YR13 GYG 20/21 - Trying to keep "sane" Ft. too many inspirational quotes

Hello, there!

I'm in Year 13, a bit late starting my GYG because of my UCAS application taking up all my time (am I the only one who has to go over the application constantly checking that nothing mysteriously changed overnight and I didn't enter my nationality as Ecuadorean or something? I just want it over with by now)

I'm taking German, English Lit, and History and am applying for Law at (subject to change) Oxford, Durham, LSE, King's, and Exeter. Predicted 3 A*'s but those are lousy predictions as I'll explain in a minute.

History - AQA Stuarts for depth study, late Tsarist and Soviet Russia for breadth study, with women's suffrage as the focus of my coursework
Personal goal: finish my flashcards and have all dates learned before mocks
Colour coded as green in my notes

German - AQA currently doing Politik und die Jugend, Der Besuch der alten Dame, and Das Lebem der Anderen - so confused about what I'm doing for my IRP right now ngl.
Personal goal: for German is to learn my der/die/das and stop abusing the case system
Colour coded as purple in my notes

English - last year was Gatsby, Othello, and pre-1900 poetry, this year Streetcar, Handmaid's Tale, and Skirrid Hill with my coursework on Agnes Grey and Crime and Punishment
Personal goal: start planning essays because I haven't done any for ages; work on opening sentences and labelling literary techniques because that's what I find hardest
Coloured coded as orange in my notes

My parents moved abroad to Germany when I was 15 and dragged me with them - obviously this was during my first year of GCSEs so I went a year back and started the national equivalent of GCSEs (MSA) with no knowledge of German at all which was super fun and the most stressful years I've experienced thus far - returning to the UK this January after my parents split up and starting my A-Levels four months late really seemed like a walk in the park as a result. I didn't do terribly in the MSA (111112222222223 in my subjects and 1114 in exams, where 1 is the best and 6 the worst) but they're not the best grades and I really need to do well in my A-Levels. I have a lot of doubt in my predicteds not because I don't trust my teachers or think that I am not capable of those grades, I just don't think it's that likely, as my work ethic and ability at exams currently stands.

So that's what this GYG is ultimately about - making it more and more likely that I might do well in my A-levels.
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UCAS:
Right now my UCAS application is delayed because there are a couple of minors errors on my MSA certificate that need correcting so I'm just not thinking about it and focusing instead on my LNAT exam which is at 8am next Saturday!! Oof, it really seems like yesterday that it was March and ages until I'd be taking it. I've got one of those massive practice books and I'm going through it like a madman right now. I've also written one practice essay so dar, and am trying to work out what the essays might be on - corona, human rights act, or something to do with the fires are all possibilities but ultimately who knows with the LNAT? It could be on gardening for all I care by now - I just want my essay to be coherently argued and finished on time.

Homework:
For homework I have one history essay to write for Stuarts and ten pages of Der Besuch von der alten Dame to read for German + some vocab. I keep all my tasks in a little teal notebook that I've attached photos of - this is how you guys can keep tabs on whether I've been doing what I say I have and poke fun at me if I fail lol (yes I'm shamelessly showing off my nail polish - I only recently learned to do them myself and I absolutely love this colour)

Outside of school:
I'm trying to read and understand Law's Empire as well as keep some form of exercise/mildly healthy eating up. I used to do competitive swimming and gymnastics but have just sat around for a year and don't feel like myself right now lol. Right now I've started Chloe Ting like a basic b* and I'm having fun with it. My step count is over 10k average again now I'm back at school because they've instated a one way system that's just so much fun to navigate.

Technology lol:
I've came to the realisation a while ago that my ancient Mac (received as a birthday present with I was 9 and now approaching its tenth year as my faithful companion) is no longer up to being taken outside and since writing essays on my phone at school isn't really an option, I've saved up religiously since Christmas and finally has been able to order an iPad, which will be arriving around Tuesday. I'd rather have bought a new battery for my Mac but I'm too scared of messing something up so here we are :/

Inspirational quote OTD:
(Don't come at me but Thatcher has some bangers floating around the internet)
"Disciplining yourself to do what you know is right and important, although difficult, is the highroad to pride, self-esteem, and personal satisfaction."

I've liked journaling in the past and have run update pages and things for sports online, so hopefully I won't be too bad at this lololol hope people enjoy and I'll keep updating what happens in my very boring life of school school school xx


Edit: also does anyone know how to make images appear as part of the body rather than just as attachments - I can't work it out lol?

Hi!! First of all, thanks so much to @philogrobized @Hellohsjakodsmka @clouddbubbles @Becca216 and welcome aboard the tag train! I’m glad you’ve liked what you’ve seen so far

I’m currently writing from my iPad!! It arrived late last night and I scooted over at five in the morning to get it - I’ve been setting it up today and it’s so much fun to have a functioning keyboard. Did I mention that in addition to being quite elderly, my Mac’s o and l keys haven’t worked for over a year

Yesterday’s homework:
Yesterday I read the pages of Der alten Dame and managed to finish all my homework except the Stuarts essay.

UCAS/school today:
Today I’ve printed off the vast majority of my UCAS form. I’m going over my personal statement tonight with mum (it’s the first time she’s seen it although I’ve already spoken about it with a “subject specialist” at school - she texted me whilst I was at school today and said there’s a lot to work on lol)
+My old school got back to me about my MSA certificate! They’ll get an amended certificate out to me ASAP thank the lord
We had a surprise test in German on the perfect tense which I think I did mostly okay at but I didn’t know a couple of the nouns used the sentences - for goldfish I guessed that it was Goldfische which was close but I didn’t need the e. Grammar stresses me out so much - I tried to get better at the case system over the holidays but I’ve still got so much work to do. There’s a great site that has lots of practice tests that I keep going through but the fundamental problem is I don’t know the gender of most words unless they’re obviously die (keit, heit, schaft etc)

Today’s homework:
I’ve fully planned the Stuarts essay and have written two and half paragraph out fully in my study period - it’s a very easy topic and I feel like I’m repeating myself a lot but I guess the point of practice essays is to make mistakes.
Tonight I’m going to do my German homework - not a lot just a couple of lines on some concepts like racism or knowledge of other cultures and why they help or hinder integration. I’ll also spend some time doing quizlet vocab if I get the chance or write another paragraph of the essay.

Inspirational quote OTD:
Today’s is a very simple one from Mark Twain (who coincidentally also learnt German and wrote a a very droll book about its horrible grammar called The Awful German Language) - “The secret of getting ahead is getting started.”

I’ve attached a photo of my work station at school today - in case you’re wondering my screen looks so yellow it’s because I constantly have my devices on night shift. I’ve found it means I can stay on them til right before I go to sleep and doesn’t have a negative impact on my sleep schedule


Hope everyone reading’s had a brilliant day xx

thanks for the tag

did you realise your iPad is in night mode 😂

Yeah it helps me not stay awake/mess up my sleep! I hate seeing the transition so I just keep it in night mode permanently - I don’t even notice it anymore because I have my laptop and computer set the same way lol x

Hi! @philogrobized @Hellohsjakodsmka @clouddbubbles @Becca216 A very quick update from someone who is very tired - the LNAT is tomorrow morning and I’ve prepared as well as anyone possibly can. Planning on just a banana and some b12 for breakfast lol because it’s an early start - I’ll about 6:45-7:00ish. Very, very nervous, and all the more nervous knowing I won’t know my scores for another six months or so on the one hand I wish I had booked it for a later date, but on the other hand I’m just happy it’ll be over tomorrow. I’m going for a burger with with my grandfather afterwards to chill out but omg am I stressing right now. I’ll post a longer update over the weekend (I’ll test out a post schedule next week!)

No inspirational quote can really help in this scenario but here’s a short one anyway - “Believe you can and you’re halfway there.” -Roosevelt

Now to apply that to the LNAT...