Vanessa Sporne, Country to Canberra teen blogger.
Year 12 was tough, and no matter how much I whinged and whined about how crazy it was, it never seemed to go away. I did it for 11 months, and when I look back, I realise that there were a couple of very specific things that got me safely and happily to the end. Throughout, I became fed up with school-produced Year 12 Survival Guides that didn’t seem to accept that I’m a normal teenager. “Thinking positive” was only going to get me so far, so here’s a list of little things that helped me through my final year of high school, which in turn, I hope can help others:
- Exercise
Yeah, I hate it too. It was only when I realised how much school work I got done after a short run, that I started doing it regularly. Physical activity really takes a back-seat when you start the dreaded year, but you need to realise that there is always time. Whenever I wasn’t feeling motivated, I went for a short run up my road and took in some of the amazing views we have here in Jamberoo (exhibit A below).
- TV Shows
They allow you to escape everything. I can assure you that when I was watching the ‘Red Wedding’ episode of Game of Thrones I was definitely not thinking about the Modern History exam I had the next day. You need to clear your mind, otherwise year 12 will dominate every second of your life. These shows let you relax. Orange Is The New Black got me through my half-yearlies, Mad Men got my through my English Extension 2 Major Work and Vikings got me through my trial exams. Little periods of relaxation reminded me that I’m not the only person on earth, and Year 12 is not the end of the world.
- Friday Nights
Never stop spending time with your friends. After 11 months of the HSC I finally formulated the perfect balance between study and social life. Friday nights became a ‘school free’ time for me, they were perfect because I could look forward to them all week. By Friday I was always exhausted, and dinner or a movie night with friends was the perfect thing to release all that tension and just have fun.
- Bananas
I love my coffee, but I found it tended to make me feel extremely lethargic towards the afternoon. Also, buying a latte from the local cafe every morning was eating a huge hole in my wallet. That’s when I discovered the incredible power of the banana. They go perfectly with Weet-Bix and got my energy up for the rest of the day, meaning that I was a lot more productive when it came to Year 12 study.
- Music
It just seems to have this incredible power. It can make you feel anything. Before an exam, a lot of my friends and I just sat and listened to some of our favourite tunes, it eased the tension and cleared our minds. My drama class also used some AC/DC to get ourselves pumped-up for our practical exam, and one of my friends (a six-foot, eighteen-year-old male) likes to listen to ‘Disney Radio’ to cheer himself up after a bad mark. Singing to ballads in the car also became a little hobby of mine, I’m just hoping that nobody saw me belting out Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me by Elton John when I stopped at the traffic lights the other day… Fill your day with music and don’t let school get you down!
- Having Something To Look Forward To
I officially finished my Year 12 Exams at 2:35pm on the 3rd of November 2015, and before that, I had the entire afternoon completely planned out with ice cream eating, beach visiting and TV watching. I was able to make it to the end, because I had so many exciting things to look forward to. I even had a little money box, which I slowly filled with funds for my ten-day trip to New Zealand in December. I had a lot of fun pencilling in events after the 3rd of November, and whenever I felt like I just couldn’t go on, I took a peek at my calendar and realised that Year 12 was not the end of the road. The harder I worked, the better the end was going to feel. And now, the end is here!
This is a very personal list – the same thing isn’t going to work for everyone. Year 12 challenges you, but you need to be challenged in order to know yourself and the world around you. My final year of high school has taught me how to balance my life and be able to achieve academically, while still maintaining my happy lifestyle (and my sanity). Work out what works for you and good luck!