HOW FAST TIME FLIES. <\/strong>Many of the boys in Year 12 have no more or one exam left this Term. After that, it’s Term 3 – which can basically be summed up with the word \u201cTrials.\u201d Trial prep, the exam, and then the readjustment and final launch into the HSC. And after that, well\u2026the unknown?<\/p>\n\n\n\n I apologise if I\u2019m being cliche, but for me, the last couple years have been a blur \u2013 perhaps owing to the fact they were on the tail-end of COVID. As I\u2019m writing this article, I struggle to come up with a worthwhile number of significant events for close to 6 years of high school life. I really have no clue how my brain functioned in Years 7 or 8.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I\u2019m sure any boy in the younger years reading this must think Year 12 is crazy scary – after all, that was the case for me too. A portion of your future rests on the hinges of your exams – what university you get into, what career, what kind of life. But caught up in the midst of it, my experience has been rather serene. Exams seem daunting from afar, but the closer you get, the more it just seems like another exam. <\/p>\n\n\n\n I\u2019m going to admit – a number of times, the question of \u201cwhy?\u201d has popped into my head while I\u2019ve been studying. I\u2019ve tried to find some reasons – whether it be for my future, my career or having \u201cfinancial freedom.\u201d But it all does seem kind of silly, for universities and other individuals to summarise your life up to the end of high school with just a number. Sometimes, the intangibles far outweigh how well you perform in exams. What kind of friend, son, brother, or boyfriend (I\u2019m single by the way) are you to the people that matter most to you? What kind of values do you hold onto, whether they be religious or not? If you can\u2019t answer the question of \u201cwhy?\u201d with a satisfying answer for yourself, like me, just \u201cplay the game\u201d, as our favourite existential hero, Holden Caulfied likes to say. Down the line, I may or may not regret writing this paragraph for being cringe. <\/p>\n\n\n\n My biggest lesson thus far has been to never assume that things will change just because you\u2019re in Year 12, or you\u2019re put into a position that has lots of pressure where you need to \u201cclutch up\u201d and \u201clock in.\u201d If you act the same way, your results will be the same. Change in your results only stems from changes in your individual actions. The truth is rather harsh. There really is no magic. It isn\u2019t the environment, but rather the individual actions you take that lead to results. If you\u2019re in the younger years, be patient about things. Whether it be sports, music, academics, or whatever you\u2019re interested in and want to do well in. Believe in your work and yourself even if you don\u2019t see any results or changes in the short term – if you\u2019re failing badly, maybe consider switching up your strategy and tactics for training or studying, but don\u2019t stop showing up. Consistency, even if it is just small steps and small improvements every day or week, surpasses spurts of motivation and then falling off. Improvement is a lifelong process, but trust me, even if you\u2019re in Year 11 or Year 12 and you start being consistent with whatever you do, starting now, by the time you need to perform, everything will work out. Have fun, and enjoy the ride.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" D. H. Kang<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":19834,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","article_category":[10],"article_tag":[],"class_list":["post-19833","article","type-article","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","article_category-student-journalism"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thebuzz.net.au\/shore-weekly-record\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article\/19833","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thebuzz.net.au\/shore-weekly-record\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thebuzz.net.au\/shore-weekly-record\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/article"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thebuzz.net.au\/shore-weekly-record\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19833"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thebuzz.net.au\/shore-weekly-record\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19834"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thebuzz.net.au\/shore-weekly-record\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19833"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"article_category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thebuzz.net.au\/shore-weekly-record\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article_category?post=19833"},{"taxonomy":"article_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thebuzz.net.au\/shore-weekly-record\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article_tag?post=19833"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}