A Letter to HSC Students: Part 1
7 things I wish I knew when I was studying for the HSC.
Dear HSC students,
For those about to receive your ATAR, well done! You’ve worked hard and absorbed an enormous volume of information. Remember, your final result doesn’t define you. We’re very proud of you for simply getting to this point.
For those who have just finished your first term of Year 12, you’ve clearly still got work ahead. Some of what I have to say might sound discouraging, but by giving you a bigger picture of the HSC I want to defuse your anxiety, draw attention away from individual marks, and help you focus on giving your best.
It’s been over a decade since I completed the HSC at a public high school on the Mid North Coast. My teachers were some of the most talented educators I have ever met. I spent 5 years studying a dual-degree at a Group of Eight university in Sydney, and I’ve been working as an engineer for over 6 years now. Over the last 2 years I’ve been conducting part-time research and interviewing a wide range of professionals including university academics and retired school teachers.
Now I’d like to share 7 things I wish I knew when I was studying for the HSC.
1. You don’t need the HSC to go to university.
This is great news, so listen carefully.
If you want to go to university, the HSC is only one of many pathways that can take you there. There are a wide array of different educational institutions that will help you learn practical skills and earn you academic credits that support later entry into university. There are bridging courses. There are programs designed for people who never sat the HSC at all.
Also, many of these alternative pathways provide an opportunity to gain broader experience before hitting university. Jump to #4 to read more.
So please don’t stress if you miss out on the ATAR you were hoping for. The most important thing is that you survived the HSC and gave it your best. And you made it to the end of 13 years of school!
2. The HSC is the hardest study you’ll ever do.
For the vast majority of you, nothing you encounter either in the workforce or at university will compare to the challenge of covering the many, many topics from all your different subjects for the HSC.
Do you know how long a typical university semester is? Only 13 weeks. And in your university exams, you only get assessed on the content from that one semester. Some courses even distribute assessments so that you can accrue marks throughout the entire semester with only minor weighting on the final exam.
There’s really no need for the HSC to be as hard as it is – I’ll say more on that later – but you should be encouraged knowing that once you’re out the other side, things get better.
3. In the real world, few people get paid to cram for exams.
I have some good news and some bad news. You know how you just became an expert at memorising all those niche facts and practised how to regurgitate essays on the spot under exam conditions?
In the real world, nobody cares.
Well, I’m exaggerating a bit – if you go straight to university and choose a highly competitive career in medicine or law you can look forward to plenty more cramming and exams.
But in the workplace, most people don’t get paid for cramming. People get paid for teamwork. People get paid for thinking creatively, solving problems, and managing risk. People get paid for communicating promptly and professionally, with courtesy and respect.
And they don’t have to do it all on the spot while sitting alone at a desk in the space of two hours.
So the good news is – working in the real world is a lot more fun, and more satisfying than sitting the HSC. And if you’re not great at exams? There’s no reason to be scared of that holding you back in life.
4. Industry experience has value that a piece of paper can’t provide.
It pays to be thinking three steps ahead. Why do you want to get that ATAR? Why do you want to go to university? How are you going to stand out from everyone else who wants that job you’ll be applying for?
When you start asking these questions you’ll quickly find that in many professions, practical experience can take you far beyond where you’ll get with a paper qualification. No doubt – the paper is nice to have and some doors will not open without one – but many doors are already open to you if you know where to look and are willing to do a little homework and find a way to get industry experience.
More than one budding entrepreneur has dropped out of Harvard because they stumbled upon an industry opportunity that provided more value than sticking around to complete their degree.
You don’t have to go to that extreme, but for many people studying in Australia today a job in industry is still the end game. Strategies such as part-time study which accommodate internship or cadetship work can pay dividends in the long run. Industry experience provides an opportunity to put your ideas about your profession to the test and start practising real-world work.
There’s no need to wait for graduation to start building your career.
5. University has been redesigned for research, not for teaching.
When the ancient universities were first established, teaching was at the core of the institution. Many universities were funded purely by student tuition.
In Australia today, a combination of international research rankings, funding policies, and government-mandated management practises have forced universities to put research at the core of their business model.
Despite being determined to funnel as many kids into university as they can, the Commonwealth government hasn’t done anything serious to support universities in making quality teaching a priority.
This means that most of the lecturers you meet at university are not trained teachers but researchers. You may have already been warned that university lecturers are not there to spoon-feed you. This is an astronomical understatement. Researchers are brilliant academics, but their jobs depend on research and many simply have no gift for teaching.
I’m highlighting this because I want you to know what to expect at university. If you get a good lecturer, appreciate them! They’re hard to find (especially in STEM). Remember to be kind to your lecturers too, because they’re doing what they can to make the best of a bad system.
If you’re interested in university for the learning experience, I’d recommend dropping in to listen to a few lectures first before enrolling so you know what you’re signing up for.
There are plenty of faculties with extremely strong teaching records out there, but it’s never safe to assume that a world-class research ranking will translate to a quality teaching experience.
For a deeper dive into this topic, you can read more here.
6. Find something useful that interests you.
Sometimes we make life more complicated than it needs to be.
You don’t need to score the best ATAR in the state.
You don’t need to become an award-winning doctor.
You don’t need to become an executive with a 7-figure salary.
You don’t even need to complete the HSC.
You do need food, a roof over your head, and a job.
There are very few things as satisfying as finding something you enjoy and getting paid to do it. Don’t get distracted by the average graduate salary numbers or the supposed prestige of a university or job title.
Instead, try to answer this question: What step can I take now that will equip me to do something useful and interesting with my time?
Are you obsessed with physics and maths? More of a literary type? Interested in conversing with people on a psychological level? Maybe all of the above but the most satisfying work you’ve ever done is working with your hands outdoors.
No idea at all? Consider lowering the bar. You don’t have to hold out for something that knocks your socks off – just find something that grabs your attention. Start talking to professionals from a sector you know to find out more about their field. This might be enough to lead you toward an undergraduate degree or an apprenticeship. Perhaps a volunteer position or an internship opportunity. Maybe something else entirely.
The career path question can be daunting, but you can make a strong start by investing in learning something that’s both interesting and useful.
If it’s useful, there will be consistent demand for experts with your chosen skillset. Check job sites and statistics data to test this demand. If it’s interesting, then despite the inevitable learning curve, you’ll find you enjoy pushing yourself to new levels of proficiency every week.
7. You don’t have to do it alone.
The HSC is hard. Breaking into the workforce is hard. University is hard.
In fact, virtually all worthwhile things require effort. But if you have mentors and mates who will look out for you as you go, this will make all the difference. It’s essential to find opportunities to support each other.
I’ve worked and studied alongside plenty of young Aussies and I’ve seen the gold. You have incredible work ethic. You are brilliant intellectuals. You are capable of resourceful collaboration and teamwork. Every one of you deserves a chance to excel and that’s something worth fighting for together.
I wanted to start this letter with a note of congratulations from the rest of Australia.
But more importantly, we owe you an apology. We have made your experience of these final school years much harder than it needs to be. The HSC is harder than it needs to be. There’s much more to say about this, and more to consider of the serious challenges waiting for you beyond the end of Year 12: tertiary education, the housing market, your salary as a young worker, to name just a few. These topics will have to wait for Part 2 of this letter.
Australia is not the same country it was when your parents were in school.
You’re going to need to do some careful planning to get to where you want to be and it will be tough. But there are new pathways appearing and people eager to give you a leg up along the way. Because we recognise that when you win, Australia wins.
Photo by Jeswin Thomas on Unsplash