Eat. Sleep. Study. Repeat: CoffeeAndPolitics' A Level Blog - Part 1

Which one The one I was trying to work on earlier?

No, not the Access Project, it's another project I'm involved in and actually I don't know the full details of just yet.

I thought you were talking about a CA project which we do need to get done...I'm not doing a very good job of getting it done though!

OMG that CA project! I have completely forgotten about it, that was meant to be completed weeks ago!

Amazing blog. Please tag me in so I can follow you

4) Cambridge Masterclass: I'm going to the masterclass for History with my best friend on Saturday 4th November 2017 and @CoffeeGeek is also attending. There's no doubt that I'm excited to meet him in person, a fellow TSRian and a CA - how cool is that?

prsom

Haven't been on TSR for ages :O so I haven't the chance to read your blog recently (except now!)

Cambridge Masterclass sounds smashing. Hope you have fun! I don't know much about it but I might have a look in the future.

We miss you!

awww this made me feel warm and fuzzy inside :3 in reality i'm just really busy (and busy procrastinating) which is why i haven't had the chance to talk to you guys

Before I talk about my experience with the Cambridge Masterclass, I must say that returning to school after half term wasn't as bad as I thought it would be but the workload is slowly creeping its way up again and during the course of the work, I had to find the time to complete the outstanding essays for MBA (my Sociology teacher).

Subject Update:
Economics (CFA): This week we've finished looking at 1.2.3 Price, Income and Cross Elasticities of Demand.

History (MPO): This week we've been looking at the problems that Winston Churchill faced in 1940.

History (LGR): This week we've been consolidating our knowledge on Witte and Stolypin and the differences between their economic achievements for Russia.

Sociology (WWH & MBA): WWH's lesson was missed because we had an inset day on Monday. In MBA's lesson we've finished off looking at Childhood in our Family and Household unit and we had a weird silent class debate where we had to debate on paper answering various questions.

Other News:
1) The Access Project: I'll start my tutorials in History from Tuesday 6th November 2017 after school which is very exciting because it will be interesting to learn History from a different perspective and to go over content that I don't understand/exam techniques.

2) Cambridge Shadowing Scheme and Oxford Outreach Program: I'm hoping to apply for both of these opportunities but it's highly unlikely that I'll be accepted for both and this would be for History.








The day started off with the 09:14 train from London King's Cross to Cambridge and by the time we've arrived at Cambridge, it was already pouring with rain. Exiting the station was awkward as somehow I was having problems getting out of the ticket barrier - someone tell me if I inserted the ticket the wrong way round. Then we crossed the road to find the bus stop and I found the bus after about 30 seconds but we had to run towards the bus because it looked like it was about to go. However, there was a large cause for the bus because of other Year 12s who were boarding the bus to get to various subject masterclasses at Cambridge. This is where I happen to be standing behind ...

... and we said "Hi" to each other rather awkwardly. Yet, once he asked my friend if we were going to the same masterclass, things get slightly less awkward I suppose and we walked to Sidgwick Site together alongside with other people.

Getting in to the Faculty of Law at Cambridge was a bit annoying as everyone was annoyingly bunched around the entrance trying to find information about the subject masterclasses and get registered in. After about 3 minutes of that, we went downstairs to form a line to collect our goodies: a Cambridge University carrier bag, a Cambridge University pen and a post-it note. Then we set next to each other in the front out the lecture hall before majority of the seats were filled up - luckily we weren't even late as those who entered after us, they had to squeeze in somewhere else :P .

The first lecture was on The Ottoman Empire which I've never studied before but it was an interesting lecture nonetheless. The only downside I've had with this was that I didn't find the lecturer as interactive and engaging as the other lecturer for the Mountains and Mountaineering lecture. His lecture was far more interactive and engaging - he also asked us questions to make sure we weren't totally thrown off-board with what he was lecturing about. The day ended with information about how to "Apply for Cambridge" and he went through what History was like at Cambridge and the application process. What I found interesting is that the majority of people performed well in interviews and two Year II students for History both said they've enjoyed the interview despite being naturally nervous about it which gave many people including myself reassurance over this "daunting" application process.

Before I went to get the bus back to Cambridge Station, I had a horrible mishap of appearing to lose my return ticket and I've literally spent 10 minutes looking frantically for it and thanks to Mr Guess Who for kindly waiting for me. It wasn't until I've got home that I've realised the ticket was stuck on my out ticket - doh! At least I had the out ticket which meant I can get through the barrier otherwise I would've been totally screwed and probably have another frantic look for it.

The Amazing People Who Supports Me All The Way:

who is the random person on the stairs lol

TSR Liberals

Song of the Week
This week, I've chosen JeKK's Delightful Life as my song of the week because it relates to how I'm finding at present - trying to see the brighter sides of life when majority of the time I'm literally swamped with work. Also, this just happens to be the song that @Paracosm used for the TSR Liberals election manifesto video when he was leader of the party - fun fact!!!

Subject Update
Economics (CFA): This week has been quite weird in terms of how the lesson is structured. We've finished going through 1.2.3 Price, Income, And Cross Elasticity of Demand and recapped on 1.2.6 Price Determination. We're now looking at 1.2.8 Consumer and Producer Surplus.
History (MPO): This week we've been looking at speeches that Winston Churchill gave in 1940 when he was elected as a "war time leader" and the whole class got split into groups to go over one of the speeches he gave. I worked in a group of 3 to give a presentation of "The Few" and we just had a bunch of questions on the board and gave them a crash course of the speeches with all the key elements. It wasn't just a typical presentation that is boring and literally spoon-feeding someone with information. I took the lead of engaging my class by asking them to contribute their ideas to some of the questions and have a deep think before we went through it. Out of all the presentations that we did, without being biased, I think mine was the best because it wasn't boring - it was engaging and we didn't waste time waffling unnecessary bits of information.

History (LGR): This week we've been consolidating our knowledge on the Dumas and looking deeper into why the Tsar dissolved the Duma and what the politicians had achieve at the time.

Sociology (WWH & MBA): WWH's lesson was spent on looking at Ethnic Differences in Education, most specifically, Cultural and Material Deprivation. In MBA's lesson we went through our essay on childhood and given how badly the class performed (I got 7/10 so I did alright), she tried to explain to use once again how to write a proper Sociology essay. However, what she hasn't made very clear is how many sociological studies we should include, although she made it clear that we should use PEEEL.

Other News
1) Academic Progress Report: It seems quite bizarre that my school has sent home an "Academic Progess Report" when I haven't even done my first interim exams and they're in 2 weeks time. Overall, I'm performing in line with the minimum grade - the way they're assessing me really sounds stupid to put things into perspective.

Economics: Below the minimum expected grade of Grade B. Apparently ...
- Specific Action: Address gaps in Opportunity Cost, Division of Labour and Production Possibility Frontiers. Also work on Data Response Questions.

History: At the minimum expected grade of Grade B.
- Specific Action: It was basically a whole heap of nonsense - I suspect they just put something completely random because my teachers were forced to but I know very well that I'm making sufficient progress in History.

Sociology: At the minimum expected grade of Grade B.
- Specific Action: Use "chain of reasoning" to fully expand on explanations when being asked to "Outline and Explain". Some fair constructive criticism here but I need to go through my textbook and self-teach myself what is required from a 10, 20 and 40 marker question - the latter I haven't done yet.

2) Secret Project: I can't go into great length of detail but we were called to a meeting after school to discuss a few things about what we thought about social inequality especially with regards to Oxbridge and we also talked about our views on different cultures such as the arts, theatres etc. My Head of Year also confirmed that we will be visiting the college she went to, Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, in January 2018 and I believe I'm going to Cambridge with The Access Project anyways next month?

3) Civil Service Opportunity: This is an opportunity offered by IntoUniversity and although I'm not part of IntoUniversity at my school, other people are at my school. Apparently, this opportunity is opened to all so I'm not quite sure how this all works out but I know I'll enjoy it. It's basically getting an insight about what civil service is like. I also have to write a paragraph explaining what 3 policies I would implement if I was Prime Minister today.

History Tutorial
This Tuesday, I've started my first History tutorial with my tutor from The Access Project. Getting to his office was one hell of an onerous journey and thank goodness I wouldn't have to go through that again because we have arranged to meet at my local library which is convenient for the both of us. We spent the first tutorial discussing what modules I do for History and discussing about what I'm learning and going through my recent classwork. Then, we went through one of my weaker History essays - the one I did what I consider "mediocre" in and he really made me understand how to properly plan and write an essay which is really useful. He's also a really chilled and relaxed tutor according to The Access Project program officer at my school - I think she's right and it's been enjoyable working with him so far.

The Amazing People Who Supports Me All The Way:

It won't let me give you a thumbs up because I've done it too many times apparently 😂 but it's really cool to hear what you've been up to. I'm going to a Cambridge Masterclass on MML tomorrow! Hopefully it'll be good. Do you feel like yours was worth it?