VCE Subjects. And other things far less painful.

Much like emo culture, coating yourself in meat juice and walking into a bear-infested forest and watching Temptation re-runs, the VCE and the arduous, treacherous workload associated with it is one of those painful experiences that life throws at you. You want to retaliate with all your might, but eventually you concede that it's imperative to give a fuck, even if it's for a minute of your life. Unfortunately, this said arduous journey commenced for me with subject selection, which I approached with a sense of "why should I bother when all I'll be doing is complaining about the SACs to no end" but like all dismal situations, decided to give a shit just for the sake of the betterment of the fine art of shit-giving.

Without further ado, here are the subjects that I will pretend to enjoy but not-so-quietly curse:

English 1 & 2: Only really doing this because a) it's compulsory and b) it's not literature. That, and I've been eyeing the "Man for All Seasons" folders scattered amongst the "song's for jess" (sic) folders on the I: drive and I'm determined to ascertain whether the contents are monotonous as they actually appear.

General Maths Further 1 & 2: Only really doing this purely based on its tentative guarantee that I'll need this for "later in life" and to ensure that by doing mathematics, I'm retaining the slightest portion of Asian-ness otherwise lost by forgoing it entirely. Sure, it mightn't be Methods or Specialist, but for someone who repeatedly obtains Ds in tests, it's a relative equivalent.

French 1 & 2: Doing this so that the benefits of the 2008 French Exchange can be reaped in mind-numbing SAC after SAC. Also, this is one of the few subjects I actually enjoy, not just because I can sound pretentious without fear of instant disownment. Trust me, the phrase "voulez vous coucher avec moi, ce soir?" would have infinite more meaning and appreciation in French class if KAGS wasn't a girls school. Goddamn lack of co-education.

Japanese 1 & 2: Most people consider me somewhere between a freak and a nonconformist when I say that I really do love Japanese and want to do it at a tertiary level. I must agree about this title (but not based on the fact that I love Japanese), however I will add that a trip to Japan is a great way to affirm (or in my case, reaffirm) a love for Nihongo. The people are nice, the place is quirky and the food defies the aforementioned. True, a perpetual love of Japanese food may be spurring me on to improve my language skills, but trust me, it's worth it in the end.

Psychology 1 & 2: To satisfy and justify the presence of an inner eccentric, part-time philanthropist and perhaps even an urban psychopath. Truth of the matter is that I picked this subject based on the fact that I've heard a plethora of rave reviews; that, and I feel that extra bit less of a humanities student when I tell people I'm doing a "science". Feeling like a humanities student for an extended amount of time can result in serious psychological damage.

History Revolutions 3 & 4: Contradicting everything I've said about being a humanities student, I've picked this subject on the basis that reading Animal Farm made my stomach rumble. I mean, all that pork and beef would have that effect on anyone, right? Actually, I don't know why else I picked Revs, apart from the fact that I wanted to include some sort of history in my subject selections. Learning about authoritative Russian megalomaniacs seemed like a valid choice.

So, that basically concludes the subjects that I will waste over, complain about and at the worst and most frequent of times, eschew in pursuit of Facebook, MSN and blogging. While we're on the topic of authoritative Russian megalomaniacs (took me a while to type that correctly), I've recently smelt a whiff of Stalinism seeping vicariously throught the VCE, especially the "marking up" system. It really does seem that "All subjects are created equal. But some subjects are more equal than others" (yes yes clever me), in regards to the overprioritisation of subjects that clearly require more logic than others. Logic does not equal intelligence. It is merely another fucking quadrant from that circular chart which I got in year 8 which implies that Logic, Organisation, Intuition and Creativity are all different and neither superior nor inferior to one another. And damn, that's true.

Anyway, I best be off. Stay tuned for a Jazz Soiree entry in the next few seconds/minutes/hours/days.


B.

PS. Hey there Nick. If you've made it this far, congratulations. Now go and have a nice cold drink, with that awesome jazz hat on of course.