Back to school

By: Young Person

Going back to school was a big step for me. It meant facing my fears and swallowing my pride, and neither of those things are easy.

I never really enjoyed school much, I'm the kind of person who learns by doing things not by copying off a chalkboard for hours on end. And I always struggled with being measured as a person by what I achieved in an exam. Besides, my interests lay in the performing arts, not biology or economics. So I dropped out of school half way through Class X.

Although being free from school seemed like a dream come true for the first few months, I quickly realised that it wasn't all fun outside of the school gates. I wanted to change the world with my music, but music jobs come sporadically and I still had to pay the rent whilst I wasn't working. With out a school certificate I found it hard to get a job that didn't involve French-fries.

For someone who stepped out of the school with stars in her eyes, that was hard to chew. After a year, I realised that deep down I did want to achieve more than that and made inquiries about going back to school. After meeting with various people at the board of studies I was given a school certificate on compensation because of a car accident during Class X and because I had done 3 unit HSC music through AMEB in class 9.

Once you set your mind to something, there are always ways to get them done. I decided I wanted to finish school by the time I turned 18, and I wanted to do performance in Drama as a subject. Having a child meant that I wanted a school that was a bit flexible in my schooling hours, and one that could support me. So I looked at the various schools in my area, and found that there was not that many that could accommodate my needs. Then I stumbled upon a school that offered flexiday, and allowed me to do as few or as many subjects as I wanted. It took 85 mins each way to get to school, and I did 9 hours of school work a day, both in class and at home, plus homework and did Class XI and XII in just over one year.

It wasn't easy, but I knew that I wanted to finish school to prove to myself that I could, and to give myself more options. I didn't have unrealistic expectations, I knew there was no way I'd get the TER to do Law or medicine. So I told myself I'd be happy with what I got, so long as I finished my HSC. And I did finish it, and now if I ever choose to leave the entertainment industry, I won't have to serve French-fries because I went back to school and gave myself that option.