Opinion: The Glee and Grind of Grades

High school students across Marlborough and New Zealand have had their 2023 exam results released, and with that come the good and the bad grades.

That means young people will be ecstatic for achieving their goals – whether it’s just graduating, university entrance, endorsements, or Scholarships, but many will also be disappointed by their results. Some may be having both feelings at once.

I know that only a few years ago, having been in the situation of feeling both happiness and hurt for achieving some, but not all, of the results I was after, and subsequently being unsure what I wanted to do.

And once students graduate from high school, their results may seem like the biggest thing in their life at that stage.

However, what seeing your results allows is an opportunity to set your next target – whether that is for your next year of high school education, starting university, securing an internship or apprenticeship, getting into the workforce, or any other number of pathways.

Every year, people of all ages decide they want to do something different than what they started. Millions of people around the world retrain, upskill, or start new careers altogether.

Once I had finished my high school career, I took an opportunity to travel to the UK and work in a school for a year. That year gave me a better insight into what I wanted instead of what others wanted for me.

The first decision you make out of high school isn’t your final decision for the person you become, and nobody leaves their education knowing exactly what the future holds for them.

Making your first decision now is the only way to start.