Term 1, 2024, Year 12 Maths Classroom.

Mr Chester walked into the classroom full of nervous faces, a stack of white test papers in his hands. A year ago, I was struggling in this maths class, barely passing and coming in the bottom 30% of the cohort. I had consistently come home with disappointing marks and disillusioned parents.

This time however, I felt I had changed my attitude, I had been listening to the teacher, diligently doing my homework instead of gaming and actually completing available past papers. Still, as Mr Chester approached my desk, I became overwhelmed with a sense of dread, dwelling over  the unpleasant memories found in this classroom. Were my new study strategies really going to make a difference?  

Slowly, I turned my eyes to the paper…

“Wow! 91 percent! I topped the year in a Maths Ext 2 test!”

A weight lifted off my shoulders, my hard work had been rewarded.

This sense of achievement motivated me to continue working hard throughout year 12, allowing me to achieve 96/100 in HSC Maths Extension 2, a result I would have never even dreamed of in Year 11.