THEY'RE half-way through their final school year and the light at the end of the tunnel remains bright for some year 12 students not letting the coronavirus fallout change their long-term goals.
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Many also say the disruptions this year have made them re-think their plans for 2021.
Emmanuel College year 12 student Sophie Woolstencroft weighed up starting a year off in six months' time.
But after the virus struck she now hopes to step straight into a psychology degree at Deakin Warrnambool next year.
"With everything that has happened I changed things to say I will definitely go next year, especially with not being able to travel. Doing it here at Warrnambool I can save money by living at home still," Sophie said.
"I am looking forward to the rest of the year I think it will be a bit less stressful."
Classmate Sam Crouch-Loveday was considering studying agriculture science degree next year but the disruptions have now swayed him to think about working on his family's Laang dairy farm.
"Staying home working seems like a more appealing option only due to the fact there's not a whole heap of stress piled on me to move to Melbourne and sort out my life," Sam said.
"I have had to think about what I would do if my original plan doesn't work. Being interested in agriculture I've looked around at alternative options."
He said staying motivated while learning online had been difficult.
"My plan has changed a bit, I was really heading towards going to uni, I have really broadened my options," Sam said.
"I feel like if you've put the work in then you deserve a reward, especially with all the challenges that have been thrown at us this year."
Year 12 student Gabby Lougheed said she always wanted to take a gap year, but having her opportunities to play volleyball upended have now "solidified" that choice.
"It will give me a lot of opportunities to train and play volleyball at a higher level," the Australian junior development program member said.
But Gabby said she was also looking at how she could use the year to do a physical education traineeship at a primary school, to get a taste for that career path.
Molly O'Brien said she would also take a gap year to build her savings and see the world, and hadn't let travel bans dishearten her.
"I'm still holding out hopefully I can do some sort of overseas travel or maybe just within Australia," she said.
Molly said she was "concerned" about job availability next year if she chose not to study further, but remained optimistic "there will be something".
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