Georgie is a RMIT student completing her Bachelor of Business (Marketing). Georgie is currently undertaking her work placement (a year of paid industry experience) as part of her course. Looking back, Georgie reflects on her time finishing year 12 and the emotions she went through.
It’s all over! An entire year of late night study sessions, heavy eyelids and proving your teachers wrong when they said, “this is not something you can start the night before”. This exam experience will surely never be forgotten.
VCE was a gruelling experience for me as I’m sure it has been for you too. Countless hours spent chained to my desk trying to retain as much information as I could, only to be tested on a small portion of that knowledge. Not to mention the number of hours I spent pacing around my room, regurgitating quotes for English. It seemed pointless making us learn so much information that seemed so irrelevant to our future…and indeed, I have not used calculus since.
There was no opportunity for wasted study time in Year 12. I studied everywhere; in the shower, at the counter serving customers at Woolies, while eating breakfast… you name it! Yet even then, I wished I had more time. And of course there were the layers upon layers of multi-coloured post-it notes that I plastered to my bedroom and bathroom walls.
My entire life revolved around getting a good ATAR. My goals for the year were to see my name in the VCE Top Scorers section in the Herald Sun and get above the clearly-in ATAR for my course. However, my hobbies and what shaped me were put on hold. I was really happy with my results and all of the effort I put in. In hindsight, VCE taught me that maintaining a balanced lifestyle is the key to long-lasting success. I hope that you are pleased with your results when they are released at 7am, 12 December 2016 but if not, remember that there are a plethora of opportunities that lie beyond your ATAR score. You’ve done all the work now and it’s in the past, for better or worse. Your ATAR is just another result, but it signifies the beginning of a future where grades are less and less important.
Congratulations Class of 2016, your exams are over. Twelve years of schooling complete. Let us reminisce about the number of times we spent huddled in a circle before an exam sharing last-minute information, the calluses on your writing finger and having to listen to that one smart friend who came out of every exam saying they failed, when you know they have a 99.95 ATAR coming their way.
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