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Speaker 1: We are not unique, but we are most definitely different

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Speaker 1: from the way we were. Once again, Ah, once again,

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Speaker 1: we're into exam season. Once again, the flurry of stories,

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Speaker 1: of questions that can't be answered, the tears that flow,

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Speaker 1: the end of the world that's ensuing for comfort. The

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Speaker 1: same number of stories are floating about at the moment

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Speaker 1: currently in Australia. For context, the last time I did exams,

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Speaker 1: these tears in high drama were nowhere to be seen.

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Speaker 1: So what has happened? Is it possible the way we

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Speaker 1: study has changed? Is it possible all the mocks that

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Speaker 1: are taken lead you into an area of confusion, where by,

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Speaker 1: unless the real exam looks remarkably similar to the ones

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Speaker 1: you've just practiced on, you freak out. Is it possible

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Speaker 1: because of the way we teach it's too rote? In

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Speaker 1: other words, you can parrot back what has just been

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Speaker 1: said to you, but you can't extrapolate it out. Is

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Speaker 1: it also possible that exams and entry to university has

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Speaker 1: become such a big deal The whole of the future

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Speaker 1: of your life is flashing in front of your eyes,

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Speaker 1: and unless it appears to have gone well, you have

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Speaker 1: no future. Perhaps my advantage was. I wasn't going to university.

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Speaker 1: I was out into the world to get on with it.

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Speaker 1: And what I needed was university entrants, preferably endorsed, and

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Speaker 1: that would give me, at the very least a foot

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Speaker 1: in the door of a job. Yes, exam seemed hard,

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Speaker 1: of course they did. Yes a lot of people were nervous.

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Speaker 1: And yes, a lot of people after the exam as

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Speaker 1: we wandered off home, either ran the line that it

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Speaker 1: was a nightmare and I don't stand a chance, or

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Speaker 1: that was so easy, I couldn't believe my luck. And

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Speaker 1: we ran those lines, by the way, no matter what

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Speaker 1: had actually happened, because we were full of it. But

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Speaker 1: what we didn't do was melt down. The media didn't

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Speaker 1: cover the fallout. We had no headlines. We were simply

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Speaker 1: kids doing exams, and sometimes they went well and sometimes

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Speaker 1: they didn't. I wish I knew then what I know now.

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Speaker 1: School is but a fleeting moment in time that will

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Speaker 1: seem increasingly irrelevant, although it's your whole world, or at

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Speaker 1: least a decent chunk of your world when you're a kid.

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Speaker 1: Of course, ultimately it will all be put into perspective.

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Speaker 1: Life in its success is rarely, if ever, defined by

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Speaker 1: what you did in year twelve or thirteen, or Form

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Speaker 1: six and Form seven. Maybe we could teach a little

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Speaker 1: more of that. For more from the mic Asking Breakfast

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Speaker 1: listen live to news Talks at B from six am weekdays,

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Speaker 1: or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio.