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I’ve always been one of those students who adults would tell, “You would make a great lawyer-” which now, I understand, was code for- “Wow, you talk A LOT and argue ALL THE TIME!” And if you ask anyone who took an English class with me in school, they’ll tell you that I had absolutely no qualms with taking a firm stance against a widely accepted opinion, or fervently shaking my head at the teacher’s own reading of a book or play. And although it gives me a little second hand embarrassment to reflect on those years, I wouldn’t do anything differently. 

If you had asked me in early high school what kind of student I was, I would’ve answered without hesitation: definitely not an English person. I was the student who liked clear answers and logical steps, while English, on the other hand, felt vague, subjective, and frustratingly hard to “get right”. Indeed, until around the final two years of high school, I firmly believed that you were either a purely a STEM person or an English person, but never both - and excelling in one meant sacrificing the other.

A myth is currently haunting the modern educational landscape: the myth that every student slots neatly into the rigid binaries of “good” or “not so good” at English. If you lend me a moment of your time, I hope to dispel that myth once and for all – and reveal HSC English success to be within the grasp of any student who puts their mind to it.

I’m here to tell you that success in HSC English is not a one-size-fits-all process; you absolutely do not have to have always been a top student to achieve top marks. I’m gonna let you in on a little secret–in my opinion and experience, success in HSC English boils down to one thing; motivation. For me personally, my motivation was my greatest ally during my study of English. 

HSC English; an insatiable beast, a hardened foe, the most notoriousadversary for prospective acolytes seeking the fabled lands of 99+ ATAR.