As students receive their ATAR and HSC results after disruptive year of learning, I can't help but to reminisce on my own HSC journey more than 10 years ago.
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In what does feel like a long time ago (a decade plus four to be precise), I too waited patiently for my own results to be mailed in.
Back then though we called it a UAI (University Admissions Index), it changed a year later.
I was never particularly studious, just an average student with average marks, who left everything to the last minute.
It didn't really occur to me that my UAI or marks at school would be important in the lead up to the HSC.
Not that my marks were bad, they were decent enough, but I never really thought about what my life would be beyond the HSC and school.
Even when I did apply for university courses - right on the deadline - I still didn't realise how important the HSC would be.
It was until right before the HSC that I realised that I needed to study - and study hard I did for two weeks before my exams (and throughout the exam period too).
Now most educators eschew the concept of rote learning - which involves memorising concepts based on repetition. i.e. constantly re-writing your creative writing for the English exam and memorising every single word.
But for me, rote learning was my lifeline to remembering HSC content.
In the course of two weeks I was able to remember a year's worth of HSC course content... and then I promptly forgot it once my exams were over.
Which brings me to receiving my HSC marks.
Like students across NSW, I too waited for my future to be determined by a number on a piece of paper.
What I received in email and snail mail wasn't exactly what I expected, but quite frankly it wasn't surprising either.
I can't remember exactly what my UAI was, it may have been 55, or 53, I'm not sure but it was still enough to land me in to a university course with a few added bonus marks for a band five and living in Western Sydney.
What I do remember is telling myself that there were other pathways, other options and that I could always swap courses if I didn't like what I studied and didn't get in to the course I wanted.
Full disclosure, I spent two years at one university, transferred to another university to complete the same course, took a gap year in the middle and dropped out of my course with two subjects left because I realised that I didn't want to be a high school teacher.
I finished with a Bachelor or Arts in English and completed a Masters of Journalism two years later.
For me, it was a roller-coaster of a ride to get to where I am today. It wasn't easy, and it was definitely the path less traveled but at the end of the day the HSC and your ATAR are not the only things that determine your career or your future.
There are other options, there are other pathways to study what you want, there are other institutes such as TAFE and private colleges.
If it's something you are passionate about, if it's something you enjoy doing - you will find a way to do it or study it.
Don't let numbers on a piece of paper determine your future because the future can change and you might change your mind like I did.
And if you didn't get the ATAR that you wanted, that's okay.
Life is full of unexpected turn of events and what seemed like a disappointment could be a blessing in disguise.
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