A strained analogy involving VCE/HSC and ducklings for current Year 12 students

[Joseph41]

I hope you're curious. You should be curious. Background:

Spoiler

So a number of ducks basically live in my backyard. They've been there forever. About twice per year for the last 22 years (including the day we moved in), we've been blessed with a new batch of ducklings! They're absolutely the cutest things you'll ever see in your life. Except for maybe those yellow ducklings (these ones are, I think, Pacific Black Ducks, as below).

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Today, Mother Duck decided to leave the body of water in our backyard and take her ducklings down to the nearby creek, as she does each time. (It's actually an incredible process.)

I know what you’re thinking: “Nick, that’s great – and I commend you for being such an animal-loving human – but what happened to the ducklings?!”

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To get down to the creek, the ducklings had to:

1.   Get out of the water (they had to use trial-and-error (with a little bit of help) to basically jump up onto a small ledge, and then walk around for a little bit, and then slide off another ledge).
2.   Follow Mother Duck down a patch of grass, whilst avoiding crows and the neighbours’ cats.
3.   Find their way down the side of the house and under/through a gate.
4.   Make their way down a moderately busy street, now avoiding dogs and cars.
5.   And then the kicker: cross a semi-major road.

To make things harder, there were *eleven* of them.

Now, stick with me - this is where the VCE/HSC part comes into play.

Spoiler

As I was watching the ducklings try to manoeuvre their way through the scariest parts of their illustrious 24-hour lives to date, I had two thoughts running through my mind. Firstly, something like, “you know, this isn’t that dissimilar to trying to stumble your way through Year 12!” And secondly, “wow, I really have to move on from the whole Year 12 thing.”

I liken each duckling to each student in your respective cohort. As they say, it’s a dog-eat-duckling world, and it would have been easy for each duckling to care merely about its own safety. But the absolutely staggering thing was that they clearly displayed care for one another. On multiple occasions, Mother Duck tried to lead Baby Ducks toward the creek. But, also on multiple occasions, one or two ducklings would have been left behind. Not once did Baby Ducks agree to leave with Mother Duck until they knew that *all* of them would be safe. Of course, Mother Duck was also super protective, and went straight back for the straggling Baby Ducks when she realised.

In one (very strained) sense, this is similar to Year 12. It would be understandable for each of you to care merely about your own results. Naturally, that’s what should be at the forefront of your mind. But don’t let that be counter-productive. Once internal assessments are all done, it’ll likely be better for you if your cohort performs strongly on the exam. So even though you’re competing against your cohort during the year, you sort of join forces before exams. With that in mind, it might actually be bad for you if you were to run off to join Mother Duck without glancing around to make sure that your Sibling Ducks were by your side.

The other thing that was brutally apparent was the Baby Ducks' collective persistence. So many times, they would jump, fall down, and then jump again. From this process, they eventually worked out how to best approach their situation, even though it took them some time. Basically, they made the most out of failing. A bit like this, except less athleticsy, and more ducklingsy.

It’s the same with VCE/HSC! Recently not do too well on an assessment task? Well that’s okay – not much point moping about it forever. You might as well really take the feedback on board, and use it as motivation to do super well on the exam!

I am of the strong opinion that crows are evil. I mean, look at that shit. Scary.

Spoiler

And that’s what our heroic Sibling Ducks had to avoid on their trek to the creek. Crows, and cars, and dogs. There will always be things standing your way. Maybe you’ll have a teacher with whom you don’t really get along, or you’re struggling with a mental illness, or you can’t motivate yourself to write another English essay instead of watching the Olympics.

But that’s okay – that’s why we’re here for each other. On their journey, Sibling Ducks looked out for one another. And Mother Duck, of course, was also there for support and protection. I like to think that the equivalent of Mother Duck could be any number of people in your own Year 12 treks; it could be family, friends, teachers, even the ATAR Notes forums! If any of the Baby Ducks felt vulnerable or scared, they went back to Mother Duck to help get them through the tough period. That’s not to say that they relied on Mother Duck entirely, but she was there for support. Keep that in mind – you’re not alone.

“But what happened to the ducklings?!” I assume you are currently chanting.

Spoiler

Eventually, it came time to cross the road - to complete the end-of-year exam, as it were. I assume the Sibling Ducks were anxious. Mother Duck was anxious. Heck, I was anxious. But it's okay - they made it in the end!

And so will you. You’re almost there, friends. I believe in you. You will get there!

tl;dr:

1. Once it comes to the exam period, it’s actually in your interest to help others in your cohort (when you can – not to your detriment)!

2. The experience of VCE/HSC is IMO about more than just your ATAR. You can learn a lot about yourself during the process.

3. If you feel like you’re struggling, ask for help!

4. Persist and you will be rewarded. To quote Chumbawamba, “I get knocked down, but I get up again; you are never gonna keep me down” (repeat that about ninety times and it turns out you have a catchy hit!).

5. Ducklings are cute af.

6. ATAR Notes believes in you. You’re on the home stretch, and I promise you, you will make it safely to the creek. In the process, you will develop into a more experienced, more mature (perhaps less fluffy) duck.

Did any of that make any sense whatsoever?

[Joseph41]

I was reminded of this thread the other day (thanks, K888). It's relevant right now.

You don't need to read the opening post, which is a bit convoluted. The point I was trying to make is be nice to one another, help one another as much as possible, and things will turn out for the best.

Particularly here - the AN Fam is so tight-knit!

[lyoko]

It was really good to read this Nick, especially like you said now that exams are looming closer than ever...GOOD LUCK TO THE CLASS OF 2017!

[Joseph41]

It was really good to read this Nick, especially like you said now that exams are looming closer than ever...GOOD LUCK TO THE CLASS OF 2017!

Glad you took something out of it. And ya, good luck!