Emily Kowal: We had to fake it, now we made it

Let’s sing the praises of students from Sydney’s west who achieved fantastic HSC scores — often without the helping hand provided by an affluent school, Emily Kowal.

Opinion: I vividly recall my HSC English classes. Sitting in a hot and stuffy demountable classroom in Western Sydney, as kangaroos and emus walked past our school fence, we were told that the only way to achieve success in our creative writing pieces and essays, was to fake it.

Our English teacher, a terrifying and formidable woman, delivered the news bluntly.

“You are going up against kids who go to $40,000 a year schools. You are from Penrith.”
She scolded our writing that lacked social capital.

She showed us the essays of the top performers.

Eloquently crafted pieces discussing things I had never heard of, filled with truisms written in French, insightful observations made about worlds and countries I didn’t know existed.

Most people in my class hadn’t left the country. Some hadn’t left the state.

Jade Busst from Jamison High School received Band 6s for all her subjects and achieved a 99+ ATAR. The first such student from Jamison High to do so. Picture: John Appleyard

At times we felt ashamed, about our lack of experience. But most of the times we shrugged our shoulders. It was just the way it was. Instead, we faked it.

Sitting in my Penrith bedroom, I wrote a piece sprinkled with subtle references to the opera, or a prima ballerina dancing to Tchaikovsky – things I had never seen, and am yet to see or experience.

If I could do it again, I would ditch the references. Instead, I would pepper my essays with flavours of the West.

I would write about the afternoons spent at Penrith train station.

We would race to the local McDonalds, where if we had enough, we would buy a 30 cent soft serve, licking it while we baked under the sun.

I’d write about Scotty, a 43-year-old severely autistic man who would board our bus every day and tell me to treasure my mother, as his had passed.

In recent days, coverage has been dominated by stories of kids from affluent schools.

These kids worked hard and deserve their praise.

But similar praise needs to be given to the kids who did the same – without the high price tag.