What Am I Going to Do When School Ends?

I'm a senior school student in the midst of the challenge that's often referred to as Year 12.

Most students have been asked what they’re going to do when school ends at least once in their life, and most of them probably reply with uncertainty in their answers.

It's quite rare to find students in our generation who are completely sure of what they plan on doing after school's end. And to be fair, it's reasonable to not know.

We've been spoon-fed from pre-primary up to Year 12, so it's thrilling to think that after we graduate the final year, no one is going to be pushing us.

We’ll have to learn to drive ourselves with our personal ambitions and desires. Personally, I'm experiencing more excitement in comparison to fear.

Although I'm pretty keen on dedicating my life to becoming an architect, I'm not particularly scared about what would happen if I suddenly changed my mind. I'm beyond thrilled to see what the world has to offer after school has finished.

A couple of days after my last WACE exam, I'm going to Singapore with my two closest girlfriends. It'll be a trip full of silly inside jokes and I have a feeling we’ll spend three-quarters of the time completely lost and asking for directions in a city we're not familiar with. I'm looking forward to it!

The thought of being lost is somewhat scary but the beauty in solving problems together with close friends is indescribable. Even though I feel as though I already know everything about my best friends, I'm sure there will be new sides to them that I'll get to experience while on this youth-trip.

We've planned a schedule, a roll of places we want to visit and an eager longlist of foods we plan to eat over the course of seven days. We'll be tackling extreme, gravity-defying rides in amusement parks and we also plan to shop till our legs give out.

During the trip, I plan to rest my mind completely, even though I know that'll be difficult to do, as I would have just sat one of the most important exams of my life.

I aim to bring my mind to a state of Zen. I want to temporarily forget about the exams that I would've completed and just enjoy my trip fully with no worries. That’s what I’m going to do when school ends.

Congratulations to Aye for winning this week's writing challenge: What Am I Going to Do When School Ends? Aye wins a $50 Westfield gift card for her submission. For your chance to win, check out our latest writing challenges in our Comps section. Also, be sure to follow this guide on how to win the writing challenge!

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