The “healthy amount of nerves” remained but Warrawong High School student Gia Trucido was feeling good about herself after finishing her first English HSC exam.
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“I’m happy with how it went overall. It was not as bad as I was expecting. But there’s still five more to go,” Gia said on Thursday.
Fellow Warrawong HS student Christine Solomon agreed, adding preparing well made a huge difference.
“I think it was better than I expected it to be,” she said.
“Preparing a lot helped. You go in fresh minded. It takes the weight off your shoulders. You go in knowing what you are going to write. You know your information.”
Christine also agreed with fellow student Jennifer Saveska that doing the HSC trials and Year 11 exams in the same hall helped calm the nerves.
“We sat in the same spots as our trials, so it wasn’t as scary and intimidating as you think it is going to be,” Christine said.
Jennifer added that it was reassuring to know what to expect in the exam in terms of what forms needed to be completed.
“Like the other girls, I think preparing well and having done the trials in the same spot really helped me today,” she said.
Her schoolmate Jade Bird said the most difficult thing about the exam paper was manipulating the question to suit her essay.
“Most of us have gone in knowing what themes or essay structure we have written with but today it was just about moulding and manipulating the question to suit the essays,” Jade said.
Warrawong HS principal Brad Hughes said he was pleased and proud of his students.
“It’s outstanding. It is the start today and they still have a few more [exams] to go but I’m really proud and excited for what the future holds for these young people,” he said.