College Finals.

Semester B Finals. The final examination for college, and my last week in it.

Papers will be reviewed from my own account from 0 (WTF?) to 10 (Masterful) for you to get a better understanding of how well I thought the papers were (based mostly on length, time allocation, question variation, experience), not how simply by how easy it was.

Also, do note that I'm no professional examination reviewer (is there such a thing?) and expect different opinions from others who sat for the exam.

LAST UPDATE: June 10, 2011 4:55PM

Subjects:
• Biology B
• Physics B
• Chemistry B
• General Mathematics B
• English Language B

• Week 1:
- Day 1 (Monday): English Language & Biology B- The English paper was a good one, I reckon. The comprehension analysis had us reading this article on the positive points video-gamers possessed and it was a breeze. Question: "In which video-game does Azeroth lie?" Biology was challenging, but it was entirely doable. There were however a few questions that we've never seen before but it was nothing we couldn't handle. (+9, +7.5)
- Day 2 (Tuesday): General Mathematics B - The math paper only had 8 pages and 7 questions but no one left until the end. It wasn't that it was hard, just filled with number crunching and values. I wasted most of my time checking and checking the Chi Square Test which gave a ridiculous value. Fortunately the rest were doing just about the same thing too. There was a statistic question that was intensely long. Imagine, all values correct to 3 decimal places. I've never seen the end of my calculator's queue in an exam before. So long, in fact, I'm glad I'm not actually typing all of this out in numerical form. (+8.5)
- Day 3 (Thursday): Physics B - The paper was surprisingly short, with only 7 questions across 8 pages (not including the formulae page). I'd say the paper was doable, being surprisingly easy, but because of the wide range of topics it covered it was unfortunate for only a small portion of them to come out. Still, I'm not complaining! (+7.5)
- Day 4 (Friday): Chemistry B - A great paper, but there were a few instances of more strange values and unfamiliar questions. (+8)

^{For my thoughts on the Semester A Finals, click here (http://alwayssecondfromtheright.blogspot.com/2011/01/its-come-back.html)}

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Semester B Final Examinations
The grand finale.
30.05.2011 - 03.05.2011

It's Come Back.

The Semester A Finals. Creepy stuff.

Plus, to make things more organised, the results will be posted in this post as well.

Papers will be reviewed from my own account from 0 (WTF?) to 10 (Masterful) for you to get a better understanding of how well I thought the papers were (based mostly on length, time allocation, question variation, experience), not how simply by how easy it was.


LAST UPDATE: January 24, 2010 9:07PM

Subjects:
• Biology A
• Physics A
• Chemistry A
• General Mathematics A
• English Language A

• Week 1:
- Day 1 (Monday): English Language A - "Is Marriage a health advantage?" Well, irregardless of the facts, that's what our paper was about. Relatively easy, I didn't particularly enjoy the paper. Maybe it was the article; the prose was unsurprisingly excellent but the fluidity of the paper, not so. (+7.5)
- Day 2 (Wednesday): General Mathematics & Biology A - The math paper was worth shouting a war-cry afterward; seriously real good stuff there. The Biology was challenging enough. As usual the multiple choice served my ass. (+9, +8.5)
Day 3 (Thursday): Chemistry A - Super hard paper. Never sat through the entire 2 hours of a paper at Foundation Studies before. My classmates share the same assessment. Let's just leave it at that. (+3.5)
Day 4 (Friday): Physics A - Definitely not what I call easy. Left 2 questions out. Couldn't find the right equations for half the paper. The formulae sheet honestly did nothing to help; excluding the Kinematics Equations. (+6)

^{For my thoughts on the Mid-Semester A Examinations, click here (http://alwayssecondfromtheright.blogspot.com/2010/11/oh-poo.html)}

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Dead Space 2
"Unrelentingly Intense" - PlayStation: The Official Magazine
25.01.2011

Don't Get Me Wrong.

People think examinations are horrible. They're right. But I know of an even more sinister evil: the results.

The pressure is undeniable, the anticipation more so. Personally, I think no matter what grade you get, you'll be surprised. So why am I suddenly talking about this? That's right, I've gotten my marks back from the teachers for the Mid-Semester's and I'd like to share them with you (and keep a personal log for future me!).

What follows is only the results of the paper which sums up to 30% of this semester's mark.

RMIT Foundation Mid-Semester Results Information
*the following are the results over a 100

General Mathematics: 72
Biology: 91
Chemistry: 89
Physics: 81

On a separate note, take a look at what arrived in the mail today:




It's my long-awaited Physics for the IB Diploma textbook by Tsokos. Before you start pointing a finger at a picture of mine and yell "NERD", this is entirely for my work in class. Finally, no longer will I feel lost in class and wonder which chapter we're on!




The only downside is this particular book is significantly heavy. In fact, I could say this is the heaviest book I've ever owned. This isn't so great when I've got to walk and travel long distances between home and the buildings around the city. Maybe it'll help me beef up.

It's also incredibly dry, but hey, when's school work ever drenched?

Oh, Poo.

Yep, that's right. I'm still using my Cempaka Schools exercise books for writing down those pesky college materials.

Currently, I'm in the middle of my Foundation Studies first Mid-Semester Exam. This is slightly different from the exams I sat in for High School, mostly due to the fact that I have classes in between exam dates. Plus rather reach school at the exact same time each day, I've got to leave the house at different times each morning to arrive on time.

It's different, no doubt, but nothing I can't handle.

If you missed my first exam review, here's how it's going to go down:

Papers will be reviewed from my own account from 0 (WTF?) to 10 (Masterful) for you to get a better understanding of how well I thought the papers were (based mostly on length, time allocation, question variation, experience), not how simply by how easy it was.

LAST UPDATE: November 5, 2010 10:40PM

Subjects:
• Biology
• Physics
• Chemistry
• General Mathematics

• Week 1:
- Day 1 (Monday): Chemistry A & General Mathematics A - Chemistry turned out to be a pretty good paper with few surprises and difficulties; I was expecting something much more challenging. The Math paper, on the other hand, served me my backside. Despite the "basic" topics it covered, it managed to bring out tricky questions and weird numbers for solutions. Although I managed to scribble equations into every space before the time ran out, I'm not so sure if I did well. Being one of the few who thought the paper was a head-scratcher was also unfortunate. (+8.5, +4.5)
- Day 2 (Wednesday): English Language Classes - Went to the library today to learn researching, paraphrasing and referencing skills. I still find the idea of having classes in between exam dates to be weird but the information I got from this class will probably be very valuable especially when I get into university.
Day 3 (Thursday): Biology A - Beautiful paper. The kind of paper where if you study hard, you've got it under wraps. Nothing too surprising, varied and the topics that were used have been covered. (+9)
Day 4 (Friday): Physics A & English Class - This paper was by far the hardest paper in this exam. Everyone's getting different answers (except the one where we all got 1km), toss a few strange numbers in and you've got this paper. Managed to fill in all the blanks (even used an unorthodox method for that tension question), so the past is in the past. English class was normal, filled with singing and communication. Oh, and HAPPY DEEPAVALI all! (+6.5)

^{For my thoughts on the IGCSE Papers (& Driving Exam) this year, simply click here
(http://alwayssecondfromtheright.blogspot.com/2010/05/ere-sun-rises.html)}

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RMIT Mid-Semester Examinations Sept-Intake 2010
Foundation Studies Science, Engineering & Technology
01.11.2010 - 05.11.2010

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Call of Duty: Black Ops
"Breathless & amazing"
- Yahoo!
09.11.2010

Should've Used Specificity.

Us: Any advice for the examinations?

Teacher: Remember your name, your student number, the date and my name. There, I just gave you page one.

If only page one carried more than 0% of the total marks to be given.

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RMIT Mid-Semester Examinations Sept-Intake 2010
Foundation Studies Science, Engineering & Technology
01.11.2010 - 05.11.2010

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Call of Duty: Black Ops
"Breathless & amazing"
- Yahoo!
09.11.2010

We've Taken the Lead.

Perhaps you’re like me. You knew the IGCSE's Result Day was coming, and it seemed like a good time to be several miles away on an desert island.

Unfortunately, there were no desert islands within affordable reach; maybe a sign?

21 months to prepare, 1 month to actually sit for all our papers, and 2 months before they came back from the UK with all the red. You could say the journey took 2 years, but I'm not the only one who'd say it felt more like 10.

Most of us came back for the results, but all of us came back for each other.

Walking around you would see the Year 11's walking around the hallways; the noise we made probably gave us away. Personally, with everyone's busy schedules after the IGCSE's (college, visiting, holidays, etc), it's been hard to spend time with each other. There's Skype sure, but nothing beats being able to give each other a whack on the back.

Possibly the best place for Year 11 spotting before the event was at the canteen. As you all know, Cempaka Cheras' chicken rice is almost impossible to avoid.

I'm practically on Twitter all the time. Around this time as I scrolling through new tweets, Datin Freida (Founder of Cempaka Schools) tweet a tweet saying our results were "superlative". In an instant, there was more hope than there was before.

Unlike the SPM or PMR result announcement ceremonies, ours was private. Held in the open space below the library, you could only see teachers, Year 11's (of course), friends and family. I can't say if it's better to share these moments with or without the rest of the student body, but it certainly sounded like the whole school was in here.

I gave my hand at LIVE Twitter Updates, but I have no idea how journalists keep up with the speed of the speaker; it just blew my mind. Laptops maybe? A few minutes later? Probably.

Anyway, Datin Freida (hostess of today's event) started right off the bat with the good stuff: the brilliants.

The students who scored 10 straight A's deserved the special mention, but I think one truly deserves specificity: Lim Wei Jie; 10 A*'s.

Then she gave the percentages, the percentage of students who scored A's and A*'s. We roared with delight.

As the final results information sheets were presented, Datin announced that these results earned here today were the best in Cempaka International thus far.

My greatest congratulations to the CIS Class of 2010!

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Flight to Melbourne
10:30PM
20.08.2010

Sensing a Pattern Here.

Provisional Results Information

0450 Business Studies: A*(a*)
0455 Economics: A(a)
0500 First Language English: B(b)
0546 Foreign Language Malay: A*(a*)
0580 Mathematics (w/out Coursework: A(a)
0610 Biology: A*(a*)
0620 Chemistry: A(a)
0625 Physics: A*(a*)

Result: Distinction

I'm actually really satisfied with my results.

Though I didn't expect to get a B for my English Language. Maybe not an A* (that's way ambitious, Bernard; possible but way ambitious) but I did feel a possible A coming. Teachers went: "Whoa!" Friends went: "WTH (not in alphabet form)!"

There is the option of remarking, which was advised by the English Teachers (and Zenna), but English is really quite subjective. Never really thought highly of the remarking system, but I am finding out the procedures of it all before considering the option.

Whatever the case, I've accepted my marks for what they are and I think I've done great.

So in short: 4 A*'s, 3 A's, 1 B

Also a big CONGRATULATIONS to all Year 11's. Best marks for Cempaka International? We've taken the lead.

Note: Post on the announcement "ceremony" today will appear above this one soon!

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Flight to Melbourne
10:30PM
20.08.2010

ETA 6:10:30:59

IGCSE ended about 2 months ago?

I honesty can't believe it's been that long/short. I don't even know which word to use. Take your pick.

In a little less than a week, most of us (us being the Class of 2010 Year 11's) will be back in the Cheras campus for our results. Our results. I haven't seen the lot of them for a couple of months so seeing them all again where we first met is gonna be great.

Not sure if I can say the same for the results. Haha!

Nearly everyone's getting spooked at the thought of getting bad results, and I can't blame them. In essence this is about the only major exam in the International Stream, and are the results you're gonna need for applications.

To tell you the truth, I'm hardly intimidated at all. There is undoubtedly a bit of nervousness in there, and I want those A*'s, but what's done is done. If I do badly: well sometimes you've got to take a few steps back before you can leap further.

But if I do get high marks: well I guess if you can leap far, leap far.

For all of my personal thoughts and ratings for the Cempaka Science Stream papers, click here ^{*i even left ratings for each paper}

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IGCSE Results @ Cempaka Cheras
International General Certificate of Secondary Education
12.08.2010

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Flight to Melbourne
10:30PM
20.08.2010

Ere the Sun Rises.

The International General Certificate of Secondary Education (or IGCSE as the cool kids call it) is happening right now, in classrooms all over the world.

Things for me unofficially kicked off May 10^th, with the morning Driving Examination. Then things go crazy all the way until Friday, June 11^th, when we start air-guitaring like it's gone out of style at 1:45PM.

As we get nearer and nearer to the last paper, I'll be compiling all the subjects a Science Stream students takes (I don't take the Commerce or Arts papers, I'm afraid) as well as my personal thoughts on the papers at hand.

Papers will be reviewed from my own account from 0 (WTF?) to 10 (Masterful) for you to get a better understanding of how well I thought the papers were (based mostly on length, time allocation, question variation, experience), not how simply by how easy it was.

^{*note: my thoughts may differ from yours, so share your thoughts in the comment box below beginning with the day followed by the subject.}

LAST UPDATE: June 11, 2010 9:30PM

Subjects:
• Biology
• Physics
• Chemistry
• Mathematics (Extended)
• Business Studies
• Economics
• English Language
• Malay

• Week 1:
- Day 1 (Monday): Driving Exam 01 - Failed parking so there's really nothing much else to say. Looks like I've got to return to the soddy place on the 31st. But at least I passed the road test. (+5)
- Day 2 (Tuesday): Physics Practicals Paper 5 - Kept me on my toes all the time. Never made me feel good about myself at any given time. (+8)
- Day 3 (Wednesday): Mathematics (Extended) Paper 2 - This paper wasn't too difficult but put up enough of a challenge for your noggin'. (+9)
- Day 4 (Friday): English Language Paper 2 - Gorillas, chimpanzees, primates, beasts, creatures, monkeys, apes. Please don't let the next paper make us repeat these words again and again. (+7.5)

• Week 2:
- Day 5 (Monday): Business Studies Paper 1 - For lack of a more elegant way of saying it, I think the paper today was particularly brain-scratching & long. I'm gonna just hope my answers were approvable. (+7.5)
- Day 6 (Tuesday): Malay Paper 2 & Chemistry Practicals Paper 5 - Malay was Malay but Chemistry was Chemistry. Not confident about my answers for the latter, let's hope it's not a bad sign. (+10, +6.5)
- Day 7 (Wednesday): Mathematics (Extended) Paper 4 - Finally finished our first subject of the exam fest. The paper was easier than expected but there were questions that pushed our brainpower to the limit. Lost 4 marks for leaving a question I was about to answer, just didn't make it before "Put down your pens now!" (+7.5)
- Day 8 (Thursday): Malay Paper 4 & Biology Paper 5 - Malay was again Malay but I may have misread the last question entirely; hope not. Biology was quite alright. We've just finished another subject and all our science practicals. (+7, +8)
- Day 9 (Friday): English Language Paper 3 - For the second question chose the first descriptive essay. Great paper, but my hand was aching; rushed rewriting an entire page in 10 minutes because there were just too many scratches. & Another one bites the dust. Shazam. (+8.5)

• Week 3:
- Day 10 (Monday): Biology Paper 3 - Overall, I think the paper was just fine. Though to be quite honest, most of what I studied for didn't turn up in the paper (won't spoil, don't worry). I think it was the little questions that got me (those 1 mark buggers) rather than the big ones. We'll see come Sept. (+8)
- Day 11 (Tuesday): Chemistry Paper 1 - Our first MCQ Paper of the IGCSE. To start it off, I thought it was actually pretty good. Didn't expect that coming from a Chemistry Paper. (+8)
- Day 12 (Wednesday): Physics Paper 1 - Deja Vu only happens during the event. If only it happened before, but then I don't think it would be called Deja Vu then. Helps a little bit though. (+8.5)
- Day 13 (Thursday): Physics Paper 3 - Super challenging. I've lost at least 2 marks already (at least = greater than or equal to, mind you), and that's not including 9/10 of the paper. Really, no comment. Just hoping for the next 2 exams to give us more time in writing everything out. Tomorrow's gonna be the climax. (+7)
- Day 14 (Friday): Business Studies Paper 1 & Economics Paper 3 - The first paper was just crazy long. Hand couldn't stop shivering. Then after the paper, walked with Joshua Lee for about 10 minutes, rushed on back and the next paper started. The Economics paper wasn't as long as I thought it would be but they left so much space for the writing, they left all of us feeling guilty with our answers. All-in-all, I think both papers were actually really great. Now it's onto, the Driving Examination 02. (+8, +9)

• Week 4:
- Day 15 (Monday): Driving Exam 02 - PASSED. The place eventually sort of grew on me, but I don't think I'm ever going back to that place. Let's hope irony doesn't hit. (+10)

• Week 5:
- Day 16 (Monday): Chemistry Paper 3 - I thought today's paper was going to be hardest ever or yet. But to be quite honest, it wasn't actually that bad. It put up enough of a challenge but was generally do-able. Another subject down.(+8.5)
- Day 17 (Tuesday): Biology Paper 1 - Had it's fair share of challenging questions but was overall okay. (+8)
- Day 18 (Wednesday): Economics Paper 2 - Long, but okay. ONE MORE PAPER. (+8)
- Day 19 (Friday): Economics Paper 1 - IGCSE ends on the right note. VICTORY. (+8.5)

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IGCSE 2010
International General Certificate of Secondary Education
11.05.2010 - 11.06.2010