I also have a similar story.
I was one of the "sleepy girls" who always fell asleep in the "naughty corner" because I found the work sooooo boooorrrriiinnnggg. Naturally, as I didn't listen, I didn't do well.
However, somewhere during Yr 12 everything suddenly "clicked". Don't ask me how or why, but up to that point I hated RFTG because I didn't understand the damn thing, and I really couldn't care less about some salmon run. But once I understood what the module was all about, it became a lot easier to work through it. Once I was motivated to work and actually do practice essays, I started doing a lot better. From one of the worst, I ended up ranking 19/72? and got 100% for my EE1 HSC Trial essay.
Yr 11 is very much boot camp for Yr 12, and I think you'll find that Yr 12 is different, if not easier because you were smart enough to drop something
Stick it out for now I say - because you CAN drop it later. EE1 will click eventually, but agreed, it's a pain in the butt until it does. Just keep trying!