Voices from the HSC battlefront

‘‘Although, I am looking forward to mathematics; it’ll be good to have it out of the way.’’

Rachel said she would never forget her HSC experience.

‘‘I just hope I don’t have to do it again,’’ she said.

‘‘But I do like the pressure; that’s why I started studying last Saturday.’’

Earl said he was also looking forward to the HSC ending, but was more positive about the experience.

‘‘It’s been all right and not as bad as I thought,’’ he said.

‘‘I think I’ve handled it well because I’ve studied hard for the last two weeks.’’

Simon said he had also studied hard, but wondered whether he should have done more.

He said he was keen to get into scientific research and was therefore anxious to do well in the HSC.

‘‘I want to get high marks because it’s difficult getting into research later,’’ Simon said.

Rachel, on the other hand, said failing the HSC would not be the end of her world.

‘‘I can do exams and get into psychology, which is what I want to do, later on if I have to,’’ she said.

Earl said he just hoped to do well enough to pursue what he wanted.

‘‘I enjoy physics and chemistry the most,’’ he said. ‘‘I want to be a mechanical engineer because I like cars and knowing how they work.’’

He said he would like to design a vehicle which could operate independently of fossil fuel.

Rachel said she wanted to be a psychologist and work on the problems of convicted criminals.

‘‘I think working in jails would be interesting,’’ she said.

Simon believes he could help people by working in particle physics. I’m interested in what happens on a level smaller than what we can see,’’ he said.

‘‘We could help people with molecular biology, such as injecting nanobots into their system to fight disease.’’

For now though, these workers of tomorrow said they just want to get through the HSC and enjoy being young again.