In the lead-up to their English extension 1 exam, Normanhurst Boys High School students Lam Doan, Ronny Jo and Harry Shin taped batteries to their pens to make them heavier during practice, and squeezed putty to build hand strength.

Then with at least five pens in hand, they walked into Tuesday afternoon’s exam. It was the final HSC exam for the group, and had reached mythical proportions in their minds.

“All the other exams were done and dusted, I couldn’t do anything about them, I needed to give this one my best shot. It was my final opportunity to lift my marks up as high as I could get them,” said Lam.

With just two hours to complete two 25-mark essay questions, he said English extension 1 was a “marathon run at a sprinters pace”.

It is certainly not a subject for the lighthearted.

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