Today marks the start of Higher School Certificate exams for most of the region's students and, no doubt, they will approach their first English paper with a mix of both dread and excitement.

Each student will be hoping for something different out of the exams and it has been a different journey to this point for each of Bathurst's schools.

More than that, the journey to this year's HSC has been different to every other.

The COVID-19 pandemic meant many Year 12 students spent weeks doing their best to learn from home at precisely the time they needed face-to-face contact with their teachers more than ever.

The lockdowns also meant many students missed out on weeks (even months) of vital face-to-face contact with their peers at precisely the time they needed them, too.

The unique combination of challenges they've faced has not only made this year's HSC the most difficult on record, but also left students being asked to study for exams with no clear picture of what their immediate futures might hold.

Those who had hoped to travel next year have been forced to rethink their plans while even those planning to go to university cannot be sure just what that might look like.

And the coronavirus' impact on the Australian economy and workforce means that students hoping to start a career or training at the end of their schooling also face uncertainty.

And so this year, more than most, all students sitting the HSC deserve congratulations for coming through one of the most difficult years they have faced so far.

Despite the best intentions of parents and teachers, it is hard for any Year 12 student to appreciate that the HSC is not their one shot at success in life.

Those of us who are more than a few years past the HSC now know that it is just one milestone out of many that make a life, but it can seem far bigger than that when you're in the midst of it.

Learning does not end at the completion of high school, it is a life-long journey of personal growth, and the resilience that this year has forced upon the Class of 2020 should stand them in good stead along that journey.

And whichever path they take, none will forget their school years - and this year, in particular.