In just a matter of weeks life will be vastly different for these young locals.
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Wednesday, October 11, marked the beginning of the Higher School Certificate (HSC) exam, with all students across the state sitting their English paper one exam.
Although there's still weeks to go until the exam period wraps up, students at the Dubbo College Senior Campus say the hardest part is over.
"It's a huge relief to have the first exam done," said Zoey McAneney, who hopes to study occupational therapy in Port Macquarie next year.
"It was just a big, big build up, waiting for everything to happen and now it's kind of like getting into it," classmate Amy Smith added.
She said she's most looking forward to some much needed downtime at the end of exams.
"Just being able to go home and not having to stress about having to study or homework or exams," she said.
When the exams come to an end after the Food Technology theory exam on Friday, November 3, 68,689 HSC students across the state will have sat more than 400,000 papers.
The first English exam saw students respond to a series of short answer questions based on unseen texts and write an essay based on the film 'Billy Elliot', which they have been studying throughout the year.
Head teacher of English at Dubbo College Senior Campus Manti Morse said she thought the first exam was a fair one for the students.
"Overall, I actually think the paper had enough breadth in it that it could help those who hadn't done as much study but it would really extend those who had prepared themselves really well," she said.
"The texts that they've chosen are really relevant and contemporary. They've got enough depth in there that every student can identify or connect with each one of the texts. I was pleased with that."
Ms Morse said this year has been a good year for the college's HSC students.
"There's been no interruption for this HSC year, we've been able to really plug in and get through all the content with plenty of time then for revision in the third term," she said.
Jess Hall, who is planning to do a double degree in music and environmental science, agreed the exam was fair.
"It wasn't so bad, the essay question was good," she said.
Dubbo College Senior Campus principal Marisha Blanco said she is proud of the students' efforts.
"This is a culmination of their engagement and their hard work over the two years. I just feel really happy for them and excited for them to be rewarded for their preparation," she said.
"We're always sad to see our cohorts leave regardless of whether they're doing their HSC exams, but it's also just really exciting.
"Their lives and their post school destinations are something that they've also been working on and so we get to celebrate in that."
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