GRADUATING Hunter School of the Performing Arts students have been reminded that their last official day represented not only a completion, but a new beginning.
Principal Tracey Breese told year 12 students at their graduation and awards assembly on Friday that "today is about new horizons and opening up a new world" and the school hoped for happiness for them and would be cheering them on.
"Happiness comes from within," Ms Breese said. "I want you to find those moments to just be, especially in the next few weeks, to find joy in the small and celebrate the big. Remembering that life is a navigation, it is not a destination, and always remember that roadmap is not linear."
Her advice included not to measure success against others, create small habits, be grateful for each day, create a life you don't want to escape from, be discerning about what you read and watch, make good choices about who to share energy with, be careful who has access to you and know you can't control other people but you can control your response to them.
Several students have been nominated for HSC showcases and events, which highlight exemplary major work performances: 37 dance pieces, 21 drama students, six music students and one industrial technology student. Lucy Davidson, 18, had three dance pieces nominated, her core performance, her core composition and her major study performance, the latter focusing on sexism and misogyny in modern Australia and featuring Julia Gillard's speech and the song You Don't Own Me.
"I never thought that was really on the cards for me, I didn't think that was really possible because I was never actually picking dance for my HSC," she said. "It took a lot of convincing by the dance staff to actually choose it, so getting those nominations and knowing that my hard work has paid off and our hard work as a cohort has paid off to get to this point is really rewarding and great to see. It makes me feel a lot more comfortable and not as stressed going into the written exams because I know I've done pretty well in my practical."
Molly-Anne Kelly-Newton, also 18, had two drama pieces nominated, her group performance and her individual project, a performance of a monologue from Fleabag.
"It was always a goal in my head to have that... that was a really nice moment for myself that I can do this, because it's what I want to do in the future," she said. "My monologue is about the struggles of contemporary feminism and the stereotypes that are placed on women...I really connected with that monologue because I was at a similar point in my life and I had never seen a character like Fleabag before, so if there was someone in the audience watching I wanted them to feel the same way I did."
The girls said it felt "surreal" to attend their final day, ahead of exams starting on October 12. "After a lot of hard work and determination we've finally gotten to the end," Lucy said.
"It's a bit bittersweet because we're all finishing HSC exams at a different time so this is almost the last time we're all together as a group."
WHAT DO YOU THINK? We've made it a whole lot easier for you to have your say. Our new comment platform requires only one log-in to access articles and to join the discussion on the Newcastle Herald website. Find out how to register so you can enjoy civil, friendly and engaging discussions. Sign up for a subscription here.
