It’s that time of year when Victorian year 12 students sit their final school exams with unfamiliar pens in their hands for up to three hours.
After many months of studying and being anti-social, all the hard work will come to an end in less than a month.
This week, the VCE English exam kicked off the stress of the exam season. It is the longest exam at three hours and requires attention and analysis. Luckily for the students, there are lots of support groups on Facebook such as VCE Discussion Space and VCE Confessions.
With more than 40,000 students sitting the exam, there is fierce competition over who will get the highest mark.
Year 12 student Benedicta Amedegnato from Mount Clear College, Ballarat, said she has spent the whole year working tirelessly in the hope she will achieve her dream ATAR score.
“Year 12 wasn’t too hard, but I did struggle a bit with the subjects that I wasn’t too good at,” she told The Newsroom.
Year 12 is the last year that gives students the chance to learn how to be responsible and make their own choices before they enter the full-time workforce or tertiary study.
Year 12s! Here's today's VCE exam insp Dev. Look on the bright side. Oh that's right THERE IS NO BRIGHT SIDE. pic.twitter.com/pIVMd5PlCi
— Catherine Deveny (@CatherineDeveny) October 26, 2016
Ms Amedegnato said: “When I am stressed, I stop everything that I am doing, take a break and come back to it later. I always make sure that I hand in all my assignments on time because I want to get a good ATAR score that will help me get into my course…(and) make me happy and proud of myself.”
Year 12 is about working hard and getting a good ATAR score, but students also need to know that there is always a different way to get into what they want to do.
“I think I did really well in my English exam because I studied hard and was really prepared for it,” Ms Amedegnato said.
Rachael Kpogo, a teenage mother of one from Ballarat Phoenix P-12 Community College, fought hard throughout the year to make her family proud. She told The Newsroom that because of her child, the final year of high school was a challenge.
“When I am stressed, I think about my daughter and that gives me the courage to continue and not give up.
“I hope to get a really good ATAR score to go to university and study nursing, but if I don’t get the ATAR score that I wish for, then I will choose a different pathway that will help me achieve my dream,” she said.
The final exam for VCE students this year will be held on November 16. – Lamourette Folly
Photo by Vanessa Amedegnato
About the author
I am a journalism student at Macleay College and speak four languages.
