- [...] Giveaway: Enter to WIN 1 of 10 copies of The Yearning HERE. [...] - BOOK EXTRACT: THE YEARNING
- Don't hold your breath - a backflip is a given, based on the sad track record of this incompetent federal government in such matters - not that the Coalition will do any better. Sad days for normal sport-loving Aussies. - devuman
- Hazel Hawke must be the best loved Australian Prime Minister's wife. Thinking of her children tonight - who shared her with the nation for so long. - miranda
- At an event tonight the amazing musician and educator Richard Gill, reminded us of the extraordinary contribution Hazel made in supporting young Australians' journey in music. A wonderful pianist herself, she knew the value of music in our culture... and was tireless in helping Aussie kids pursue their love too. Vale Hazel Hawke. We loved you. Lots. - Wendy Harmer
- Condolences to Hazel's family. What an amazing woman to have both given and endured so much. A wonderful Australian indeed. - Jane
- Buen Camino We walked the Way with our daughter in a carrier. She was 12 months old. It was an amazing, soulful adventure. Thank you for sharing your journey - Michelle
- Life can be cruel and indiscriminate. Hazel Hawke's life is an inspiration to all Australians, irrespective of gender or age. We have lost a wonderful Australian. - matilda
- [...] Someone I Loved Had Dementia [...] - HAZEL: WE'VE ALL LOST A FRIEND
- The problem is that there just aren't enough jobs to go around. If there were more jobs then there wouldn't be any discrimination. The responsibility lies with the job creators - which, in part, is all of us. I think there are also a generation of baby boomers who own their own homes and whose kids have left home and who could afford to retire and make way for those of us in our 40s who still have mortgages to pay and kids to get through school, but who just won't. I know a barrister who had done his time at the bar, earned a huge amount of money and at age 60 was appointed as a magistrate on $300,000 a year so he "could take it easy". Retire already and give my generation a chance. - Old enough
- Imagine my surprise when happily reading whilst hubby watched Fridy night football to find myself turning into a screaming harpy, yelling at the TV. Was I barracking for our beloved Broncos? No. I found myself screaming at the TV saying Get off Waterhouse, what the hell do I need to have you pushing live odds down my face for, if I want to put a bet on I'll go to the Tab. Hubby looked across the room at me and asked if I was a little upset? I decided I was over reacting, until the next week. then it was hubby yelling, get off Waterhouse, I'm trying to watch the footy. So now, as soon as he appears we switch channels until its over. I wonder how long it's going to take until we switch off altogether? One thing is for sure, our enjoyment of watching this sport on TV has been compromised. - Jenny
ON THE HIGHWIRE ANSWERS
HOW DID YOU GO IN YOUR EXAMS?
School kids around the country are either in the middle of, or are beginning their final exams.
It’s said that almost half of us will have anxiety dreams about exams that last for the rest of our lives.
How did you cope? And what impact did your results have on your career?
How important are school examinations?
4 Responses to this article
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Dirty Pierre October 22, 2012
I dropped acid, cheated and now I’m a surgeon!!
Boo Yah!!
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Lucille October 24, 2012
Hated studying for exams and always left it to the last possible moment or few hours before the exam. I always passed and never had any desires to be an ‘A’ student. I don’t think we had such grades back “in the day”. I carried this habit across to when I was a mature aged student at uni. I remember one comment I received on a paper was ” I’m giving you a B as it really looks like you devoted only about 2 hours to this subject”. Yep!
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carol November 9, 2012
As a mature aged student, (52) I am back @ uni for the 3rd time, i am currently in the middle of exams. As a part of my evasive behavior to avoid studying, i now read the Hoopla instead of cleaning the fridge! Back political ideologies….
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Christine Whiston: Exams were ok. Writing was my strong suit and essays were the preferred mode of the examination papers in my school days and it was as easy to wax lyrical about the flowering plant as it was to discuss the literary techniques of the Romantic Poets. Many years on however and it is all about the pressure of performing well in exams. The joy of learning seems to have been consumed by the fear of failure. But I agree, once the spectre of the HSC has been and gone, life moves on and that once all-important mark holds little relevance in the world beyond the classroom.
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Jenny Owens: Blaaaaaahhhhhhh!!! I hated exams! I was never very good in school anyway and definitely didn't feel the same as Maggie and Lisa as an elite athlete.
The reason I was so good at sport was because I wasn't so good at school! I was better at sport and got made to feel good about myself. Teachers gave me a hard time in school which made me feel crap and obviously I found it harder to learn.
I struggled even more in exams especially in Maths! I did the exercises well in class but always forgot which why to work them out in the exam!! Lucky for me, I wont be in any job where Math's is the main part (or is that lucky you!?!)
I didn't sit my HSC, I only did my SC (Y10). I had to drop out to purse my sporting career and that was fine by me!
There are other ways to make a career in life if you choose not to go all the way through school or Uni. You will find your feet eventually.
I now study at Uni and get distinctions which i'm pretty chuffed about since I never passed anything at school.
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Lisa Forrest: Like Maggie, I enjoy a test. I think it would be impossible to be an elite athlete if you didnt - why would anyone do all that training if not to test yourself in the race? And thats the sort of work I enjoy too. Three hours of live radio every night is a bit like continually cramming for a new exam.
I squeezed my HSC in between the '80 Olympic Games and the '82 Commonwealths. The deal I had with Mum was that I would cut back on swimming training during my HSC year so I only went 4/5 times a week. I did really well in the final result but no thanks to my worst subject, maths.
I'd been away on-and-off for a couple of months during Year 11 thanks to the Olympics and while away I'd missed work on AP's and GP's - arithmetic progressions and geometric progressions. When I got back I couldn't work them out and made a decision (perhaps with everything else I had to catch up on) that I'd take my chances and forget about them. I'll never forget opening up the HSC maths exam and seeing the paper absolutely full of AP's and GP's. So many of them that there was no point stressing - I'd taken my chances and lost. I'd be lucky to pass. Luckily, there were a few other subjects I was good at.
Despite never understanding AP's and GP's I seem to have survived. I tell high school students that I speak to that there are many ways to get to where you want in life. The HSC is just one test of many along the way.
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Meredith Jaffe: The HSC was not one of my finest moments. For some reason, I never got the hang of the whole study caper, perhaps as a result of cruising through the primary and early secondary years? My HSC results were only propped up by the fact I was Darcy in the school production of Pride & Prejudice and therefore could quote the text liberally in the English exam. That, and I adored Shakespeare. Otherwise it was a disaster. And Maggie is a freak for loving exams, they are truly awful (sorry Maggie!)
Fortunately, I was smart enough to tell my daughters (one finished and one doing the HSC this year) that there are many ways to go from A to B and the HSC is just one option. Who needs the pressure?
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Maggie Alderson: I'm a freak who loved exams - I was much better at them than I was at staying interested in my day to day school work. I would have been rubbish if continual assessment had been involved in my day. The adrenaline rush and short deadline of a three hour exam inspired me and even when my knowledge was, shall we say, patchy... I'd find a way to work the two facts I knew into a cogent essay. It was the perfect training to be a newspaper reporter...
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Marina Go: Thirty years after leaving school I have loads of evidence that school exams mean very little in the overall scheme of things. The HSC is more a mark of maturity than intelligence or potential. All it does is decide the next step but has no bearing on the ones that come after that. School reunions are full of successful school drop-outs.
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Wendy Harmer: I stil have nightmares about a sixth form art prac exam - had to paint a still life in black paint in 90 minutes - what a stupid test! It was over 100 degrees in the classroom that day. Anyway, around the 70 minute mark I spilled paint all over my piece ( depicting a pile of sea shells) and had to start again... the second effort was much better.
I got a 'C' and what I was supposed to glean from that entire exercise is anyone's guess!
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