As the Year 12 students will now be looking at university offers, it seems timely to share some Twitter wisdom.
“You are not your ATAR” was a simple but effective statement often repeated.
So many examples of high scorers admitting they had made poor choices and the converse situation of low scorers achieving incredible success.
High scorers are advised to stay true to their original preferences; not be lured into a different career choice purely ‘because they can’. Apparently, the road to happiness is littered with disillusioned law graduates.
Those with an underwhelming result were strongly urged to pick themselves up, persevere and pursue an alternative pathway to their dream.
One piece of advice in particular made me smile: “Find what in the world/society makes you angry and then pursue a job/course/career that can do something positive about that.”
It sums up neatly why I am doing what I do. Back in 2012, I was angry that us ordinary people couldn’t penetrate the local government process and feel heard.
I was furious about the response we residents received to commonsense suggestions for improvement and offers of expertise.
I was outraged by the culture that treated ratepayers with contempt, when our approaches were made with courtesy and respect.
I decided then that if I was going to complain I had to stand up or shut up.
There are so many positive ideas out in the community. There is so much energy and intelligence, wisdom and skill.
And yet we can so easily get bogged down in negativity, complaining and pointless arguments.
As we head into a new year, we have a fresh opportunity to reset how we think, talk and behave.
Let’s look forward with confidence and optimism, embrace positivity and get to work.
