Camden Haven High School Year 12 students will join others across NSW and commence their HSC exams on Thursday, October 17. The first exam off the rank is english. 

Paiton Wilkinson and Jedd Boyan were Camden Haven High School’s captains for 2018 and found time management was an important skill to balance work, school and study commitments. 

Both Paiton and Jedd have six exams. They are both feeling most nervous about their english and biology exams. 

Read more: Tears, laughter and applause at Year 12 graduation 

Paiton said she is feeling the pressure, as she came down with a head cold the week of exams. 

“I think it’s mainly exhaustion, through working, studying and competing at the eisteddfod,” she said. 

Jedd said he is feeling relatively calm. 

“I consider myself prepared from what’s to come,” he said. 

“However there’s always the question of ‘what if’.” 

Paiton said when she gets stressed during study she will walk away from it. 

“Otherwise you just get yourself worked up over it,” she said. 

“I’ll take a break, go for a walk or chat to my mum and then come back to the study later.” 

Paiton finds she can study most effectively in the morning, whereas Jedd is a night owl. 

“When the sun goes down, I put my head down (to study),” Jedd said. 

Paiton prefers the early hours of the morning because it provides a quiet study space. 

Both students have jobs and said the work has provided a welcome break during the exam period. 

“You can put your mind off study for a bit, while you focus on something else,” Paiton said. 

Jedd hopes to get into a journalism course at Brisbane University. 

He is open to working in a regional town when he graduates. 

Paiton wants to get into a physiotherapy course at university in Port Macquarie or Newcastle. 

Both students will be up early on November 13 to check their HSC results when they are released online. 

They thanked their parents and teachers for all their support through their final year of school.