Sweethearts,
Can I first ask that petty bickering stop, right now. I know you're all passionate artistic people, but there is NO need to resort to profanity or petty name-calling to get your point across. Save your angstiness for your writing.
Justin's covered the administrative stuff, so I'm ready for the rock and roll part now.
rosepetal25 said:
why the hell would u do the damn hsc if not to receive a high UAI?
Err, I kinda wanted to get the HSC over as fast as possible. I wanted the UAI that would let me get into my university course, or to put me into a position where I could transfer into my desired university course (and with all the back-door transfers these days, you just need A uai. It doesn't need to be in the 90s or 80s or even 70s). Yes I wanted to get a "nice" uai (to satisfy my ego and drive for success, if nothing else) but I wasn't going to sacrifice my life in order to get it. I had fun in my HSC year, and I wouldn't have done it any differently.
minushuman said:
I'm not saying there is a deeper meaning in the course, i'm saying the course structure, syllabus and marking history should not have such a large impact on your work that it becomes the only thing you are striving to satisfy.
I totally agree! There were a couple of girls in my grade who lived and breathed their HSC. Even without putting it at the top of their priority list, some really felt the effects anyway - one had a nervous breakdown (had to defer from Uni, don't know if she can go back), and one will have no people skills --> won't do well at work. Balancing "work" (whether the HSC, Uni, or otherwise) and "play" is incredibly important.
I've said this before - the patterns you get yourselves into now will likely be the ones you follow FOR A LONG TIME. Particularly through Uni, very possibly through your working years. Work yourselves to death, and you'll be successful for sure - you'll also find it difficult to rest, and your social life (particularly spouses and immediate friends/family) will very likely suffer.
There's no point in working yourself to death when you look at it in the long-term. Work hard, but work well - give yourself room to breathe, and always look at things in perspective.
666_blessings said:
While you keep making comments like that, I'd say your ego is in no need of further inflation at all.
Honey, I don't see it as ego. In his shoes, I may not have used the exact words, but I would have DEFINATELY said the same thing. I'm a huge advocate of balance, and have publicly been so for a long time now.
rosepetal25 said:
righht ok...funny thing is you dont sound like a genius...i'd classify you as something along the lines of arrogant prick.
Continue like this, and you'll be speaking for yourself.
nwatts said:
Hah, you've obviously missed the point of the HSC. You jump through hoops in order to get the highest marks you can. You weren't trying to satisfy the syllabus throughout your EE2 year? Hrmm.. that could in fact be why you have little to no hope of getting in the showcase.
NO NO NO NO NO!!!! Admittedly I've worked a few hours overtime here and there, but I've never pushed myself past the brink of insanity in order to get "the highest marks I could" if it just wasn't worth it. I got good marks - that's what I wanted. I AIMED FOR WHAT I WANTED.
Maybe I could have got a much higher UAI if 'd worked my butt off in 2004. Of course, I could also be insane by now if I'd had to give up my dance training and "me" time, which was the main source of not working like an energizer bunny. I've said it before. The patterns you get into now will affect you for a long, long time. I kept up my extra-curricular activity during the HSC, as a result of that I've been able to fulfil my dreams and get some professional work, as well as performing in places (like Singapore) I never even dreamed I would. I've also learnt that "Me Time" is so imporant - it calms me down and stops me from hitting burnout.
There's nothing in this world worse than burnout. Think you can keep up a breakneck pace for the rest of your life? Think again. Go at a pace you can maintain (this is so much like dieting) for the rest of your life. If you spend all your energy during your HSC year, you won't have anything left for post-HSC.
There's no point in almost killing yourself to get into something like Law or Medicine, only to find once you're there that you're not capable of keeping up with the workload anyway.
If you want to spend the rest of your life with 90% of your time devoted to work, then fine. But the rest of us don't, and I take it as a personal insult when you imply that "it's the thing to do".
"You weren't trying to satisfy the syllabus throughout your EE2 year? Hrmm.. that could in fact be why you have little to no hope of getting in the showcase."
I think the syllabus is stupid sometimes. I would certainly satisfy it (if only marginally), but other than that, I'll do what I like. Pretty much anything can be twisted to satisfy the syllabus, and if someone says that postmodernism is the only thing that's accepted, I'll kill you. One of my friends directly bashed postmodernism in his RS and he still did really well. Not a top band, because the board is subjective, but still really well.
And I RESPECT him so much, because he refused to sacrifice his integrity to make a bunch of people happy.
And about the showcase - I don't frickin' care about getting into the Showcase. One of my friends did, and I'm so proud of her. But remember - not everyone thinks the Showcase is "the Ultimate Definer of Good Creative Writing Pieces". It's only one judge. There are millions of others out there, including me. Sure, it's nice to get into, and to get recognition from one source about the quality of your work, but it's not the be-all end-all. If you want to write for marks (and risk regretting it later), fine. If you want to write true to yourself and your style, fine.
I respect that.
broken_jukebox said:
You are such a loser!!! Well F you. And go and live in ur state of delusion. I think the BOS Showcase is excellent. I think it tries to be as appealing, entertaining and thoughtful as possible - though some works may be overseen. Well maybe you - the person im responding to - your work is crap, and no one but u can read or fathom it. And what u think that makes u a genius, no it makes u a sh*t pretensious artist. in fact, i wouldn't even call u an artist. "oh my god im so talented that no one understands me" -omg grow up u loser.
--proved that showcase-bashing did occur--
The Showcase, and the board the governs what goes into it, is subjective. The creative writing industry is subjective. Heck, the entire artistic industry is subjective. We all know that. It's just as risky to bash someone else's work, as it is to praise someone else's.
Oh, and can we not use so much profanity?
Zahid and 666_blessings, all this balloon-popping stuff really isn't neccessary. Note the use of sarcasm, read his post again and take in his point. It's worth reading, I assure you.
EDIT: Apologies for not responding sooner (perhaps if I had, my response wouldn't have been as aggressive) but several of the ipr members - including Justin and I - went away for a week. Thanks to kami and blackman for keeping their heads cool 
The reason for my general outburst is that I am SO against "working for marks" - I've seen so many people break under this "self-imposed" pressure.
I have nothing against people working towards goals - if you intend on working like mad for the rest of your life, then fine. But otherwise I strongly suggest you instil a work ethic that is effective, reasonable and SUSTAINABLE, taking into account YOUR "life" (whether this be recreational time, social time, outside-of-school work etc).
