Category: Achievements

At this point in the school year, term 2 is well-under way and exams start in around 6 months. This far into year 12, it is typical to begin to get stressed and worked up on the dread four letters – ATAR. Becoming concerned with what score is expected is also not helpful. This year is about so much more than ATAR and too many people forget that.

This final year of secondary school is about learning new things and finding new interests. It is about discovering what career and what future you want to pursue. Year 12 is about your academic skill levels, but we should be careful not to look at it as a score and nothing more. We should look at it by the knowledge we gain, the progress we make and the things we learn, not just about politics or English, physics or mathematics, but about ourselves.

Year 12 is the bridging year to university. In this year we can expect to learn what our interests are, what our study habits are, how much we can get away with self-indulgence on the weekend without having to stay in bed all of Sunday and most importantly, what our goals are and what we will do, after year 12. What course do we want to study? Do we want to go overseas? Should we find a job? Should we look for a share house? Should we become an anthropologist or a marine biologist? Yes, our ATAR’s matter, but so does what we do with them.

It’s possible you’ll get a high ATAR and it’s possible you’ll get a low ATAR. But as long as you know what you want out of your schooling and what you want to do once you’ve finished it, it’s more than possible you’ll achieve it.

May 2016