Jamon, you achieved a near-perfect ATAR despite living in basically rural West Sydney and going to a low-tier school, and you've spoken before about how volunteers of the Law/Med faculties would become disinterested in you at uni Open Days after hearing where you were from... Can you talk a little bit about any self-doubts you may or may not have experienced through Year 12 and what it was like for you aiming so high despite having the 'odds' seemingly stacked against you?
What advice do you have for people in a similar situation who may be experiencing some of the things you did?
Yeah, that was a pretty big turning point for me motivationally to be honest. Like, it's the moment I really got my butt into gear.
So I remember I went to a Careers Market thing, and at this stage I was
loosely set on Engineering, but was considering other options, so I talked to everyone, specifically Law and Medicine (probably leaning more to Law out of the two). I was talking to people about options in those courses, and eventually in the flow of conversation would come, "Oh, where you from? What school?" And I'd say my school and that I lived way out West...
Well God, you'd think I'd contracted leprosy on the spot or something.
Immediately, conversation shifted, they would be like:
"Oh, we have a great Arts program, and you can specialise in Criminal Law there (or something)"
"Oh, you can do a pathways program to get in."
Or one person (was definitely a student) flat out said (and this is what did it):
"You might want to look at Arts instead, I don't think you'll get an ATAR that high, it's pretty hard."
I was like,
seriously? Granted that student was an idiot and most people were more subtle, but the fact remained; no-one expected me to do well coming from Western Sydney. This was really depressing to me, and I did doubt myself afterwards for a fair bit. I was confused, like, I didn't
feel limited (and I would never say I was disadvantaged), I felt like I was doing really well. Why could I not do well, it seemed absurd?
I realised pretty quick that it seemed absurd, because it was. And it made me even more determined to get a really high ATAR and rub it in to everyone who said that I couldn't. Because screw them! Why should where you are from or the school you attend or the money you make, make any difference to your potential?
I come from an area where there was virtually no additional help available for students who needed it. I was lucky in that I had
amazing teachers who would always go the extra mile to help their students, I would never have traded my school for anything. But some people need the extra help, and there were very few tutors (to my knowledge), no tutoring centres; nothing of the sort. Why? Again, because the stigma exists that academic drive stops at Blacktown, which is utter crap to be honest. Every student should have the tools to excel.
Whew, okay, ranting over...
To anyone who is feels like there is a ceiling above their heads that restricts how high they can jump (be that cultural, economic, social, etc):
That is bull. It is a construct of the prejudices of others and has absolutely no bearing on your individual success.
To anyone who feels like they don't have access to the resources they need to succeed, well, that's what sites like this are for. It's why I work for ATAR Notes in the first place. Like, the prices you can pay for notes/help in NSW is disgustingly criminal. I'm happy that I can help be part of something like ATAR Notes, because I know that resources like we provide could be the big difference for someone who wouldn't otherwise have access to the tools they want and need.
Don't spend your last year of high school conforming to the expectations of others, or thinking "I can't get those marks because XYZ." It is your efforts and your hard work that define you, and absolutely nothing else
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Topic: [Ask Me Anything] #3: jamonwindeyer (Read 21542 times)