School’s (almost) out for Year 12s

The News chatted to Year 12s across Shepparton about how they were feeling ahead of their exams and how they were staying focused.

Notre Dame Secondary College

House captains Ella Rumbiolo and Ava Vittorio have both had busy years.

Ella has been taking English, general maths, psychology, biology and business, and is looking forward to a time when she doesn’t need to study any more.

“I’m mainly just excited to have it over, that’s my main motivation at the moment to study,” Ella said.

“But yeah, getting there slowly, it’s all coming together in these next couple of weeks.”

Next year, Ella plans to take a gap year, working at an occupational therapy business in Shepparton.

“I’m hoping to go to uni (after the gap year). I’ve applied for occupational therapy at a few different places, so next year will kind of give me a good look at whether I really want to do that,” she said.

Ava undertook English, food studies, environmental science, biology and foundation maths for her Year 12.

She’s been enjoying the challenges and added responsibility that comes from the final year and her role as Jennings house captain alongside Ella.

“It’s had a lot of ups and downs, but it’s been a pretty great year,” Ava said.

Getting ready for exams has been a process, but Ava said she was getting ready to face them when the time came.

“I have them spread out, like I have two at the start (of the exam period) and then my last three are like right at the end before grad,” she said.

Next year, Ava also plans to take a working gap year.

“I’ve accepted a traineeship here at Notre, and I’ll be in a learning diversity role, as a learning support officer, which should be really exciting for next year,” she said.

“I have two directions of where I want to go with my future.

“One of them is a secondary teacher, so I basically wanted to take the role to get into the classroom and see how I’d go working with students, building that relationship to see if I’d actually like being in that field of work, even if it’s not a secondary teacher.”

Shepparton Christian College

Students at one of Shepparton’s smallest cohorts are getting excited as classes come to an end.

Amber Mallon has kept busy this year while studying psychology, health and human development, English and maths methods, with her first exam being English.

“I’m feeling somewhat confident, studying, getting it all done,” she said.

Next year, Amber has been accepted into the Navy for the gap year program, where she will spend the next 12 months as a maritime warfare officer.

“I heard about it a few years ago when the Navy came to the school and that’s when I first started thinking about it,” she said.

“But then I had a friend who did the gap year program last year, and he loved it, so the positive feedback from his experience is what convinced me to do it for myself.

“I do 18 weeks training in Jervis Bay, and then after that I’m posted at one of their bases in Australia.”

School captain Ben McGowan said he had done everything he wanted this year.

“It’s been different to what I expected, like I thought it was just going to be like this whole knuckle down and study, which there have been times I’ve done that, but there’s been a lot more fun than I thought,” he said.

For his final year he has been studying English, maths methods, physics and PE, and he’s feeling ready to tackle his final exams.

“The part about no social life has come true these past couple of weeks,” Ben said.

“So I’ve just been doing practice exams and feeling good, but I’ll feel better once it's done.”

Next year, Ben has his sights set on Melbourne, where he plans to study civil engineering at either Monash University, RMIT or Swinburne University.

“It’s a little bit daunting because I’ve lived in Shepp my whole life, been at this school my whole life,” he said.

“So it’s going to be the first time I’ve ever been outside of Shepp for an extended period of time, but I’m excited.”

Greater Shepparton Secondary College

Emmy Younger and Lincoln Atkinson are feeling ready to tackle their final exams.

Emmy has been studying English language, maths methods, biology, psychology and PE, and has enjoyed getting closer to her fellow Year 12s in their final year.

“(This year) has definitely been a lot more stressful, and the workload has been quite intense, but I really enjoyed it, and I feel like this year, with our cohort, we’ve all really come together,” she said.

Nerves may be growing in Emmy as the exam dates near, but staying focused has helped her prepare.

“I am quite nervous, like I do have a lot of work to do over these next few weeks,” she said.

“(I’m looking forward to) being free of stress, like with all the SACs this year has just been one after the other, so I’m looking forward to taking a breath and relaxing.”

Next year, she plans to head to Melbourne, where she’ll be studying sport and exercise science, with her first preference being Deakin University.

Lincoln said while the workload and pressure had increased in Year 12, his final year had been rewarding.

This year, he’s been studying maths methods, chemistry, psychology, media and English.

While his first preference doesn’t require an ATAR, Lincoln said he still wanted to do well on his exams.

“I’m just trying to do my best for the next three or four weeks,” he said.

“(My first preference) is a portfolio-based application, so I don’t need an ATAR for that, but for my second and third I do.”

Next year, he’s hoping to study film and TV at Melbourne University.

“I’ve got a passion for film-making, and that’s what I want to do at university as well,” Lincoln said.

“The application (for Melbourne University) is done, so I’m relieved in that sense, but I also want to do as well as I can (on my exams).”