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Yeah, I don't get it either. ???
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The HSC is the final high school exam. The exam mark determines which university and which courses you will be eligible for and (supposedly) a higher mark gives you a better chance at a good job. Because schools and education departments hype this series of tests as the be-all-and-end-all,  there's an enormous amount of pressure placed on participants to do exceedingly well. As someone who has sat the examination not once but twice, the advice I give to Ice Princess is that, despite whatever mark you might get in the HSC, you can succeed in your after-school life no matter what. Schools want their students to do well in the HSC so they can tell everyone how good their school is. In the long term, the HSC means very little if not nothing to prospective employers. I don't even put it on my resume anymore.

All the best, IP, but don't sweat it too much. It's just a bunch of exams. By the time you're 25, it won't mean squat to anyone.


*Having said this, of course, I'm not suggesting that you just give up. Your HSC mark WILL BE rather important for the next couple of years, but that's it. I have friends who didn't even do the HSC who are now studying law and medicine, and another guy who didn't even finish high school is a self-made millionaire. Just remember that it's not the be-all and end-all it's made out to be, and you'll be ok.*
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Excellent post, Goreripper. Hopefully she'll see it before her tests. This one single post may make a huge difference in diminishing her anxieties. It made me feel better and I'm not even taking any tests!! ;D

Quoting:
The HSC is the final high school exam. The exam mark determines which university and which courses you will be eligible for and (supposedly) a higher mark gives you a better chance at a good job. Because schools and education departments hype this series of tests as the be-all-and-end-all,  there's an enormous amount of pressure placed on participants to do exceedingly well. As someone who has sat the examination not once but twice, the advice I give to Ice Princess is that, despite whatever mark you might get in the HSC, you can succeed in your after-school life no matter what. Schools want their students to do well in the HSC so they can tell everyone how good their school is. In the long term, the HSC means very little if not nothing to prospective employers. I don't even put it on my resume anymore.

All the best, IP, but don't sweat it too much. It's just a bunch of exams. By the time you're 25, it won't mean squat to anyone.


*Having said this, of course, I'm not suggesting that you just give up. Your HSC mark WILL BE rather important for the next couple of years, but that's it. I have friends who didn't even do the HSC who are now studying law and medicine, and another guy who didn't even finish high school is a self-made millionaire. Just remember that it's not the be-all and end-all it's made out to be, and you'll be ok.*
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Well that's kind of true, my Dad got C's and D's in High School and he went on to become a Civil Engineer.  :o
Even though he failed math in University, he is frightningly good at it.

Quoting:
The HSC is the final high school exam. The exam mark determines which university and which courses you will be eligible for and (supposedly) a higher mark gives you a better chance at a good job. Because schools and education departments hype this series of tests as the be-all-and-end-all,  there's an enormous amount of pressure placed on participants to do exceedingly well. As someone who has sat the examination not once but twice, the advice I give to Ice Princess is that, despite whatever mark you might get in the HSC, you can succeed in your after-school life no matter what. Schools want their students to do well in the HSC so they can tell everyone how good their school is. In the long term, the HSC means very little if not nothing to prospective employers. I don't even put it on my resume anymore.

All the best, IP, but don't sweat it too much. It's just a bunch of exams. By the time you're 25, it won't mean squat to anyone.


*Having said this, of course, I'm not suggesting that you just give up. Your HSC mark WILL BE rather important for the next couple of years, but that's it. I have friends who didn't even do the HSC who are now studying law and medicine, and another guy who didn't even finish high school is a self-made millionaire. Just remember that it's not the be-all and end-all it's made out to be, and you'll be ok.*
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Well said Goreripper.

There are some scary parents out there who have huge plans for their children.  I just keep telling my 15 year old daughter to do the best she can.   She's doing very well and school doesn't seem to stress her out.  I have lots of friends that are teachers, lawyers, accountants and they wish that they had studied later in life and made different choices.  A friend who is a lawyer said he would  have loved to have been a landscape architect and an accountant friend would love to own a small fruit and vege shop but their parents would never have approved.

The things that make me most proud of my children are not school grades but when people tell me how kind my kids are and how considerate they are of others.  I just want my kids to be decent human beings and I want them to think that life is worth living.