my HsC journey

BY MEgH MAnKAd

As I write this, I am sitting on the beach in the Bahamas, sipping on a cocktail, enjoying life…I wish!

Post-HSC life hasn’t completely lived up to its expectations, but nonetheless, I am extremely glad that the HSC is done and dusted. I haven’t touched a pen in about 3 months, and I still have less than a month of holidays left!

The HSC year was an extremely tough one. Assessments, exams, and the fact that ‘everything counts’, was a lot of pressure for a 16-year-old, but I managed to survive. The key to this was spreading work out over the year, and never leaving anything to the last minute. As soon as I got a task, I would attempt to start on it, so that I would have enough time to fine-tune later on. I like to think of myself as an organised individual, although my mum would beg to differ. To add to my HSC workload, I had School Prefect responsibilities, part time work and extra-curricular activities. Thus, I really had to organise my time well, and thankfully, I was able to do so.

Of course, there were moments when I had absolutely no motivation; those times when you ask yourself, “What’s the point?” To overcome this, I simply pictured myself writing the last words in my last HSC exam and putting my pen down for one final time. This always seemed to work. Other strategies that I used to regain motivation and overcome stress were eating, taking short naps, and taking regular breaks (sometimes too regular!)

I do have a few tips for those who are now in Year 12, based on the strategies I used to achieve my marks. Firstly, make a list of all the work you want to complete in a day. This proved to be extremely effective for me, as I could plan well ahead. If I felt like I could do more work, I would add things to the list, and if I couldn’t finish the tasks on one day, I would transfer them to the following day. Simple, yet very effective.

Secondly, make sure you have some form of leisure activity that will take your mind off your studies. Unfortunately, I gave up sport for the HSC, as I thought it would take too much time. But sport is a great way to release HSC stress, and will help you maintain a balanced lifestyle. My last tip: don’t fret if you do badly in an assessment or two. I was dissatisfied with plenty of exams, but I did not linger on this and I quickly moved on. Just remember that there are plenty more opportunities to improve, and there is no point in wasting your time and energy worrying.

Overall, Year 12 was a great experience. I challenged myself, learnt a lot, and had some experiences that will stay with me forever. I was lucky enough to have a supportive network of family, friends and teachers, without whom the HSC would have been much worse than it actually was. taking

These days I have been going out with friends, getting back into sport (albeit very slowly) and catching up on the things I gave up for the HSC: TV shows, movies and sleep! I have also started preparing for University, which is fast approaching. I will be studying a Bachelor of Economics degree at the University of Sydney, and hopefully transferring to Law next year. I missed out on Law by a very small margin (0.05), which was extremely disheartening. But if there’s one thing I’ve learnt from the HSC, it’s that hard work and perseverance will allow you to reach your goals. In my case, I finally achieved an ATAR of 99.60.

I am both anxious and excited about this new phase of my life.

It will be completely different to anything I have done before, but I will embrace this as a challenge, and put in my best effort. I have heard that university is equally stressful as the HSC. Surely it can’t be, can it? Anyway, I’m not too worried for now. I’m going to make the most of my holidays; a well-deserved break after a challenging year! Now back to that beach in the Bahamas…..