Luke Spokes has joined the friendly (and good-looking) team at the Bunbury Mail for a week to see if he would enjoy life working at a newspaper after he finishes school.
Check out his blog on the pressure of being a teenager and having to make scary choices in life.
When I was in Year 10, I was given the choice on what course I would like to do in upper school.
At the time there were three courses, each with their own pros and cons.
One that would help you get a trade, one to get you a certificate, and one to get you into University.
Being in the ‘smart kids group’ in Maths and Science, I chose the university pathway unlike most of my friends.
Back then, people used to ask me – “How are you so smart?”
But instead of thanking them, or saying that all you need to do in class was to listen with at least one ear, I replied, “I’m just a dumb kid surrounded by idiots.”
The thing is I was a dumb kid surrounded by idiots.
I was dumb enough to leave every single one of my assignments to the last minute, and in some cases, I mean that literally.
I was thinking I was going into another chilled out, relaxed year, I soon realised I bit off more than I could chew.
Convinced that chemistry was only basic mental math, that my math course wasn’t going to change much, and that English was going to have a lot of creative writing, my life turned from having a small pile of work on my desk that I could binge on at the last minute soon turned into a flood of papers and revision.
Keeping up with old habits, the outcome wasn’t as outstanding that most people would have predicted from me.
I went from the upper group of my year down to the lowest in under six months, I fell so far behind that even looking at the first chapter in my books would confuse me.
The only redeeming factor of the University course would have to be the people in them that I was learning with.
Eventually, with the help of some of them, and gradually working around my old habits, I managed to pass a few tests and managed to get one of, if not, the highest marked short stories in the English exam.
I was, again, a dumb kid surrounded by idiots, idiots who wanted to do all that work (and much more) the following year.
Switching to a certificate course this year, I hope to pass the tests and gain a certificate that says what I could do something rather than a number that says what I could not.
It dawned on me that as long as I am trying my hardest and doing something that makes me happy, that should be enough for anyone.
