Getting Real: C-E-L-E-B-R-A-T-E good times come on!!

[LeaLea07]

We spend such a long time in school, in a lot of cases around about 13 years. From about the age of 5 to 16/18 we do not know any different from our Monday to Friday routine of school, homework, and seeing our friends every day. Of course the workload becomes more demanding as the years pass by. So by the time year 12 rolls around and the HSC is over no wonder it feels like such an accomplishment.

What an experience the last 12 months of school is though. It is such a journey where you become the leaders of the school, depart from life long friends and experience the pressure surrounding your results. Most of us are also thinking ahead, into the future, wondering where our next step should be – university, travel, work?

I can still recall the day I walked out of my final HSC exam. I always envisaged running out of the exam hall with my arms flying everywhere and screaming with excitement at the top of my lungs. Except the image in my head was far from how I actually reacted. I quietly walked out the exam hall and I did not know how to feel. I describe my emotion as a ‘rollarcoaster’. I went through all sorts of emotion…. from excitement to fear, from happiness to alittle bit of sadness, from joy to nerves, from shock to a feeling we can’t quite put a label on. So much is going on when you realize – WOAH I did it. Is that it? What now?

Firstly lets celebrate. And that’s exactly what I did. Celebrations can occur in a number of ways, whether you go out to dinner with family, hang out with friends, indulge in some relaxation therapy like getting a massage or just doing absolutely nothing for awhile. We all have different ways to reward ourselves for all our hard work when we reach the end of a journey.

We want to hear about your hard work. We want to share celebration stories. We would like to explore what is next for you? So on Monday the 4^th of November at 8pm EST, we welcome you to celebrate all your hard work- with us, here at Reach Out. Hope to see you all there.

[LeaLea07]

Hey guys!!

Welcome to tonight's Getting Real session! Nathan and I will be leading the discussion tonight and we look forward to a celebratory conversation!

So you’ve just finished your HSC or your university degree. This is a pivotal moment of your education, and is a major milestone in your journey, so give yourself a pat on the back and take it easy for the next few weeks. Nathan remembers when he had just finished the HSC; while he had not really stressed out about it, it was probably one of the most stressful periods of his friends’ lives. Seeing as you’ve completed such a huge milestone, what better excuse is there to celebrate?!

You’ve probably already made plans for what to do after the HSC or uni. For nathan, he went overseas with a couple of friends while some others went to schoolies. If you’ve ever put off some of your hobbies or interests because of the HSC or uni commitments, now is a great time to pick back up again. Perhaps you wanted to learn another language, or pick up the hobby of basket-weaving (only half kidding here!). While you’ve completed the HSC or uni, perhaps you’re still worried about the direction your life should take or something like that. Most of the people nathan knew, including himself, were thinking about this after the HSC. But you have heaps of time to do that, so take a well-deserved break and do something fun!

More recently, I have just completed a university degree. Ironically I found myself feeling similar to when I finished the HSC. Maybe because these milestones are highly similar, yet they occur at different stages in our lives? Either way they act as turning points? A period of change, achievement and a big sigh of relief accompanies these moments.

We would love everyone to share some ideas about what you could do to celebrate after you’ve accomplished such a monumental task!

Of course normal rules apply - check out the guidelines here and if anything upsets you tonight remember there is the emergency help button up the top right of the screen. 

To start us off tonight…

1.      What was the best thing about your schooling years?

[Sophie-RO]

Hi guys!!! Well for me my best thing about those years were all outside of the actual school!! I started playing music and getting into live music and realising all the diversity that was out in the world.

I did enjoy music - but doing it as a subject for the HSC was a mistake - it was way to stressful. I wish I didn't do it and just kept it as something I do to de-stress. Not something that caused me stress!

[Rhelna]

Heyyy,
Best thing about my schooling years was probably meeting my boyfriend. We were friends for a while before getting together in my last year of school Now we've been together for two and a half years, and it's been up and down with his health, but we're always there for each other, and love each other deeply. The other thing I got from school was knowledge and some long lasting friendships.

[LeaLea07]

Welcome soph

Hindsight is a wonderful thing. I guess in year 12 though we get told we should do subjects we enjoy or are interested in. I think the best part of schooling for me was the friendships I made. And looking back school wasnt so bad. I got to see my friends every day, it was a 6 hour day instead of an 8 or 10 hour day haha.

school was great!!!!

[delicatedreamer]

Good evening all!

I think the best thing about my school years was meeting my wonderful best friend L, who I'm still friends with 6 years on. She's such a great friend.

[dreamcatcher]

Hi-di-ho peeps. Hope you're all swell this evening!

What was the best thing about your schooling years?

Well... it allowed me to perform (a musical item) in front of an audience for the first time. That was a huge thing for me, and probably the biggest and best part about school.
Also, and this could be just me, in the senior years, you begin to care less about teenie-bopper drama and develop awesome relationships with not only your peers, but your teachers too.

The senior years were deffo the best, not gonna lie.

[Sophie-RO]

Hey Rhelna! so cool you could join us and sharing your experience... Sounds like you made some great connections - yr boyfriends and friends....

[Jay-Dee]

THe best thing about school for me was when it ended I was not a happy person in high school!
Actually the best thing was meeting my best friend, who I love very, very much. I don't have any other friends left from HS, but so glad this one friendship stuck

[dreamcatcher]

@Sophie-RO Really? I LOVED music, but that may have had something to do with the fact that my music teacher had a cool accent and just let us do 'prac' and never do theory. Haha.