The first week back of Year 12 was spent at Lady Northcote Discovery Camp, a very positive way to begin what will be a rollercoaster journey. All who attended had the opportunity to delve deeper into their personal goals and begin paving their way to lay the foundations for their own success this year.
Year 12 study camp positioned us in a location free from distraction and placed us in a headspace where we could solely be attentive to our goals for the current year, and understand how the decisions we make now may shape our life after school. Students undertook multiple mental health and wellbeing workshops, enabling us to prepare ourselves for both the academic year ahead as well as the commonly stressful journey and battles that accompany year 12. Students also participated in a careers and pathways workshop, encouraging year twelves to start questioning what their future may entail, and learnt strategies they may adopt in assisting them towards reaching their goals.
We were able to reunite and create quality experiences with one another, through engaging in activities such as canoeing, the leap of faith, the giant swing, high ropes and archery; forcing us to face our fears, step outside our comfort zone, and cooperate to meet our end goal. Not only enjoyable, the aspects of the activities resemble the qualities that are required for a prosperous final year.
Another highlight of the camp experience was the appearance of guest speaker Don Elgin, former Australian Paralympian. Don’s capturing speech was definitely a wake-up call for many of us students, positioning us to review the extent of our own capabilities, and how year twelve can truly be the time to pursue our goals and make them reality. Despite many setbacks in his life, he never viewed his disadvantages as failure, but rather an opportunity to grow, develop and reset. A key takeaway from his speech, relevant to us year twelves, was his change in attitude; viewing situations from a different perspective. Each student was sure to have taken away a valuable lesson from Don that can be applied not only to this year but to the rest of their life.
Zoe Radimisis
School Captain
