(Mia, Alex and Anisha are sitting around inside chatting)

Anisha Damaso:
Year 12 was crazy, aye?

Mia McMenamin:
The world was gonna end.

Anisha Damaso:
Yeah.

Mia McMenamin:
High school was the world.

(A title graphic appears on the centre of the screen that reads: BLAK AND FORTH, THE FUTURE, with Anisha, Mia and Alex)

Alexander Peisley:
I'm happy I got it done. During that time, it was just hectic.

Anisha Damaso:
Mm-hmm.

Alexander Peisley:
As soon as HSC, last exam finished, weight lifted off my shoulders and then when I got graduated, I was struttin' my strut, I was so happy to hear. I had family in the back there cheering my name when I was walking up there.

Speaker 4:
Alexander Peisley.

Speaker 5:
Whoo.

Alexander Peisley:
Got my ATAR. It wasn't a good ATAR but I'd already lodged myself into uni, so school, when I think about it, that pressure was for nothing really, yeah.

Anisha Damaso:
I was so happy. As soon as I walked out of my last exam, I was like, "Goodbye Year 12. I did my best."

Mia McMenamin:
It was such a relief. I didn't think it was going to be. I was almost worried 'cause I was like, "I'm not gonna see my friends every day. What happens if I don't get into uni?" And I still talk to all my girlfriends today, even though they're in Adelaide and I'm in Sydney. So, yeah, it was, it's just great looking back and knowing how hard it was in that moment, but after Year 12 finished, I just felt so great.

Anisha Damaso:
What was your goal when you were in high school?

Mia McMenamin:
I wanted to get into NIDA. I had to try two years in a row to get in there. There was definitely a lot of stress of you probably should just go into teaching so I did. Then I was kinda set on settling for that.

Anisha Damaso:
Mm-hmm.

Mia McMenamin:
I felt like I still had a little bit more resilience in me to just be like, "You know what? No, I am gonna strive for that." And I ended up getting in.

Anisha Damaso:
Congrats, that's huge.

Mia McMenamin:
Yeah.

Alexander Peisley:
Well, my dream at the time was go for law, uh, 'cause my dad is a solicitor. And then I started to realise that that's probably not for me. I've seen his work life, I don't think I could deal with that stress. And then I got an offer for USYD to go to social work. I'd never really knew what I was gonna do. The plan wasn't sorted at, uh, high school and I'm doing a whole different thing now.

Anisha Damaso:
Yeah, I feel like they don't talk about it enough. There's so much expectation for you to know exactly what you want to do when you're in Year 12. You're 18. Some people are 17 years old. And I feel like they don't talk about how maybe if you don't do really, really good in school, exams and studying aren't for you, there's like TAFE. There's like certificates. There's so many other options.

Mia McMenamin:
Like, I actually didn't get a very high ATAR and when I went into uni, I got through a pathway where I ended up getting into Honours in teaching.

Anisha Damaso:
That's so cool.

Mia McMenamin:
Being 10 under the ATAR for it. Things don't stop after graduation. Life keeps moving. And I honestly thought when I was in high school, like, that was it.

Anisha Damaso:
Yeah, the world was gonna end after.

Mia McMenamin:
The world was gonna end-

Anisha Damaso:
Yeah.

Mia McMenamin:
... and like, high school was the world. You know?