Vital lessons in days gone by
Nicholas Kerlin, 2019 dux of the class, St Andrew’s College
I THINK since I first learnt about the OPs, I knew I wanted to get an OP 1.
Initially, it was to keep my options open, however when I decided on psychology and the need for a high OP disappeared, my goal remained.
The reasoning behind it was to prove to myself what I was capable of.
It took a lot of time and effort because nothing comes from nothing.
Throughout senior years, I had my share of assignments that were left too late followed by sleepless nights and days of dreading school.
However, each term I was constantly looking back to see where I could have done better and eventually, by Year 12, I had been able to seriously ramp up my productivity, mainly by cutting back on distractions like Instagram and Netflix.
That’s pretty much all you should be striving for.
Accept the mistakes of the past and take responsibility to learn from them by living this year better than you lived your last.
Sometimes you’ve just got to take some time to reflect on last year, last month or last week and find some areas to work on.
They don’t have to be huge things. It can be small things like attending maths help, getting your nine hours’ sleep or dedicating some time to review the day’s lessons.
Anything you can learn from yesterday to improve upon today is going to build up to make tomorrow a whole lot easier.
When it came to balancing life with school, I could never stick to a schedule.
Instead, I had a list of priorities that would dictate
Catholic Education school effectiveness director Gerard Kearney cooked them on a barbecue.
Some of the Year 6 leaders were allowed to help flip the pancakes on the barbecue.
Other school student how I spent my time, with the top priorities being family, school and friends. If I knew there was nothing due within the next week, I would make time for friends on the weekends.
However, there are many times you will be faced with painful decisions and there is no avoiding sacrifice.
For me the worst part was sacrificing my time with my family but in situations like those or when the workload became overwhelming, I would tell myself that it was just for that year. I had the rest leaders stood at the gate and handed them to the parents as they walked into the school.
During the morning the helpers continued cooking pancakes.
There was enough for the whole school. of my life to hang out with friends, watch movies and get ripped but I only had one year to prove that the 13 years of schooling my parents paid for and supported me through weren’t for nothing.
Next week, I’ll be driving down to Brisbane to begin a Bachelor of Psychological Science at The University of Queensland while renting at the Iglu student accommodation in the city.
I intend to eventually register as a clinical psychologist.
To the graduating class of 2020, this year is going to be tough. There’s no doubt about that.
But you are surrounded by an amazing group of people full of ideas to share and shoulders to lean on. Look after each other.
Whether you’re aiming to complete that certificate, score that apprenticeship or reach that ATAR rank, don’t slack off now because when you finally walk down the path for the very last time, knowing that you have made the most out of every opportunity that came your way, it’s an incredible feeling to know that it has all been worth it.
Thank you and good luck.