Dubbo College Year 12 students Swazi Sharma and Tyran Tuckey are now in the thick of Higher School Certificate exams after completing two English tests; both are facing the daunting task of more exams but with different approaches.
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The college has a cohort of 190 Year 12 students for 2018, with further education, training and employment firmly in their sights.
For Swazi, the HSC provides an extra challenge because English is not her first language.
“I feel I am well prepared for all the HSC exams because I attended the school holiday tutoring sessions and I’ve done preparation with my teachers,” she said.
“Incorporating a quote into the creative writing question threw me in the deep end a bit and I’m sure there will be questions I don’t expect on other exams, but I have studied specifically for the HSC, so I am sure I’ll do well.”
Swazi said she has to stay focused during the HSC period because she has exams on consecutive days.
“I have four exams next week, so I can’t relax at all,” she said.
“It is good that English is done and dusted, but I have to stay motivated because there is more work to be done. I want to get into medicine, so this is just the start of many exams to come.”
Tyran Tuckey has a less hectic exam schedule to Swazi’s and will use the break between exams as wisely as he can.
“My next exam is not until next Thursday, so I can take some time now English is done to chill out a bit and then re-focus on the next test,” he said.
“The two papers I’ve done so far haven't thrown me off my game, so I can now go into the Maths exam knowing I have a good chance to do well.
“At first I was not happy about having such a big spread of exams, I wanted to get them all over and done with, but now I have seen others who have exams all bunched up together I see it as a luxury.
“I now have six days to study for Maths consistently, others don’t have that option.”
Advanced English students Robin Hall and Tash Janetzki were both reasonably comfortable with the exam questions.
“I found the creative writing quite hard. We had to write about the impact of a discovery from two different perspectives and use a given quote in writing,” Tash said.
Robin said he was happy with the exam paper and didn’t find it “ridiculously hard”.
“I thought it was quite cruisy. I felt well-prepared,” he said.
The Higher School Certificate examinations will conclude on Friday, November 9.
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Craig Thomson
I am a media and communications professional with experience across print, digital, social and radio broadcasts. I am currently the Editor of Australian Community Media's Launceston Examiner.
I am a media and communications professional with experience across print, digital, social and radio broadcasts. I am currently the Editor of Australian Community Media's Launceston Examiner.
