ALEXIA Street found out the Hunter was going into lockdown through a classmate in a Modern History lesson.
"Everyone was just confused, they didn't know what to do, we had teachers scrambling to give us our [Higher School Certificate] trial results out of the blue, it was very hectic," Alexia, 17, said.
Learning remotely since then has "interrupted" their plans.
"Nevertheless, I don't want my whole 13 years of schooling building up to this one moment of finally doing the HSC to just be chucked out the window," she said.
"I still want that chance to sit those final exams if I can."
Hunter year 12 student Alexia had posted just days before in a HSC discussion group on Facebook, in response to Greater Sydney students in lockdown arguing "who had it worst" and a small but vocal group calling for the October exams to be cancelled.
"They were also saying we [in regional NSW] were advantaged with face to face learning... it made me think 'Are they really considering what most regional schools are like?'" she said.
"These [Sydney] students have always been more advantaged in general because they have more funding, they have a lot more resources and while Newcastle probably isn't the best example of disadvantaged regional schools, you look at places like Dubbo [and other towns with challenges around technology, Internet access and experienced teachers].
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"Even as a Newcastle student, my preparation for the trial exams actually involved taking past papers from Sydney schools because teachers will hand you them and say 'This is the best it gets'."
Even with the Hunter in lockdown, Alexia said she still believed exams should go ahead for as many students as possible - with safety provisions.
"I think all of us being in lockdown shows that there isn't as much justification to suddenly cancel the HSC anymore. I've done my trials in person, closed book exams, I've done the whole three-hour, sit down, write essays, whereas you have Sydney students doing their trials as internal exams, open book, online.
"You need that standardised form of assessment now more than ever and ultimately even if we don't all expect ourselves to do well, I hope that NESA is taking that into account, especially given the ATAR is a ranking system, not how well you did."
Alexia said it was also important for students to learn what they could overcome.
"The world doesn't stop ticking just because there's a pandemic, we find a way to move on and I think as year 12 as we all are becoming adults it's important for us to be able to face adversity and hurdle over it and go 'OK I can still do my HSC, this isn't the end of the world and the whole education system doesn't need to crumble because I'm in lockdown'."
She said it would be helpful for NESA to provide greater clarity about its contingency plans.
"There's never been really any clear cut outline about 'This is what we're going to do if exams go ahead, this is what we'll do if it's unsafe for some, this is what we're going to do if we have to cancel them'."
She said regional students would also welcome mass vaccination.
"I know a lot of people like myself would be in lockdown and maybe struggling with some motivation a bit and they just really want the chance to go back to school, to return to some sense of normal life, even if it's sitting in the classroom wearing a mask, if it's lining up in the local vaccination hub... most of year 12 want to get it done and over with, we've been through the 13 years, we're on the home stretch, we just want to finally knock that last ball out of the park."
