of planning the time finally arrived. It was not exactly significant but it was still one of those things that made everything seem so much more real. If you were wondering what vaccinations we were getting for Kokoda, it was Flu, Typhoid, Hepatitis A and Japanese Encephalitis (which was optional). It would have also been tetanus but we got those in Year 10. In the past week Mum and I have also been packing and repacking my pack as well as testing out my sleeping mattress and sleeping mat so I know how to effectively get the sleeping bag and mat back in their respective bags. It has been a lot of hard work trying to get everything all together and fitting it in but it is great to get it ready and sorted this far out from the trek. When we go there, we will be packing our empty packs in suitcases so that the straps do not get damaged in transit but we still need to know how to pack it (and that everything fits and is not too heavy). Still, I am pretty sure that there are some things in my pack that I am going to donate to my Porter so I do not have to carry it after the first day. Aside from this, we were also put in groups and had to make a presentation on a portion of the Kokoda track. I was with two others and our task was to research Efogi to Myola, Myola to Templeton's Crossing and Templeton's Crossing to Eora Creek while making reference to Captain Sam Templeton. We had to show through our presentation how the soldiers who fought in the Kokoda campaign experienced Kokoda. Our presentation was a story which I actually might post as one of the days that I am away in Kokoda. It was actually a very interesting task and how presentations, dare I say it (I do by the way), was one of the best. Also on that night we had a presentation from one of the last surviving members of the 39th Battalion who fought in the Kokoda campaign. He was such a great character and he had some really interesting stories to tell. Plus it was also very interesting that it was the Malaria he contracted that saved him from the fate of many of his comrades who died along with the majority of the 39th Battalion.

Less than two weeks to Kokoda and the excitement and nervous energy is growing! See you tomorrow.

Pre-Exam People

As you probably know, this week is my exam week at school. As such, long posts like these are not going to be as frequent due to the time I need for studying. So do not be surprised if you see another short post either on Tuesday or Wednesday (Thursday is my last day of exams). Today, however, was my first exam and it was for VCE Maths Methods Unit 2. Needless to say, I have been studying very hard for this subject (and my other ones as well) over the past few weeks and so am very pleased to finally have this exam over with. However, right before the exam during the last-minute studying time I noticed a few different types of people that appeared prominently all around me. These types occur every time there is an exam and so in this post I am going to walk you through these different types of people.

Source: http://www.zpsb.szczecin.pl/en/international-business-studies/learning-at-wpbs/photo-gallery/ibs-photo-gallery/

The first type of people you see are the focused study-ers. These are the people who you see just sitting quietly going through review questions or re-reading notes or sections of the text books. They are generally calm and not overly stressed about the exam. However, they are at the right level of stress to motivate study while not allowing it to overcome them. The next group of people are the late-night study-ers. You can generally tell who these people are by the way they are seated at a table. If they are lying across the table with their head in their arms then you know that they are sleeping. They generally have a higher-than-average level of stress as they were silly enough to stay up late the night before without thinking about getting enough sleep. The next group of people are the over-thinkers. These are the people who get hung up over one question that they did not understand. Their stress levels are very high and so they take everything out of proportion. They are generally the people who look worried, are rushing around or appear to be playing a game of twenty questions where the questions just never stop. Other people fall under the category of nervous wrecks. These are the people who have prepared for so long that when the day finally arrives the stress and pressure has built up. Sometimes though, this same type of person may not have studied for that long. Maybe they only studied for a little while and it is only right before the exam that they realise the mistake they made in doing this. This group of people display very similar symptoms to those of the "over-thinking" group. Finally, you have the socialisers. These are the students who do not seem to care about the exam and are only worried about catching up with their friends. Friends who are busy studying and not wanting to be distracted. These are the people who make you wonder if they even realise they are about to sit an exam. Their stress levels are very low and while this can be a good thing, it is always good to be mindful of others. Just because you are sure of yourself and what is going to be on the exam, others may not be.

There are quite the number of different groups out there, see you tomorrow!

Busy Study Day

So sorry guys but tonight I was caught up studying and so this is another picture-less late-night post written on my phone. I hate when this happens but it will probably begin to happen a lot more until next Thursday. This is, as some of you will know, because of my school exams. I have VCE Maths Methods on Monday which is going to make me study really hard until the day and then my other subjects on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. I want to apologise in advance for more posts like these due to my study habits. In the coming days I am going to write a few more posts about studying and how to do it effectively so stay tuned for those because I know how popular they were last Semester. They will include some new things as well as some rehashing of the old yet great stuff.

So stay tuned because exam week is coming up both on this blog and in my life. See you tomorrow!

Technology

Technology has made our lives better in so many ways. For one, it keeps us entertained. Keeping people entertained is one hell of a good thing sometimes. Especially when you are somewhere like a restaurant and need to keep the kids entertained so they do not, as the phrase goes, "run a muck". Before I go on, can I just point out how weird "run a muck" sounds. I mean, it seems as though someone is actually managing a muck. I have no idea how that one came about but anyway, moving on. So yeah, in my life keeping people entertained so they do not get bored is a big plus and all these new technological advances in devices and applications makes life so much easier for us and for them.

Source: http://www.apple.com/au/support/ipodtouch/

Before any of these technologies came about people, especially children, would just get bored. Even if they bought a book they would still get bored. Let's face it, for children, books are only interesting for a little while and soon they just become boring and the child moves on. When the Nintendo DS came around this all changed. Suddenly the kids were bringing their portable game consoles and playing through games that would keep them entertained for the whole time. However, they soon became bored of playing alone so then came the multi-player. Not just any multi-player, wireless multi-player. Yeah, I went there. This would keep them entertained for even longer as all they would want to do is beat each other and just keep playing until they had 'won'. Soon though the DS was left uncharged and forgotten so when they came to play it there was nothing to play for it was flat. Even if they got passed this hurdle they began to get bored. Then Apple came out with the 'new' iPod Touch which kept people entertained for hours with the number of new applications coming out daily growing exponentially. Yeah, we just finished the exponential and logarithm chapter in Methods. Finally the kids remained entertained for a long time as once they got bored of a game, they would simply move onto the next one. If they ever ran out of new games to play they would just download a new one. Luckily these are still working today and it makes our lives heaps easier. Without them they would get bored and basically "run a muck". Technology, you have done wonders in our lives.

Technology helps in more ways than one, see you tomorrow!

Assignments and Due Dates

Whenever there is an assignment or something due on a certain date there are always people who struggle to stick to these dates. This even occurs when we get an exceptionally long period to compete the task. Even on the day there are still some people who struggle to stick to these constraints. You can always tell when an assignment or something is due the next day because the class Facebook group suddenly becomes very active as everyone leaves it to the last minute with no hope for completion. It is also annoying as even though teachers always threaten consequences for not adhering to deadlines they remain only threats. It just makes it so unfair for the students who put in the effort and handed it in on time. Tomorrow we have a science prac report due on an experiment we conducted and currently the Facebook group is being hit by a storm of people starting their reports too late and getting stuck. I came to write this just to get away from it all. These people will struggle through VCE and University when deadlines are much stricter and if you do not hand it in on time you fail.

Just get organised, see you tomorrow!

Sorry for another short post today!

Frustrations

There are just so many things that frustrate us in the world of today. Some of them are things we have no control over while some of them we do have some control but still do nothing about. We are all unique in this way as we all have different frustrations and different issues. Some of these are trivial, some are concerning while others are just plain frustrating (well, duh). First off, writing these introductions are frustrating. However they are also necessary because if I just started straight into what I was doing people would have no idea what was going on until halfway through. So you see, not all frustrations are unnecessary and without reason. I guess today's post will just be me venting my frustrations on a few things, some of which do not really concern me directly but are still frustrating.

Image Source: http://bloviatingzeppelin.net/tags/technology-frustration

My first frustration is how I am doing homework nearly every single night and yet my brother can get through a whole week doing barely an hour. The worst part is he is doing VCE! All he does is come home and watch television. I mean, he went through three seasons of King of Queens in a week! On top of that he has work and CFA so it is just so unfair. Then he comes in and annoys me when I am trying to do my homework and I am only doing one VCE subject this year. He is in year 12!! It is just so frustrating. I rarely have time other than the weekend to watch a DVD and if I do watch television I will be on my laptop while doing it or just watching some of the shows on free to air television. Here is one that does not actually involve me but is actually frustrating. Every afternoon after school now the bus that goes past the station and starts at our school is always so packed of people that some times the bus driver has to stop people getting on. This is incredibly frustrating as generally there are only a few who actually use that route to get home while the rest are just lazy and can not be bothered to walk the distance which is not even one kilometre and can be done in under ten minutes. Like I said, they are just really lazy. It also means that the people who actually do have to use that bus to get home are the ones that miss out because of the selfish majority. It is just so frustrating! They were just two examples of things that frustrate me but I will not go on otherwise, again, this blog will be made into one where you have to show your age before entering.

Don't let the frustrations get you down, just take deep breaths and stay calm, see you tomorrow!

Studying Tips

So it's that time of year again. Yes, it's time for exams! The time we all love to hate. The only really good thing about this is we only have to go to school for the exams which means really short school days. It's also good because the whole week before is just Revision Week where they can't teach us anything new. The downside of this is also that we can't have anything due that week and so all our assignments are due the week before (this week) meaning a very stressful time for students. At least once this week is over all that's left to do is study. In today's post I am going to discuss some study techniques that could help you do really well on your exams!

For Maths subjects I find starting my revision by reading through the chapters we have completed to be my first step in studying. From this reading I make summary notes on key concepts of the chapters. These may include formulas, graphs, rules and a few questions as examples. After this is completed I find it time to complete the chapter review just from the summary notes so you can see if you need to add something. Once this is done it is also useful to go back to the chapters and complete some more questions that you weren't on the layout that you completed the first time around. I have used this many times both in normal Maths and Maths Methods and it really has helped me a lot in remembering all that I need to. It is also useful to go online and do find some practice tests on Google. It is very helpful to complete these tests under exam conditions and without breaks as this will provide you with great practice. Remember, cramming the night before will do you no good as you will not retain what you just read. If this does work for you (and you get good marks), I am very jealous of you.

For subjects like Humanities and Science where there is a lot of information to remember I find the following study methods helpful. First, I create a summary sheet of all that I can remember about the topic (or topics) without looking at the text book or notebook and then I look through my textbook/notebook/workbook and write down any extra notes I may have forgotten in a different colour so that it stands out and I know what I need to work on remembering. After this I go online and search up online quizzes or tests about the topic that can help me revise. I also find the use of flashcards to be very helpful and I used it a lot (and to great effect) in the Semester 2 exams last year as there was a lot to remember with Health and Physical Education and Science. There is a great free app for android called StudyDroid  where you go online and make the flash cards (you can also create them on the phone) and you can sync the ones you create online with the ones on the phone so that you can study topics on the go. I also use this app in my Piano lessons for theory. I find it very helpful and there is bound to be a similar flash card app on the Apple App Store. Remember, trying a variety of study methods is best so you can find which one works best for you.

For LOTE subjects (such as French or Chinese) there are a number of tactics I use to revise. The first thing (and most favourite) I do is use Language Perfect to revise some old vocabulary that could come in handy as well as learn some new adjectives that might help in the written task. The next thing I do is read through my workbook and look at some of the activities we have completed and then do similar ones that I make up myself or search for online. This really helps with the application of different words and verbs because there is only so much you can do when you know what a word means. If there is a written component it is also very helpful to look over some of the previous topics you may have covered to gauge what sort of writing task it might be. If the teacher provides a Revision Sheet make sure you complete it as they are very useful. Then you can try your hand at several different writing activities to see how you do, the teacher will be happy to look through it with you to see where you could improve. Remember, just because you learnt something last year does not mean it will not be involved in the exam.

For English where there may be a text response essay there are ways you can study. First, the teacher will generally tell you what it is you will be responding to if it is a text, or the sort of topic (such as persuasive writing). If it is a text the first thing to do is to write a summary of each part of the text so you can gauge what you can remember about it. This way you know what parts of the book you may need to re-read if you cannot remember what it is about. From your summary look at some key themes and write down some good  quotes for each because there is more than likely going to be questions relating to some theme or something. From here it may also be useful to make up your own prompts based on previous ones you have worked on or other ones relating to major (or minor) themes in the text and then write a plan out for this. If you want, you could write out an essay and show it to your teacher for feedback but just a plan is enough so you can work out what sort of topics you might discuss. For something else, like a persuasive piece or text analysis, it is best to look at examples of these and use textbooks or notebooks for examples of how to write something like this. You might even do a Google search for some of these topics and practice things for you to work on. Just don't forget to practice, even if this just means writing out a plan. Some practice is better than none. Remember, just because you may not be allowed to bring in your text does not mean you do not use quotes.

May the odds be ever in your favour for Exams, see you tomorrow!

Homework

Finally! I just finished all my homework and assignments and I am feeling free to relax. I have had so much work with assignments and homework recently that I haven't even had a chance to enjoy some of my Birthday Presents yet (except for four episodes of Doctor Who). I've been lucky to even find the time to keep writing these posts. However, now it is over I can finally relax and catch up on all that I have missed out on. Hooray! It is is such a great feeling.

So the assignments we've had is a DNA Extraction Practical Report on the experiment we did last week and that was due today. It wasn't as bad because it was completed in pairs but it was still a lot of work to do, even between two people. The next thing was an English Oral Presentation which started today on whether people should be allowed to post whatever they want online. From here we got our own issue and contentions to talk about and we started presenting today though we were really slow (even though the speeches only go for 3 to 5 minutes) and we only got three done today so I probably will not even have mine until next week. I just have to say that it takes me 20 minutes to 40 minutes to write one of these blog posts with pictures but for my Oral Presentation which is just a speech it took me nearly 2 hours to write when it was shorter than two of these blog posts. The logic in that... At least that's done now and I just have to keep practicing every night which isn't so bad because I have what I'm going to say down pat so I only have key words on the palm cards.

Another assignment we have which is due on Friday and which I just completed was a Humanities Macroeconomics Assignment on an economist which we had to choose from a list. Each different Economist has their own questions related and though it seems simple it is far from it and it may seem easy to get the information but it isn't. It's very deceptive and takes hours to complete. It's an assignment you wouldn't be able to complete the night before (and get a good mark). I'm doing mine on Milton and Rose Friedman and I actually find it very interesting, although it can get boring and tedious.

The final assignment is one for History of Western Medicine which we started in class and it's a case study on a topic of our choice to do with Medicine from the 1800s to the 2000s. I'm doing a case study on Cholera while focusing more on the history of it and comparing it to modern day cases. It isn't such a hard task as we have benchmark tasks to complete along the way that help us complete the assignment. Our first benchmark task was an opening paragraph outlining our topic (I may have wrote a very large topic) then a statement (I may have wrote a paragraph) on why we chose it and some research questions to focus our research. The second task is an annotated Bibliography of four preliminary resources (we can use more in our research stage) and the third benchmark task is a research table using our research questions and we write notes from our research and the source we got it from. Finally, we write it up in a report and then print it out ready to be handed in (next Thursday).

So that is all the assignments we had plus all the extra homework we get on top of that. Luckily next week is Revision Week before exams so we don't have any tests and we don't get much homework because it's all revision. Then it's exams and we won't have a lot of homework for the next few weeks. Finally, I can relax!

May the odds be ever in your favour, see you tomorrow!

The Methods SAC Part 2

So yesterday, the 9th of May (a.k.a. my Birthday) I completed the rest of the Maths Methods SAC which also included the continuation of the Tasmania Jones story and his quest to recover the "Cory Potion". I didn't write about it in yesterday's post because it was my Birthday. The following is the continuation of the Tasmania Jones story as told in the Methods SAC. It has the worst ending which shows why Maths teachers aren't English teachers (well, at least not the ones who wrote this SAC).

Click here if you haven't read Part 1.

We left off with Tasmania Jones on a perilous roller coaster on the path to recover the "Cory Potion". We start Section 2 with Tasmania Jones discovering another perilous roller coaster which starts at ground level and goes on a path described by a cubic equation. Then there are a number of questions relating to the rule and some other questions before Tasmania Jones completes the Roller Coaster and continues on his search for the "Cory Potion".

Having safely crossed this perilous attraction Tasmania Jones comes across some toxic liquid which is made up of a certain percentage of toxic acid. Then you have to work out the total amount of acid in the toxic liquid and then it gives you two solutions (x and y) and the percentage of acid in each. From here you need to work out how much of each solution is in the Total liquid (I'm not saying how) and then that is all for this section. Then Tasmania Jones continues and he finds a giant container on top of a stage above which is suspended the "Cory Potion". Tasmania Jones must somehow save the potion as the container is slowly filling  up with the toxic liquid and then there are a number of questions relating to this and then you must work out how long it will take for the container to fill and how long Jones has left to save the potion.

And now for the ending that would make English teachers everywhere cringe. Once Tasmania successfully receives the potion he rushes back and notices a note attached to the vial containing the potion. WARNING: ENDING MAY MAKE YOU SICK. The note reads: "Congratulations on successfully recovering the fake potion. I look forward to meeting you again someday. The Forces of Evil". And that is the end of Section 2 and the Maths Methods SAC. I know, worst ending ever. I'm so sorry but that is how they ended the SAC. At least it provided a little bit of entertainment.

May the odds be ever in your favour, see you tomorrow!

The Methods SAC

So today we had a Maths Method SAC on Cubic and Quartic Functions as well as everything we had learnt so far (Linear, Quadratic, Graphs) It is so large that we actually haven't finish it yet. It goes for 4 periods and there are 2 sections. During the first 2 periods you can only work on Section 1 and in the next 2 periods you can work on both section 1 and section 2. So it is a big SAC and I studied a lot for it because I knew there would be a lot of stuff on it that I may be a little rusty on because it has been a while. Even during lunch time today I was studying with my friend (who is also in Methods) for the SAC.

So we were pretty nervous about the SAC and it didn't help that one of our friends said that the teacher had said that it was hard. Anyway, as the SAC was going to take full periods we had to arrive at class before the end of lunch so that we could start as soon as the bell went. So when we do finally start I open the first page and I just try really hard to hold my laughter because the Section 1 of the SAC (and I hope Section 2 is also) is based around the story of "Tasmania Jones and The Temple of Doom" or something along those lines ("Tasmania Jones" was correct but I don't think it was "Temple of Doom"). It made the SAC more entertaining as there were questions based around different parts of his journey.

Well, the story started off with the main character ("Tasmania Jones") on his way to retrieve a stolen cure. His first struggle is at the edge of a cliff and he has to jump from the top of the cliff, over the lava and onto a platform. There were two ways Tasmania knew he could do this and the first rule was given and you had to graph it, the second rule you had to work out based on the points they gave you (y-intercept and turning point) and then graph it also. There were questions related to these two rules and once you completed them Tasmania continued on his journey.

Having successfully passed this obstacle Tasmania now faces a pit of crocodiles. He notices a stalactite growing from the ceiling which conveniently has a hook on the end (as stalactites would) which is conveniently exactly in the middle of the gap. You then had to work out the rule for the semi-circle the path the end of the 5 metre rope made when it swung from one side to the other (with Tasmania on the end casually avoiding the snapping crocodiles). Our hero then continues his journey where he discovers he must go on a dangerous roller coaster (sounds like fun) but he needs the key which is at the end of a room with a motion sensor at the entrance. Conveniently, Tasmania is a very fast runner but on his way back he fatigues and only runs at half his speed. The major question here was the distance from the entrance to the back wall (it gave you how long it took to get there and you worked out his initial speed [before fatigue] in an earlier question) which you had to work out.

Jones then stops and checks his blood-sugar (or chloride or something, it wasn't blood sugar) levels [because "He's a very health conscious person"]) and he has a drink called Gatorfade (the originality of this text is marvelous) which restores these levels. There is a rule provided which gives you the levels of whatever he is checking a number of hours (t) after drinking the Gatorfade. Then there are a few questions relating to this rule and it tells you the target levels of whatever it is in his body and you do some more calculations of how long it takes for his levels to drop below the target range.

Finally, Tasmania Jones reaches the roller coaster after a perilous tumble down a hill before finishing at the roller coaster starting platform 20 kilometres below sea level. Then there are a few questions relating to the cubic rule defining the path of the roller coaster and questions relating to this path. That is all for Section 1 and so far it is the end of the story. On Thursday (which also happens to be my Birthday, yay!) I complete section 2 and that day's blog post will probably be the continuation of this story (if it is done so in the SAC) so look forward to the finale of Tasmania Jones awesome adventures to recover the stolen cure.

May the odds be ever in your favour, see you tomorrow!

Parent Teacher Interviews

So today was Parent Teacher Interviews at my school for students with surnames starting from A to M and next Wednesday (1st May) the other students (N-Z) have their interviews. That means we get two days off school (Hooray!) which is really good for us because this week we also have Thursday off for ANZAC day which means we only go to school Monday, Wednesday and Friday which means any homework we get that day can be done the next so we can relax. I still do the homework the night I get it though so I can relax the whole day and if something happens and I can't complete my homework (in case the TV turns itself on or  a DVD plays itself) I don't have to worry. Anyway, back to Parent Teacher Interviews.

So I get there early and so I go to my locker to get my books before going up to my first interview with my Science Teacher. When we get there we are still early which means we get to see the people before us go up and we notice how long she (the Science Teacher) talks for. I mean, she was talking for ages and always going overtime and we were lucky to get in just five minutes after our scheduled time but Mum was getting really worried even though I had left a five minute gap between each interview in case this happened. So when we got in to the interview Mum knew we only had five minutes until the next one so she was really asking questions that got to the point but it was all fine. My interviews are always good and the only problem the teacher had was that I had got a Very Good mark (somewhere above 75%) instead of an Excellent (somewhere above 80%) where the rest of my marks were. The science teacher being slow was actually a blessing because we got to the Maths teacher as she was finishing up with the previous student which was really good timing. The rest of the interviews went really well and were not as long as the Science teacher and they were all good [they never aren't ;) ]. My methods teacher was really quiet and it was funny because my Mum was doing a lot of the talking and when she asked "Is there anything Luke could improve on?" he just stared at his screen for a while and went "Uhmmm, no" and it was a little obvious that he wasn't a big fan of Parent Teacher Interviews. The other teachers were good and it was all good interviews (which I already said I think).

I really believe Parent Teacher Interviews are great because the parents/guardians get to hear straight from the teachers instead of a garbled version of what the student may tell them to make a bad mark seem better. I know some students who wait until the last minute to get their interviews so that they can't because of the teacher being booked out so they don't have to see them. So Parent Teacher Interviews, I really like them. Plus, I make all my interviews on the first day so I can see the teachers I (well, my Mum) wants to see at the times I want so I can leave enough space in between to prepare for teachers who talk too much (Science), talk too little (Maths Methods) or talk for the right amount of time (the rest). As long as its good reviews it can go for as long as they want.

May the odds be ever in your favour, goodbye

The War on Homework is Over

So it's time for celebration because I have FINALLY caught up on all my homework! Hooray! So I have been doing homework since last Monday almost non-stop. Whenever I was home, I was nearly always doing homework. I would spend hours a day just working through my homework. Of course, the first week was mostly because of the Methods SAC which took a LONG time! So really, my mentality was keep working through all the homework so that when I finished I would then have as much time as I wanted to relax and catch up on all that I missed (I mean, the first week of the holidays I played 299 games of SongPop and the second week I only played 49) plus my Forest Escape in The Hunger Games Adventures was overgrown but I'm still waiting for the game to update to the next part so it just goes towards XP and stuff.

So when did I finish this homework? Well I only actually finished just over an hour ago and now I am catching up on the episodes of Glee I missed out on (only 2 though so not so many to catch up on) and writing this post between episodes. I can't wait until the weekend because it is Relay for Life (I'll be unable to post on Saturday by the way because of that) and also because there will be some more time to relax (once I finish any homework I get). I am just so happy right now because I am fully up to date and I am grateful that I persisted with my work because now I am reaping the rewards with stress-free relaxation. So my advice to you is get your homework and do it right away so that you can reap the rewards too.

May the odds be ever in your favour, goodbye!

Irresponsible Parents and Annoying Children

So there are many irresponsible parents out there who have exceedingly annoying children because they don't take care of their children and don't care what they do or because they have no control. Needless to say these kids become little terrors and take little care of those around them. We all have had at least one experience with kids like these where the parents couldn't care any less.

One such incident occurred to me once in a Library where I was having a Maths Methods tutor session and there was this group of kids (who couldn't have been older than 7) who were just running around making a lot of noise. They were playing hide and seek in the LIBRARY! Where were their parents? Who knows, in the end one of the Library Staff told them to stop or they would have to leave with their parents. Did the kids care? Of course not, why should they? They can do what they want because they're having fun and be damned with everyone else. In the end the Library Staff called security (I was surprised, I mean, who has security in a Library?) and they found the parents and escorted them all out, hooray! Finally I could study for the SAC. I felt like clapping.

Another incident that occurs quite often is annoying, loud, children at the movies who spoil such a great work. I mean, I was watching Johnny English: Reborn (I know, very sophisticated) and these kids started screaming because their drink didn't have enough ice (First World Problems) and their parents didn't buy them any popcorn. I felt sorry for the mother who was there because she was getting some deadly stares. If looks could kill. Eventually someone complained and a steward (or whatever they call them) came and escorted them out of the cinema, this actually got a clap. This is annoying and happens so often.

So I guess there are some really annoying children out there with parents who try to maintain control but cannot. Then there are the parents, as in the Library incident, who couldn't care less about what their children do. There are many other places where children throw tantrums all the time with either parents who don't care or parents who have no control. If you want you could share your stories below.

May the odds be ever in your favour, see you tomorrow.

Essays, Tests, Assignments and Revenge

SO MUCH WORK! The thought on most of my classmates minds this week. It is a busy week, even though it is the last of Term 1. Today (Monday) we had to write a Text Response Essay on Bali Rai's "City of Ghosts" which was simple enough, quite an easy way to start the week.

So luckily there was only a quiet start to the week. However, we have a Science Assignment due on Wednesday, a Unit 1 Maths Methods SAC on Matrices on Thursday, a Linear Algebra normal Maths test also on Thursday and a Health and Physical Education Nutrition Assignment due on Thursday. So there really is a lot of stuff going on this week which should hopefully finish in quiet holidays as we won't have a class to start anything new! Here's hoping. Anyway, I understand why they give us all this stuff and why it is due before the holidays and all the rest but I just think it is a bit annoying that we can't enjoy the last week of Term 1 instead of working so hard! Anyway, there are 3 more terms so here's hoping they are quieter, though they most likely won't be.

Also, is it just me or is REVENGE amazingly addictive? I am just so addicted to it and I have been so since the first episode was aired in Australia last year. Now in its second season I can't believe how addicting and intriguing it still is. The writers are amazing because there are so many layers and foreshadowing. Not to mention all the TWISTS AND TURNS! If you don't know what Revenge is, who are you? Research it immediately! Tonight's episode is a new one (well to Australia anyway) in Season 2 where Victoria Grayson's Mother comes to town, things are bound to get interesting! CAN'T WAIT! I love Revenge! The actors and writers are so good and you should really check it out!

May the odds be ever in your favour, see you tomorrow!