My Tenth Week as a Senior

Grade 12 just keeps getting harder and harder to keep up with. I just want a day’s break where I don’t have to worry about pending homework or responsibilities.

On Monday, I started the day with a Biology quiz about cellular respiration. Then, we learnt about anaerobic respiration. We talked about ethanol fermentation in the cell and its practical uses (*snickers like a middle schooler* wine. God save my humour.) In Sociology, we had our Midterm test. It was long but, fortunately, simple. The first part was matching the definitions with the words given, MCQs and short answers. The second part was an essay question, “Demography challenges society”. I finished it just as the bell rang. In Math, we used graphing calculators to find the similarities and differences between trigonometric functions and their reciprocal functions. Try graphing all the functions at once; it’s a masterpiece that makes you feel like an artist. In Chemistry, we studied enthalpy and its applications.

Tuesday was a short day because of the late start. In Sociology, we took up the Midterm. I got a 96%, boosting my overall mark in the class to a 94%. In Biology, we took up the lab report. That was a disaster. In Chemistry, we had the first part of our Organic Chemistry Chapter Test. It was a 42-mark short answers test. I came home early, so I missed Math.

Wednesday was a fun day. In Biology, we did a lab activity. We had to mix activated yeast with different sugar samples, seal them and monitor the change in the gas pressure. My hands smelled like ethanol after that. In Sociology, we discussed research methodologies and how to analyze statistics to find what helps us. For the second half of the class, we worked on our Stanford Prison Experiment assignments. If you get the chance, you should look it up.

At lunch, we had a SAC meeting about the Semi-Formal. If any SWLCI students are reading this, buy your tickets at the ticket wicket ASAP before they sell out. In Math, we finished with transformations and reciprocal graphs of trigonometric functions. We moved onto word problems. In Chemistry, we had the second part of our chapter test, MCQs. I stayed after school to finish the banner advertising the Semi-Formal Dance.

On Thursday, I came to school early, to complete the banner. We got through outlining the letters before it was time to go to class. In Sociology, we began our next unit about Conformity. We talked about the types of conformity and watched a few videos on experiments done to study it. In Biology, we discussed what we have to do for our next lab report. We started Chapter 5, Photosynthesis. Who knew photosynthesis was such a long process? In Chemistry, we did questions based on enthalpy. In Math, we did problem-solving with trigonometric functions. We had Grade 8 Night in the evening, where grade 8 students in the surrounding neighbourhoods came with their parents to see what our school has to offer. I was in charge of the UCC stand. I did most of my homework sitting there waiting for the tours to start. When the students did start coming in, I enthusiastically sold the idea of UCC being our best club.

Friday was another one of those continuation days where everything is just picking up from where we left off. In Biology, we had our Unit 2 Article presentation. It’s an assignment where we had to look for a journal article related to any topic from the unit we are studying, make notes on the study and present it in a group. After that, we continued with Photosynthesis. In Sociology, we continued with Conformity. At lunch, I went to the UCC meeting, before going to help out with the Semi-Formal ticket selling. In Math, we did a review for the test on Monday. In Chemistry, we learnt about bond energies and continued to calculate the total energy released/absorbed in a reaction.

It’s been one hell of a week. We have a PA day next week and that is what is going to get me to next weekend.

I hope your week was wonderful. You can tell me about it in the comments or by emailing me at rueshi25@gmail.com. - Aarushi