One STEP at a time

I just thought I'd update to let you know what I'm doing at the moment. I have just started a new Mathletics course, New Zealand grade 12, and in doing so, will revisit topics I haven't seen since 2012... I have gained so much mathematical knowledge since then! There is also something very rare: a topic I have never done before! It is called the capture-recapture technique, and comes under statistics. Normally, it is just the are you ready and test topics to do, but no, not this time! I am also only 2 weeks away from my next gold certificate. I will be having a little bit of fun, certainly for the moment, while my fifth year on Mathletics continues.

But easy computer maths aside, I am also doing some STEP papers in my own time, and have been since mid-June. I can safely say that they are the most difficult maths things I have ever done! I started with 2008 and worked backwards; they jumped in difficulty in 1999, and sort of struggled through that one, and the 1998 paper that I'm working on now. I seem to use the solutions a lot; more than I probably should, but I won't ultimately be sitting the STEP paper. I'm using it to boost my maths skills and possibly for another go at the MAT, which is generally thought of as being easier; though it's complicated by its lack of choice!

I will continue to battle with my STEP and chill out with Mathletics, and post here again when I can!

Secondary school maths finished!!!!!

Well... that was exhilarating! After a long break from Mathletics curriculum, I returned to it. I had 2 activities remaining: one until last week, and one this week. I tried it over the last few days, but only finally managed to crack it today, on my 9th attempt! (7 of those were today.) I made the same very basic errors about focuses and directrixes over and over again, I was very annoyed, then relieved by my final attempt. This marks the end of the Advanced Higher course for me! Obviously, I finished the actual course last week, with the exam on Tuesday. The questions were all so good until Q13, which was long and boring... then Q14 was a disaster for me, and that kind of threw me off the next two, although I did salvage 15, and after some struggling, I found my way through 16 in the last few minutes. Then Thursday was Applied Maths: so much more tricky, even compared with that maths paper! I hardly knew any of it, and felt like giving up, but gritted my teeth and moved onto the normal maths section, which I am so much more fluent with, and managed that without too much of a problem, then went back to the applied, and the answers started coming to me one by one, although I did mess one up by switching speed and amplitude (very different I know), and I also left a 7-mark question blank. However, I can't think about it too much, as I can't change anything now, and I still have one more exam to sit - Spanish, in about a fortnight.