It brings up that question

[liamc2]

[size=2]Ah...a new year. What does that mean? Three or so weeks till school starts again.

What does this mean to some of us?

Senior year. Meaning I have officially two years until my schooling is complete and I have my OP.(Overall Performance)

eeesh...OP.

Now those are two letters that can strike fear into any senior student's heart.

These two years I've actually got to pay attention, to receive an OP of 1 (the best you can get) I'll have to be in the top 10% of the school.

Sounds easy?

I think not.

All the students in my year are basically placed on a giant ladder this year. All according to their overall score collected from their subjects. Doing better means you knock someone off their position, and you steal theirs. All the while you have to consistantly do well so that you can maintain a good standing to prevent others from stealing your place.

It's all very, very unnerving when you think about it some more. The way the teachers talked to us about it last year, it was as though we were all alone in the world.

'There's no point helping your friend out, if you do, he or she might end up better than you, then poof! There goes the OP you wanted'

Not a very comforting thought is it?

It'd be even less comforting if our grade took it seriously. I doubt I'd cope very well without a second opinion.

[b]Let's fast forward past the mind numbing moments...past the end of grade Twelve, onward to the holidays afterwards[/b]

Well, here we are. January 2005.

In three months or so the University of Queensland officially open their doors and the real, yet somehow casual, schooling starts. Grades eleven and twelve's subjects really come into play and help you out. Your OP pops up and if it's good enough, you're in the Bachelor degree you want.

In my case, hello [b]Bachelor[/b] of [i]Forensic[/i] [b]Science[/b]

[b]Stats:[/b] [i]OP of 5 or more required[/i]

[b]Why a Bachelor of Science?[/b]

[i]I need one to qualify for Undergraduate medicine.[/b]

[b]Why forenics?[/b]

Because it will give me a brilliant view of the human anatomy that will come in very handy for my medicinal years. Not to mention that it would help me qualify for not only [b]Radiologist[/b], but possibly the title of [i]Forensic[/i] [b]Radiologist[/b].


So I finish my Bachelor of Forensic Science, there's 3 years gone.

I'm 20 and it's 2008.

[b]University on Hold....[/b][i]now[/i]

Hello two year mission in service to God.

2010, return missionary

[b]University taken off hold....[/b][i]now[/i]

This is where this quote from a reply email I sent to the Admissions and enrolements of the School of Medicine, part of the UQ great scheme

[quote][i]Originally quoted by Barbara Muller (Admissions and Enrolements)[/i]

[color=royalblue]'In 2002, the School of Medicine offered a sub quota for "Provisional Entry to Medicine for Year 12 Students". The sub quota is part of the main quota. It means that at the end of the Grade 12 year you are offered a place in the medical program after you have completed a bachelors degree at UQ providing you have met all the requirements.'[/color][/quote]

(As you can see, I like to be serious about my investigation of these things)

So I play this card after registering for it at the end of grade twelve. Hopefully I [i]will[/i] have met [i]all[/i] the requirements.

In pops the 'MAIN QUOTA' somewhere amongst those years. With it comes the GAMSAT. Viewed by many to be ten times harder than the QCS, and just as many times as important.

Did I also mention that it costs (depending on the course) 300 to 800 dollars (AUS) just to sit it?

Yet another thing not to take lightly.

[b]Yet more fastforwarding, past undergraduate, internship *BING!*[/b]

Now at this point, we're half way along on the long and windy road.

Now I'm in the fold of the 'baby doctors'

Fresh Meat as it were, but at least it's Fresh [i]paid[/i] Meat.

Gah, the details escape me, but somewhere along there I enter post graduate medicine. Now comes the specialist degree in Radiology.


There, the long tale is ended. Exactly 19 years have passed. The title of 'Mr Liam Cameron' is long gone. Hello '[i]Dr[/i] Liam Cameron'

End my years of schooling, and now off to some Hospital in the far flung reaches of Australia...


[quote][i]From a Work Experience moment[/i]

[b]On call Radiologist:[/b] Now Liam, if you really want to do somehting smart, you'll want to do Radiography. I mean, look at the difference in time! Us Radiologists end up spending basically half our lives in school, meanwhile this fellow here ends out in the fresh air in less than half of the time!

[b]On call Radiographer[/b] [i]Yeah...but look at the [/i][b]huge[/b][i] difference in pay....[/i][/quote]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

If you've read this, you now know how much time and thought I've spent on my fast coming (hopefully fast coming though Senior) future.

Now it's your turn. [/size]

[Guest cloricus]

[spoiler][color=#00ff00]Well since Liam wont tell me what the point is, *fwaps him over msn* I'll post the same as him.
That is to what I intend to in the next few years.


This year, year 11.

I intend to work at school this year, last year I hardly did any thing. I got the biggest shock of my life, the less I did the better my mark.
I took my E and D- reports and brought them all up the B-'s, I intend for A- and A's this year.
I'll mainly do computing and bio in senior school. I need maths b and English for uni but I only need to pass them.
Once I've finished year 12 (If I finish...) I'll go to one of the universities that are around, for some reason most of the good ones for tech in Australia are within 130k from me.
I'll do a bachelor of IPT and major in networking, at least I think.
Once I've done that I'll join some small business and learn "the ropes" and get experience then either end up there or find another job like that and just stay there.
I could go over to America or England and make some money and then come back.

I intend to keep my options very open.

I have some idea's that I'd need money for them to be realised, but that's way down the track...

Should be fun.
[/color][/spoiler]

[liamc2]

*fwaps back with a giant dead rubber fish*

Well I could say that the point of this is to bow before my giant big brainess, but that's not why it's here. (Although comments and pointers on it would be appreciated)

What I want to know is, has anyone else thought as much about this as I?

[Guest cloricus]

[spoiler][color=#00ff00]Yes I have but as I said I'm keeping my options open. :P
In fact I've got it all planned out, but things change.
*Looking at Liams sig* God I am so going to laugh one day...
[/color][/spoiler]

[conpiracymonki]

[b][size=1]
[u]2002-2003[/u]
Right now, I'm taking Geography and IT for options, in Year 10.
[u]2003-2004[/u]
Next year, I have my GCSE exams, Year 11. The exams themself are from 40-60% of the actual grade, depending on the subject.
I plan to get A*-B on all subjects, and go to Xaverian College.
[u]2004-2006/7[/u]
It has lots of weird people in it, but hey, it has better IT and Maths courses than Ridge Daniers, and L-something (I forgot its name). I plan to take Maths, a science, and some form of an IT course. One of these is bound to be a 3 year course. And my friends plan on taking the IT courses here too, so brownie points.
[u]2007[/u]
Whether or not I get out at 2006, I'll be doing nothing til sometimes in '07. Of course, since all this time, I've spent 2 hours of everyday since 2001 preparing for a 6 year Islamic Degree Course, I'll be cutting the first 2 years. Heh.
That moves us onto...
[u]2011[/u]
I'm fresh outta Bolton, with my degree. Now time to head back for home and relax a bit, before I set off again.
[u]2012[/u]
OK, Now I pick whatever form of IT I'm good with, and some sort of graphics design course to enter into. So now I'm stuck at a Uni for another 2-3 years learning.
[u]2015[/u]
IT is TEH FUTURE!!! And I'll now be 27 with some uber-cool job. And degrees. But mainly the job.[/b] And money -_-[/size]

[Roxie Faye]

[color=#9933ff]You think you people are planning ahead too much? Look at me. I'm in 8th grade, and already planning my future in the real world.

I'm looking at an academy. This it NOT a private school, because thank GOD you do not have to wear uniforms, and you do not have to pay the tuition. Anyone in the county and apply for this school, and the town has to pay for the tuition. They MUST send at least one person who applied, but other then that, they decide how many kids they want to send.

The application process is a long one. The first part is a tad bit like applying for college. You must get recommendations from your Guidance Counselor, Language Arts, Math, and Science teachers. It is not imperative that you have at least a knowledge of Algebra, but if you don't, then you don't have a good chance of getting in. I am taking geometry right now, so I'm hoping it will make me seem good enough.

The next thing you have to do is right a 500 word essay. This is where it stops being college-like. ^_^;;; Most college essays ask you to tell about a challenge you have had to over come. This essay topic is just about who you are, meaning your personality and your interests. I tried to make it sound like I was well-rounded, while still keeping to the truth. ^_^;;;

Then, in January, you go for a test, with a math section, and a writing-essay section. If you make it past that, you and your parent(s)/legal guardian(s) will go for an interview, and you're interviewed both together and separately. If you make it past the interview, then you get in.

There's also different academies you can apply to. There's a science one, and there's a medical one, a culinary arts one, an art one. It prepares you for the field of work you want, which means you sort of have to choose your profession before applying. But, it' really no big deal if you change your mind after you start attending, because in the end, it doesn't matter so much, and you can still use the skills and information you've learned at the high school in whatever you want to be.

I want to go to this school, because it is very ethnically diverse, and it's a very tolerant school of others, their opinions, and ideas.

I also want to go there, because it's very much like a miniature college, it makes you think about time management. There are "mods" instead of periods, and each mod is approximately 18 minutes long. About 3 mods equal one period. You have free mods, as well, and you can only take one mod in your freshman year as an extracurricular course, meaning that the other free mods, you can either roam the hallways(yes, they let you do that), or do your homework. The school day is 8:00-4:30, and so the school encourages you to take those free mods and use them well, by devoting them to your homework(that way you have less when you get home).

The school has a very high reputation, and I guess you could say it's an "elite" school.

It's been a bit of a hotbed for controversy in the political aspect, because people say it's unfair. They're taking the "Cream of the Crop" out of every district, lowering the districts' scores, possibly making it less appealing for people with children who are looking to move into a district with good scores. However, I see it this way. This, and all education shouldn't be about politics. It should be about the children and helping the children achieve their goals, and if going to this school will help them achieve their goals, them by all mean, they should attend, whether it lowers the town scores or not. To say it?s unfair for those reasons is selfish thinking, if you ask me.

The curriculum of the school is different as well, and more grduates out of this school go to Ivy League colleges than any other school in New Jersey, which is the other reason why I want to go there.

I figure, if I go there, I'll have a better chance of getting into an Ivy League or Seven Sister College(the lady equivalent of the Ivy League, from way back when, when men and woman had to attend separate universities), and if I get into one of those, it will look better on my resume, when I go to get a job, because employers always look for name schools. This will help me to make my chances better of getting the job I want.

Yeah. I'm insane, I guess, planning ahead so much. ^_^;;;[/color]

[liamc2]

Wow.

Mind you, I still haven't grasped the idea of 'college.' Mostly because some highschools here end in 'college' instead of 'high'

ie my school Downlands [i]College[/i]

As opposed to Toowoomba State [i]High[/i] School

I'm sure I'll get it in the end though....

So you know where you're going to go and how you're going to get there...but once you're there, what are you going to study? I mean, that is to say, what do you want to emerge as?

[i]If I missed something when I read it, I do apologise...[/i]

[BabyGirl]

[color=deeppink]I plan on graduating college [university] when I am 20 with a bachelor of the arts in photojournalism. I figure that I'll do freelance photography for a while until a good job offer comes along, and survive on what little income I'll be receiving.

While I freelance, I'll travel to foreign countries to capture conflict, hoping that my images will be purchased by any publication that is willing to pay for them.

As my reputation as a photographer grows, I'll secure that job at TIME or National Geographic (heh, nah...) and I will then have a steady income and will be able to survive! :wigout:

However, first I need to get through my first year here at the photography institute, [i]then[/i] we'll see about the rest.[/color]

[wrist cutter]

Get through school, and eventually die.

There's my plan.

[enigma]

[COLOR=blue][I]Like Liamc2 said, I have to really pick up the pace with my work now. Which means I'm going to be in competion with that ladder thing with you Liamc2 and Cloricus, though I'll probably hit the bottom on the first day back.

After grade 12, I plan to take a year off, then go to ADFA, do my 4 years of Uni there, then become an air force fighter pilot, the sweetest job around (and unfortunately one of the hardest to get).

I hate the crazy systems they have around here. It should be if you do well, then you get a good OP, not if you and everyone else does well.

Somehow I have the feeling Cloricus is going to make some sort of Political Correctness to this post.[/COLOR][/I]

[marbar]

*laughs at all those below him on the ladder*
(ie. Liam,Cloricus,Enigma)

My plan - work damn hard in 11 and 12 (physics, chemistry, two maths, english)

Get an OP of 1 or 2. (fingers crossed)

Go to UQ, studying a Bachelor of Science and maybe Medicine later.

Become Dr. Marbar and defend myself against malpractice suits.

[liamc2]

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by marbar [/i]
[B]*laughs at all those below him on the ladder*
(ie. [u]Liam[/u],Cloricus,Enigma)[/B][/QUOTE]

*viscious prod*

o.O;

[Rain]

[color=blue]Well, in about three weeks I start year 10, so I have 3 years of school left. Halfway through year 10 we pick subjects for 11 and 12, and I have no idea what I want to do, so that might be a problem.[/color]

[Jesus Chicken]

Hmm. I really want to becoma famous musician and travel all over playing concerts and making feckloads of money, but at the moment, it ain't lookin too good. SO if that falles through!

2003
Year 11, study hard, get good marks

2004 (DAMN!)
Year 12, study hard, get good marks, get good OP

@))$ =2005
year off, get job, work full time, make money

2006 (DAMN!)
Go to UNI, Study Psychology\Criminology

After that, WHO KNOWS?!?

[Mitch]

[color=red] Ack, who cares about the future. It happens. Heh, all I want to do is make it through life. That alone is enough. Geesh :rolleyes:.[/color]

[liamc2]

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by Mitch [/i]
[B][color=red] Ack, who cares about the future. It happens. Heh, all I want to do is make it through life. That alone is enough. Geesh :rolleyes:.[/color] [/B][/QUOTE]

-*if you haven't got anything good to say, then say nothing at all*-

I am [i]soooo[/i] (:p) tracking you down twenty years from now.

lol

[Roxie Faye]

[color=#9933ff]Liam asked me what I wanted to do in (American) college. I think I'm going to be studying some type of environmental science, maybe chemisry, physics, or biology. I want to be a conservationist. Translation: conservationist=tree hugger. :D Seriously, I want to be a conservationist.[/color]

[Mnemolth]

Damn stupid lucky trees! ;)

[Mitch]

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by liamc2 [/i]
[B]-*if you haven't got anything good to say, then say nothing at all*-

I am [i]soooo[/i] (:p) tracking you down twenty years from now.

lol [/B][/QUOTE]

[color=red] By then I'll be untrackable, a delicit spark on the radar, a small speck on the spectrum :p[/color]

[enigma]

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by marbar [/i]
[B]*laughs at all those below him on the ladder*
(ie. Liam,Cloricus,Enigma)[/B][/QUOTE]

[COLOR=blue][I]Gets saw and saws off rest of ladder above him, causing Marbar to fall to his death. As well as everyone else on that ladder, (possibly crushing me) seeing how I'm on the bottom. (hehe)
____________
It looks like Mitch HAS planned out the future. He plans to disappear by the looks of it. HAha, caught you out.

I just know something bad is going to happen to me because of that.[/COLOR][/I]

[Guest butterfly]

well, this year i want to get my grades up. especially in english, cause i really suck at it. i just want to do my best, study like hell. i think that i am going to become a hermit over the next two years, never seeing the outside world only to got to school.
i want to get a good enough op to...hmmmmm...well i'm not exactly sure what i want to do yet, or what i am smart enough to do.
what i really want to do is some form of astronomy or something like that. cause i enjoy doing maths and sciences and don't have to all that grand in english.
to bad its one of the hardest jobs to get. like you liam, i have looked up some things, not to the same extent but a start.
so what i am planning is after school i take a year or two off, cause i will only be very young and work, gets lots of money do some backpacking and travelling. then settle down somewhere and do whatever course i need to do.
that i what these holidays are about for me, i am trying to get more info on what i need to do and achieve in school and where to do what courses. so i have lots to do in the span of three weeks.
you're lucky liam, you have it already worked out.

[marbar]

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by butterfly [/i]
[B]i think that i am going to become a hermit over the next two years
[/B][/QUOTE]

Is our butterfly going into her cocoon?

Sorry to all those I laughed at with the ladder joke. Its mean to pick on those so OBVIOUSLY of lower intelligence than you.

[Lady Asphyxia]

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by Mitch [/i]
[B][color=red] By then I'll be untrackable, a delicit spark on the radar, a small speck on the spectrum :p[/color] [/B][/QUOTE]

[color=darkred][i]Or[/i] you'll be a famous author, and we'll be able to say, "I insulted him and tried to annoy him when we were younger!"

I want to go to Uni, whilst working in some hospitality area, and then move on to go say, being a hostess on a plane. After that, if I know what I want to do, I'll try and do it. What can I say? I'd rather not think about the future...[/color]

[liamc2]

*chuckles*

We accept your answer marbar

~~~~

butterfly, at least you'll be young when you've finished.

eee...I'll be 34...o.O;

~~~~

Mum was talking about her day at work and how there were two army people there to take her education (mum's a nurse educator) and they got talking about the SAS. Mum mentioned our family friend and how he used to be in the famous 'blackpyjamas' but also how after 10 or so years retirement the government still have his passport and are continuously whisking him away.

The two students visibly moved away from mum and one said

'Oo...scary. You know what that means?'

'What?' said mum.

'He's one of the nasty ones...'

'If the government still hae his passport, that means he was one of the best...wouldn't want to get on the wrong side of him eh?' said the other

'Nasty ones?' said mum

'Yeah, you know, the assassins. Killer for hire. The type of people that are declared legally dead, killed in action and are placed in the top SAS and moved about million miles from home'

'Oh...' says mum

So, guess what I say?

'Hey mum, what'd you do if I joined the SAS?'

[Guest cloricus]

[spoiler][color=#00ff00]ROLF Liam(C2) in the SAS(R)...
Any way I don't think you could. *Points to you glasses*
Plus you can't even take cadets... ([b]SHUT UP[/b] [i]Harlequin, Raven, Newt, lilac, Marbar[/i] in fact all of you, no jokes... I out rank you! ([b]No comments[/b] [i]Raven, lilac, Newt[/i]... Ahhh I'll just shut up now...))

Any way, I've also thought about the army reserve. (I also take back this idea each time I end up on an army base for more than 2 days... (That happens a lot) But it's stuck in my head again.) (And no more army bases until mid-year! (I hope...))
Any one else thinking of this option?
[/color][/spoiler]