The Politics of Exams

E Week. Exams, exams and more exams. The week where myself and my fellow Year 12 peers are frantically trying to remember all the facts, figures, dates and information we have learnt in the last 6 months of school. Everywhere I look I can see students with notes and textbooks scattered around them, with panicked looks discussing things like the Hydrolysis of Esters, and essay questions like, 'How does George Orwell in his novel 1984, use stylistic features to convey emotional messages to the reader'. The politics of exam week in a school changes also, and everybody knows it. This week the students in all the years below know, not to mess with us, for fear of abuse and or decapitation. My fellow peers and I, are full of sugar, caffeine and no sleep wishing and hoping we have done enough to get through the next 120 hours, before we can celebrate with the Formal on Saturday night.

Yesterday whilst I was in my Economics exam, I began to ask myself, what on earth is the point of exams? I mean why have I been freaking out for the last 24 hours trying to prepare for an exam that is not going to be going towards my grade, nor is it going to be helpful if I decide that being an economist is not for me? Why? Because I care about my future, and if that means that I have to suffer through a horrible 2 hour exam I will. I read an article in The Age the other day that was discussing whether or not there is too much pressure on Year 12 students to perform at such a high level, with comments from teachers, students and former students. Reading it I began wonder who puts this pressure on me, and my friends? Our parents? Our families? Society? Or even Ourselves? The only reason that we are as stressed as we are must to be please someone . . . right? I feel I must succeed in order to be my best, and anything other than that, I will be disappointed. But is it the same for everybody? In some countries children need to perform to be loved, in other families children must do well because their families will depend on them in the future as a source of income. I am just lucky that I love to study, i find it relaxing and fulfilling to sit in a library and learn simply because I can, but some people not so much. I sometimes feel sorry for them, because it must be hard to keep motivated.

My motivation for my hard exams this week, was the fact that my happy and fun exams are later in the week. Legal Studies and politics while still hard came as a welcome relief from the technically hard and difficult Economics, and long English Studies. Come Friday at 11 o'clock I will be both jubilant and worried, jubilant that they are over but worried, worried because in a mere 13 weeks real end of year exams start. And that should scare even then most competent students, let alone those who haven't listened all year.

And then I remember its TE Week. Trial exams, or practice exams, and so I can almost rest easy!

Are university degrees overrated?

Tonight I had the privilege of attending Adelaide's first, IQ2 live debate at the City Town Hall. The topic up for debate was 'Having a University Degree is Grossly Overrated,' with Ms Annabel Crabb, Professor Peter Shergold and Dr Lynn Arnold AO for and Professor David Finegold, Mr. Stephen Johnston and the Honorable Amanda Vanstone against. As a student attending, what some would call an elitist college in the heart of Adelaide, my teachers are forever advising me to study hard to get into Uni, not perhaps go the way of TAFE or a trade but to go to uni. As much as I do, intend to attend university after completing my year 12 later this year I was, and still am struck at the point grossly overrated. Grossly overrated, what does that even mean? I mean personally I don't think that term means 100%, always, is there no point in a University degree but is the hype surrounding getting into uni and completing a degree worth it? Obviously there are many profession where having a uni degree is vital, I mean there is no way I would let a Brain Surgeon without years of study dive into the inner sanctums of my brain, and nor would I let an architect who has had no previous study design the plans to my future house.

However, saying that, the speakers for the argument spoke eloquently about about University not being the only option for someone, in life. I probably would not die if I did decide to not go to uni come the end of the year, and likewise if I dropped out half way through in order to join a girl band traveling the world. Amanda Vanstone tonight spoke about Universities being places to develop as a human being, she said that having a degree shows employers that individuals can stick it out, that they can get through the mundane lectures at uni even if the person really does not want to be there and survive. She said it teaches people determination and also, quite frankly who doesn't want other letters after there name? Conversely Annabel Crabb and co. quite rightly, and slightly ironically, seeing as though her and her partners all held numerous degrees, that it is not the be all and end all, that more and more people are turing to other institutions to get just as good an education. Furthermore, will having a uni degree get you as an individual anything more out of life, than someone without a degree? Better movie seats? Better behaved children perhaps? I think not! Therefore unless you know exactly what you want to achieve out of life, why waste time going to university, becoming educated in one or two specific areas when, more than likely you will change careers more than a few times in your working life?

However when all is said and done, I think it comes down to the individual, and what they want out of life, some people will never want to learn in a classroom, and honestly isn't that their choice? At the current moment in my life with just over 12 weeks left of high school, I believe that for me and many of my peers there is and will continue to be, immense pressure to get that high ATAR (Australian Tertiary Admission Rank) and get into University. Some of us will crack under all that pressure, and so I am again thinking, is it all worth it? None of us will spontaneously combust if and when we all do not achieve the desired ATAR of 99.95, come half way through December, right? Granted some of us will get that amazing magical number we have always wanted and get into the perfect course, and lead happy lives, and other will find another way to get to uni. But then, all my friends who have gone to uni say if you even utter the word ATAR when you enter the hallowed halls of which ever uni you attend you will become a social outcast.

But that is getting of the topic at hand isn't it? So, are degrees grossly overrated? Even if the poll at the end of the night showed a narrow win for the against, it did get me thinking, why? Why am I even getting stressed about going to uni? There must be many jobs that do not require a uni degree, and many people who fill them, yes? And then going by that logic some of them must be happy? Right? After reflecting on all of what was said tonight, Annabel Crabb may be right at degrees being overrated, and so may Amanda Vanstone saying they are not, but at the end of the day when it comes to mid december 2012, I will be crossing all my fingers, toes, arms and legs, praying and hoping that I have done enough to get into my preferred uni course. I of course will be heartbroken if I don't and over-the-moon if I do, but once I have seen, been and conquered uni life I wonder if my opinion will have changed, and more so when I enter the workforce will my view change again?

Ideologies . . . a thing of the past?

This week saw the Media outlets comment madly on the emerging feud between the ALP Government and the Greens, in which the Green have accused the government, and hence the ALP of abandoning their ideologies in favor of nothing. When I herd of this 'fighting' I nearly bust out in a fit of giggles, why? Because as one of just a few high school politics students in South Australia, studying for my upcoming exams the week after next I found it amusing that the media are examining one of my practice exam questions. I know lame right? Not that it is a bad thing, it just means I can FINALLY, legitimately, say I am watching news are reading the newspapers for my homework. YAY!

In the past it was easy to ascertain the differences between the major parties, Labor supposedly being more progressive than the Liberal Party, likewise the Liberals were more conservative in their economic outlook. The Labor Party supported workers rather than companies and the Liberal Party was for the employers, it was almost too easy to see the differences between the major players. Nowadays it is harder, especially when the media skew the facts to suit the story, it does seem as though the minor parties stay more true to their ideas, but because it is harder for them to get publicity it almost seems that they can only handle a few view points and stick to them. This is probably due to the fact it is highly unlikely that the Greens, in this case and the Democrats before them, could never hold government and so their primary goal is to hold view points which may differ radically from the government and hold them accountable, in some way or another.

Whether or not minor parties stick to their ideals more than the major parties is a point that has divided politicians, and makes for an interesting essay question because the ALP will deny the allegations and the Greens will wholeheartedly agree. This week Senator Hanson-Young said she believed 100% that in light of recent events, the ALP have 'no values' but at the same time (SMH reported that) Labor 'power brokers' labeled the Greens as 'Extremist, [and] not unlike One Nation'. The idea that the major parties find it hard to stay true to their ideologies is probably a semi valid point, as in order to pass legislation, especially in the current hung parliament the government must compromise with other parties in order to get their legislation passed. Former Democrats Leader, and Senator Natasha Stott Despoja appeared on Channel 7 program Sunrise program reiterating the same point, that sometimes parties need to grey the edges and compromise but obviously whilst still staying true to their core beliefs. Whether or not Greens Leader Christine Milne, and the rest of the Greens agree with Despoja is another issue altogether, with vicious comments coming from both the ALP and Greens camps, it will only be a matter of time before we see the full extent of this fued, when parliament resumes in August and the government will try to pass Asylum Seeker legislation, among other bills.

Are we all ok?

And so the sun rose in the east and set in the west, the birds chirped and the cats and the dogs did not die and that was the end of the first day. Whyalla still stands and no one burnt to death at the post, yet the feared carbon tax came into existence on the first day of the new financial year. The last parliamentary sitting week before the winter break was consumed by debate about the negative consequences of the new tax, but having lived through the first day, I can honestly say that the sky did not fall, and Chicken Little was wrong. Will we eventually feel the pinch of the dreaded tax? Will we be living on the streets by the end of the month? Listening to the politicians in Canberra can be misleading, one minute you think the world will be ok and the next whole cities will be eradicated. The truth is, no one will really understand the full impact of the carbon price until the water, and electricity bill need to be paid, maybe until the end of the next financial year, when the tax free threshold having almost tripled leaves more money in your pocket. Whatever the case, whether it be that you get reimbursed or not, the big question is will it help the environment? Will it actually help curb the amount of carbon dioxide we send into the atmosphere each year? Only time will tell, but one thing is certain, this morning whilst delayed as I was waiting to board my plane from Adelaide to Melbourne with all the QANTAS check-in stations out, standing among my fellow travelers the consensus was, that the delays we're because of Julia Gillard's carbon tax!! If that's the case we may never know, one thing is certain though, and that is unless people feel that they are better off this year than last year, our Prime Minister will have a hard time convincing people to vote for her come the end of next year.