The 2020 HSC cohort has been challenged like few before them. But students have emerged resilient: they've banded together, discovered new hobbies or leant on their families to navigate the year.
Year 12 student Solomon Akama started 2020 with big ambitions. As a member of the rugby league program at selective Westfields Sports High School, this was his final year to make the most of it.
They monitor their study hours using the Flora app: when they study successfully for two hours, they grow a tree. If they get distracted by their phone, the tree dies and all their Facebook friends are notified. "We find study quite achievable when we're with each other," Lucy said. "Especially when one of us is anxious about a test, the other one helps calm her down. And we drink a lot of stress-relief tea."
They took up golf: watching YouTube lessons, Foxtel tournaments and joining the local golf club. The club was so glad to sign a junior member, they even gave Aryan free one-on-one lessons."Golf was a good way to refresh: walking out with your dad, talking about something aside from all the disasters," he said. "I'm kind of leaning towards golf now, professionally."
Monte Sant' Angelo College student Lauren Shaw said a heightened sense of community and care for others had helped mitigate some of the year's let-downs, such as the cancellation of her school musical."It was devastating to see how upset everyone was," she said. So she organised a socially distanced park gathering on what would have been opening night.
Just half an hour after boarding school student Hally Baker learnt she would have to leave the boarding house and return to the Hunter under COVID-19 protocols, she was packing bags and on her way out. "I didn't really get to say goodbye to anyone; it felt very abrupt," she said.
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