73 Things That Matter More Than Your Year 12 Exams

    Australian students are preparing for their end-of-year-exams. Your future matters, but so do a lot of other things.

    1. Spending a whole day doing nothing.

    2. Baking. For no reason.

    3. Calling your grandparents.

    4. No really, call them.

    5. Reading a book without knowing anything about it.

    6. Falling in love.

    7. Falling out of love.

    8. Realising love is complicated.

    9. Understanding what others are going through.

    10. Understanding that you will go through the same thing.

    11. Getting engaged with politics, if only for a few months.

    12. *Caring* about your community's future.

    13. Deciding to write a book.

    14. Giving up on writing a book.

    15. And then trying to write a book, again.

    16. Giving.

    17. Working for charity, if only for a day.

    18. Singing badly.

    19. Singing well.

    20. Finding your dream job.

    21. Realising it's not your dream job.

    22. And then finding another dream job.

    23. Learning when to say "yes."

    24. And how to say "no."

    25. Memorising a movie scene.

    26. Living a simple life.

    27. Living a complicated life.

    28. Learning how to give constructive criticism.

    29. Learning how to take constructive criticism.

    30. Flying a kite (it's actually really fun!)

    31. Getting *way* too drunk.

    32. Exercising your mind *and* body.

    33. Learning how to do something really, really simple.

    34. Like knitting.

    35. Exploring your garden.

    36. Or, if you don't have a garden, exploring your city.

    37. Teaching someone else.

    38. Letting someone else teach you.

    39. Getting lost.

    40. Staying up all night for no real reason.

    41. Making memories.

    42. Studying abroad.

    43. Watching a foreign film you don't understand at *all.*

    44. Buying art.

    45. And then learning how to appreciate art.

    46. Making art.

    47. Making mistakes.

    48. And realising that's okay.

    49. Doing something you told yourself you'd never, ever do.

    50. Hunt, kill and eat something.

    51. Unless you're a vegetarian - then start an awesome veggie patch!

    52. Realising you don't know all the answers.

    53. And you never will.

    54. And that's okay.

    55. Trying to move an object with your mind.

    56. And feeling silly when you can't.

    57. Traveling somewhere isolated, alone.

    58. Going somewhere nice for dinner, alone.

    59. Living, alone.

    60. Going a week without the internet.

    61. Going camping.

    62. Living off the land, if only for a little while.

    63. Moving around.

    64. Staying put.

    65. Making an enemy.

    66. Befriending an enemy.

    67. Playing a sport you've never heard of.

    68. Watching good TV.

    69. Watching bad TV.

    70. Realising that there's no such thing as "guilty pleasures" because you shouldn't be ashamed of anything you get enjoyment from.

    71. Learning to cook one meal really, really well.

    72. Learning to cook lots of meals really, really well.

    73. Realising we're all just people on a rock in space spinning around the universe like it's no big deal.