School Certificate: English and Science

Here it is, the start of the big tests for Year 10 students across the whole of New South Wales: the School Certificate. This one was English and Science, as evident from the title, and so, without further ado, we must have a look at my day, so that we can see what happened (bit of a tautology, really. Yes, I use words like 'tautology,' OK? Although, if you read my blog, you know that I have a bit of a penchant for semi-obscure words like that. ...that was proof, right there. I rest my case.), and see how my exams went.

When I got to school, and after the bell went, I went down to the hall with the rest of the people in the group, and waited for them to mark the roles. However, nobody came, so I started to worry a bit. So I went to class, or what would have been class in Period 1 today, and waited. It then became clear that in the time I was up at class (with the rest of the class, I might add), the teachers and everyone in the other classes who had the idea to go to Period 1 first had gone down to the hall. Just my luck. However, it was sorted out in time (although it did involve going around a lot), and soon, we went inside to do the examination.

We got in (holy crap, did I just do a whole paragraph for just before school? I think I did. This may or may not be the case for the next few days.), and we sat down at our respective tables, as we were in approximate alphabetical order (there were a few mistakes, but pobody's nerfect. ...that was intentional.). The multiple choice was somewhat easy, although there was the occasional question that was really weird, and didn't seem to have a good answer, though there was an answer that was most right (I have checked around, and it wasn't just me for some of those questions. So, a sigh of relief there.). There were then two extended response parts: writing a short speech and a short story. I enjoyed writing the short story bit (it was all about a guy in a casino playing an unidentified game; like a lot of books, it makes much more sense if you read it), but the speech thing was weird. It was a response to a presentation, but here's the tricky bit: we weren't told the presentation. So we had to respond to a presentation we make up ourselves, and refer to bits in the presentation. Jees, but that threw me off, although I think I did some good quick thinking (the environmental organisation I put was 'Leaf the Forests Alone.' I think this is hilarious, especially considering I made it up on the spot in an exam.).

When we got out, we went up to the table, and then to the office, where I got a copy of a letter we got on Friday talking about the School Certificate and what-not. I'm just lucky I remembered some of the important parts before today, otherwise I would be in a bit of a sticky situation for the exams, and what to study for. In the break, the whole group pretty much talked about our short stories. No point stressing about them (then you make mistakes), and I figure that cramming in the last few minutes before an exam just stresses you out a bit more (studying in the morning is different. Cramming in the last hour or so is what gets you, although you might as well if you're really stuck.). We then went down to the hall when the bell went, to do the Science School Certificate exam.

We sat back down, and the exam soon began. And there was something about the multiple choice: there were a lot of strings. By which I mean, stuff like 4 As in a row, later two sets of 3 Ds, that type of thing. It really worries you, because you think that that can't be right, not without some significant stuff-up. But checking it confirmed it, and I soon finished the multiple choice. Then there were a lot of sheets about everything from evolution to environmentalism and onwards, for the extended response. I finished with about 40 minutes to go, and then I hit upon a problem: I was not going to be able to make the train, and therefore the bus, and so what would EJ do, and so on and so forth. I managed though, to find a solution, which was get one of the examiners to pass a note onto Mum over the phone so that she could work something out. So that was good.

When the exam finished, I went down to the station, and talked to Ebony, Shirisha and Kale, among others, who all catch the same train, and we talked about the exam, music, and how my iPod headphones just broke (One of the earpieces has fallen apart. Goddamn, that is annoying.). I still claim that Queen is better than the Monkees. Ebony disagrees, and Shirisha is ambivalent (note to self: try to stop using long words.). When I got home, I did some study for HSIE tomorrow, and so I decided not to go to hapkido. I need to study. Later, I watched 'FlashForward' with Mum and Dad; and there are a lot more twists now. I mean, more than already was. Anyway. I also blogged, although scheduling was not repaired.

To comments now, one from the guy who did last time. If you don't know who, it's the next word after this sentence ends.
*Mango (see?): Yeah, I'm guessing we will eventually get those seasons, but we're still in the first one. Very funny, it is, but we'll watch the rest of what we got first.

That was the first day of the exam. Holy crap, this post is over 1000 words (funnily enough, the number '1000' there marked the 1000th word. I enjoy coincidences.), which is the first time that's happened in a while. It's the magic of the exam, I'm guessing.

2 down, 3 to go,
AB