Dear Year 12,
I really want to express my overwhelming gratitude and honour in being asked to share my thoughts on completing Year 12 in 2020 and life thereafter.
So here goes… Your graduating year has been a year of spanners. It usually takes a young person to leave school and enter the bliss of adulting freedom to realise that life is full of spanners. That things rarely go to plan and that expectations are seldom fully fulfilled.
You my little Wild Flowers have had to grapple with this truth now. Between the bush fires that set Australia alight and a virus that saw the world pause. You have had your fair share of spanners.
There is an African proverb which has stayed with me over the years that says, “Smooth seas do not make good sailors”. Growth happens at the point of tension. Like for example, If you ever find yourself in a gym, on what rep do you think your muscle would grow the most? Would it be the first rep or the tenth rep?
The answer is actually the eleventh rep, the one you don’t fully complete because you are too tired. When you reach the point of complete fatigue, that is the point of maximum growth.
So lean into the messiness. During this time, you are going to find access to an abundance of power that you never knew you had. At the end of this year, you will realise you are more resilient than you thought, you have more capacity than you knew and you are stronger than you ever imagined.
The recent release of your HSC timetable, came with an array of opposing emotions. That of excitement, hope, of worry and overwhelm. With these emotions comes a myriad of questions. Big ones, small ones. Ones that make no sense, ones that have no answers. Some may have left you hopeful about your choices, while others left you concerned.
All very natural and normal.
In my conversations with students there has been a real focus on the future, a consideration of what course to study, the job opportunities, what university to attend, if TAFE is the way to go? Or if you should escape, and travel the world.
Here’s my take, on the nuggets of wisdoms I’ve gained, so far.
IT ACTUALLY DOESN'T MATTER.
It won’t matter where you go to study, what you start studying, if you travel first or work.
What will matter is how you adapt, what lessons you learn and if you pick yourself up from your mistakes.
I started out thinking I was going to be a clinical psychologist, I was hell bent on the idea of serving others and their mental health. However, after three years in the undergraduate degree at Macquarie University, and a job in the field… I realised. It really wasn’t the type of service I knew I could be my best. I only had two years left to become qualified but I knew I just wouldn't be honest with myself if I persevered.
Long story short, has the decision I made at 18 to enter psychology made a difference now? Or the decision I made at 22 to drop out of psychology made a difference? Or what about the decision to galavant around the world for a year to “discover” my path in between my degrees? Or the cheese burger I ate last week?
The answer is - Ultimately NO.
Each decision contributed in its special way to guiding me to where it is I was meant to be. And as you speak with those around you, be it, your cousins, parents, teachers and family friends. I am sure each of them will say that it never is a single decision that is the ultimate make or break moment. It’s all the little ones, each contributing to the whole person.
So.. BREATHE.
Finally, Year 12, I sincerely wish you the very best for the rest of this year. You are WILDFLOWERS. You will grow at the greatest point of tension. You are not the first to face challenges and you are by no means the last. Choose your response to the challenge, approach it with curiosity, build those inner muscles and take solace in the abundance of power that you never knew you had.
My Warmest Wishes,
Ms Caparrotta
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