Three days were spent at the Phillip Island Adventure Resort with the noble goal of indoctrinating the Year 12s with an inexorable work ethic to carry us through the year.  With only a few minutes of being at the camp we were warmed up with the writing workshop and comic stylings of Archimede (Archie) Fusillo, who, with extreme hilarity, Archie related to us his youth as an “ethnic,” growing up in inner-city Melbourne and the way he uses this for inspiration when he writes, providing incredible insight into where authors draw their stimulation.  The hour of free time that followed the session was dominated by impersonations of Archie’s father and his catch phrase, “athirty one, thatsa bloody good,” which suddenly didn’t seem so funny.

 The itinerary for the rest of the afternoon, listed one item, which caught our attention.  “Introduction To The Future” it read.  Hundreds of questions flashed through our mind, “Will there be flying cars in the future?”  “Will people live underwater in the future?”  Sadly, these questions, and many others remain unanswered, as rather than a feat of clairvoyance, Mr Mest and Ms Hubbard took us through the options the next few years might hold for us, which nonetheless answered many questions we held about our academic futures.

 Our second day of reeducation was dominated by a series of physical with the aptly titled “Big Swing,” the latter being the universal favorite.  It seems inconceivable that being hurled through the air at immeasurable speeds could be of some sort of scholarly benefit, but this excitement was welcome relief from the at times ‘arduous’ study sessions that dominated the program.

 This was followed up in the evening with a series of short sketches with good study habits weaved into the narrative.  The sketches were performed in a quasi Red Faces competition, and as you can imagine hilarity ensued, or didn’t.  The judges; a disgruntled ABC executive, Kylie Minogue and Uncle Vladok, dissected their way through three Jerry Springer tributes, a few sketches that resembled infomercials and a high brow abstract drama piece.

 The only major item remaining on the program was a “Guest Speaker,” the following morning.  This happened to be “Football Legend,” Tommy Hafey, who delivered an intense speech, the crux of which seemed to be that a microsecond of inactivity, is a microsecond wasted.

 The camp appeared to be successful.  The numerous study sessions seemed successful in coercing a strong work ethic and determination into every student, whether this determination will stay with us through the challenges ahead remains to be seen, but it was a marked difference to the predominant “Happy Go Lucky,” mindset most of us arrived with.