Every Australian kid at one stage in their life had to go through the emotional journey that was trying to attain a pen license.
1. The joy upon hearing you had the chance to move from a child's pencil to the symbol of adulthood - pens.
2. The self-loathing when you sensed your teacher's disappointment as they saw you pick up your eraser.
3. The shame of practicing your handwriting all holidays so you could be prepared for the test.
4. The panic of trying to ensure that you made no spelling or grammatical errors to secure your pen license.
5. The anxiety you felt while trying to perfect your cursive loops while trying to maintain your normal print.
6. The stress of trying to trace the dotted lines perfectly.
7. The sadness from watching your friends get their license as you stared at your measly pencil.
8. The satisfying feeling when everyone with a pen license had to come back to pencils when it came to maths tests.
9. Followed by the misery of watching everyone's hands glide across their paper lead-smudge free after the maths test.
10. Which made you feel inferior, making you dream of the day you could go rubber-less and move onto liquid paper like the cool kids.
11. When you were finally given your pen license you felt like the gods had just blessed you.
12. Followed by the happiness from thinking about all the adult things that using a pen would allow you to do.
13. Which was interrupted by the judgement you felt when you crossed out something you wrote in pen.
14. So you excitedly bought some liquid paper before it was banned, then some correction tape.
15. But the shocking cost of correction tape made you wish you could return to pencils and rubbers.
16. And then you found out about erasable pens and you were forced to reevaluate your entire existence.
17. Then when you finally graduated year four you realised everyone was allowed to use pens in year five anyway.
18. And now you're an adult you see that you never needed your pen license anyway because ~computers~.
And for those that didn't get their pen license...
I never got my pen license
... just know you are not alone.