The final year of secondary school is a challenging, but also special time for Year 12 students.
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There is the learning and study for the half-yearly, trial and HSC exams - all of which contribute to the final result.
There are the major works that need to be completed for many subjects.
Then there is consideration of what career or tertiary study path to follow, and the question of whether or not to take a gap year or even travel - usually overseas.
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And of course there are those last-time events and passages of rite. The last athletics and swimming carnival and the Year 12 formal - to name a few.
That is how most Year 12 graduates will remember their final year. But it is a very different situation for the Year 12 classes of 2020.
They have been on a path of the somewhat unknown since mid-March due to restrictions associated with the COVID-19 pandemic.
One Southern Highlands student who attends Wollondilly Anglican School shares her thoughts.
Macie Saunders has been learning from home since March 17.
She said that although students were still allowed to attend school past this date there was no extra face-to-face learning being provided.
"Many students, including myself, decided to start home-schooling from this point onwards," she said.
It was a somewhat daunting choice that meant that Macie was going to potentially be completing Year 12 HSC course work from home with less interactive learning.
It was a situation that left her continually wondering what would happen with the HSC.
Macie said that in the beginning learning from home was 'rather challenging'.
"I had to learn to adapt to new routines, timetables and ways of learning," she said.
"Initially it was rather appealing in some ways as we got to stay at home every day, not get out of our pyjamas, and work at a rate that was suited to our abilities.
"However, this novelty quickly wore off.
"It became difficult to find the motivation and drive to get tasks completed and continue studying after school hours.
"We began missing the social interactions of school and definitely wanted to return."
Macie said there were a range of resources made available to students and she praised the support of teachers.
She said that for many Year 12s the constant reassurance and support provided from teachers gave great encouragement during moments where there was little to no motivation.
"Teachers provided great learning resources to encourage our participation from home," she said.
"Many put in extra time to ensure our online learning tools were up-to-date and efficient enough for us to know that they were doing everything they could to help us through this change."
Macie said the biggest challenge she faced during the online learning period was finding the motivation and incentive to complete as much work at home as she generally would at school.
"There were less rules associated with completing tasks and the ongoing temptations at home became more appealing," she said.
"After numerous hours completing school work and following the assigned timetables, it was extremely challenging to then complete extra at-home study.
"There was no change to environment, which meant it felt like our days solely consisted of completing school work."
And while Macie has now returned to the classroom to complete Year 12 there are still many things up in the air and lost experiences.
Macie said that the idea of missing out on important moments and events in the final year of school is quite disappointing.
"Generations of seniors look forward to their last carnivals and moments dedicated to them finishing their schooling," she said.
"The main thing that I was missing out on was being able to spend time with friends.
"This generally is a fun and interactive time where events are being planned and we are looking forward to the times ahead, yet we have been unable to feel this way.
"We don't know what is ahead and how many events we are going to miss out on."
And one of those important moments is the Year 12 formal.
Macie said it was still unknown as to whether the 2020 formal would go ahead.
"The constant change of laws and regulations means it is difficult to know whether the formal will still be allowed or not," she said.
"There is great hope that it will go ahead as it is a moment many students look forward to for years, but with the constant changes we are still unsure of our chances."
As far as life after school is concerned - well that is also daunting, but Macie remains positive.
"As I do not know yet what I want to do when I leave school this hasn't had a major impact - I won't be attending university straight after school," she said.
"This situation has caused me to lose drive, in terms of achieving high results, as I don't believe they are essential in what I want to do straight after school.
"The decrease in employment means it may be harder to secure a full-time job after finishing however, there is hope that things will clear up by then and we will have similar opportunities to other year groups."
