The deep breath before the plunge...

Due to my incompetence on computers in general, I couldn't figure out how to post more blogs until now. How I managed to switch on the computer in the first place seems an achievement in itself now ...

5 down, 1 to go. It seems strange that just three weeks ago we were all freaking out about the looming monster of the TEEs, anticipating these unbelievably difficult exams that would come out and surprise us all by their ... well, their difficulty. And now here I am, typing blogs the afternoon before my final exam when I suppose I should be studying. Well I did a past paper this morning and got a very satisfying mark - suffice to say it was above 90.

But now for the post-mortems:

Physics - definitely easier than the mocks. Was surprised by the focus on Atomic Physics - not that I was complaining since I nearly aced the test on that subject and it was my best topic. I"m a bit worried about the calculations though, esp. on Motion. One bummer was the fact that I got to the extended answer section with just 15 minutes left, meaning I hurried both of them, especially the second one, where I later realised the answer to the last question had been in the passage all along. But all's well that ends well, so I should get 85+ comfortably.

Calculus - the second-most worrying exam for me before I sat it. However thanks to all those past papers I did, with a little help from my good friend Andrew Creelman, I found a lot of the questions in the paper were just derivatives (no pun intended) of past questions, so should be able to post a +80 score. Just a little worried on those damn circle/centre question where some insane equation like z+i/z-i=2 and then we have to find the radius and centre of the circle ... those always kill me.

Chemistry - the most worrying exam for me, but my fears were allayed when there were no in-depth questions asked on the structure/formula of soaps and detergents (the chink in my non-corrodable, gold-alloyed armour). I had thought I'd struggle to get an A (which is high-70s), but now I think I might do well, thanks to those nice lab technicians who loaned me the past 7 TEE papers for $5.

Literature - all that hard yakka with Aunty Lena finally paid off, as I was able to apply an in-depth contextual focus to otherwise banal questions. (Is this sounding Litty already? I can't get it out of my system - whenever I see a movie or read a book from now on, I won't be able to stop myself wondering whether a dominant male patriarchy that marginalised women influenced the construction of the characters.) Small moment of joy came when I made John panic that he hadn't talked enough about context ... kidding ... anyway, should be able to perform well.

Economics - DISASTER!! I took the study for econs far too lightly, waiting until the night before to even touch my notes. Considering I had one day to prepare for this exam after Lit, I suppose I didn't have much of a choice in studying too long ago, but I definetely shouln't have spent the night procrastinating on MSN where Baetsen very effectively destroyed my confidence with a barrage of questions on the factors affecting interest rates and the definition of the GDP.

And tomorrow - Applic awaits. It's less than 24 hours now - actually 22.5 hours - till I'll be free of school forever. It doesn't seem real, as these two weeks have passed so quickly I haven't really had the time to feel worried or panicked about any of the exams. A lot of well-wishers have made me feel better by covering me with prayer - always a good thing when you're going into the exams that may define your life path.