11 Oct 2021
My name is Lily Fowler. I graduated as school dux in 2020, with offers for UNSW, Macquarie, UoW and two scholarships. My year was the first year group to experience schooling throughout COVID-19 lockdowns and uncertainty. I started my schooling career at BWSC in year 10, after moving up from Sydney. I struggled a lot in my first two years with addiction, bullying, various mental illnesses and a general lack of motivation and study ethic. I wanted to drop out, and going to Uni was completely out of the question. After discussing my options with my dad, I realised I would need at least my HSC certificate to pursue the career pathways of my choosing. So I decided to stay, and now I am incredibly grateful that I did. I used to take pride in the fact that I didn’t study and still passed with good marks, but one day, a conversation with a teacher changed my mind. I told a teacher that I hadn’t studied for the previous exam, and he told me to consider studying because I might go far if I did. That made me think about it! Over the last term of year 11 and going into year 12, I made it my mission to transform my work ethic. I began to pay proper attention during class, organise my notes and just sit down to study. Now, I cared about my ranks and marks, and my motto was “If I’m going to do the HSC, I may as well give it my best shot”. I committed to staying behind after class to ask questions, working during lunchtime, attending early 7:30AM study sessions, and worked on my PIP from the moment we got it. I really couldn’t have done that without the support of Mr Brown, the friendly rivalry from my best friend, and heckling my teachers almost every lesson. When COVID-19 arrived, I made sure to organise my work space at home, sit outside in the sunlight for zoom meetings (or sit in different areas) and have good food and clean surroundings. Even with my dedication to schoolwork, I still had time to be social and have fun, which made the HSC much more bearable. Despite my near expulsion for a muck-up prank, I managed to pass the HSC as a reformed student, coming 1st for 3 classes and 2nd and 3rd for the others. I never got to graduate on the stage, but I was content with my grades, ranks and position as school dux. I received three offers from three universities, and an offer for my current course - a Bachelor of Politics, Philosophy and Economics at UNSW, where I also received 10k worth of scholarships. I am now a year into my degree, and can look back on my education at BWSC with pride. I want to wish anyone studying during COVID-19, or anyone undergoing the HSC, the best of luck and remind them to keep going because hard work will genuinely be rewarded and pay off. If anything, do it for your future self! if you’re going to do the HSC, you may as well give it your all.