Year 12s face their new life

TOMORROW 3000 Far Northern Year 12 students will wake up and realise it’s a very big world out there.

Today they finish their final day of school after 12 years of education.

As well as relief and joy there will be fears and trepidation as they start a new life free of the shackles of school disciplines.

Some will have already made their move to tertiary education at a university or TAFE next year.

Others will have already got a job, started the search for one, an apprenticeship or a traineeship.

Some will take a gap year, to have a break and consider their options.

But there will be others who will be totally lost, not sure what to do, stressed and confused.

It’s these youngsters we need to keep an eye on and help guide them to a pathway that will set them up for the rest of their lives.

Plans can go awry. You discover you miss the cut for the course you set your heart on, so it’s to plan B, if there is one.

That eventuates with a mixture of on-site work and off-site study in a career path completely opposite to plan A.

But it’s not really what you want and malaise sets in.

Then one night a phone call out of the blue, a cadetship offer and plan A is back on the agenda.

Hard work, innovation, networking and a touch of luck then leads to a reasonably successful career, which at many times, resembles a rollercoaster ride.

The youth of today have many opportunities and are blessed with incredible technology to make their lives easier and smarter.

Consider a career that looks far into the future, not just today or tomorrow, and believe in yourself.

Because you can do anything. Nick Dalton Deputy editor