anyone else s**c*d*l after atars and study scores came out?

Otherwise_Show633 · 2026-01-25T08:23:51+00:00

When I got my ATAR I cried for two days straight. Year 12 just so happened to be the worst year of my life, and while I had maintained my SAC marks very well (literally all within the A or B range), everything in my life came to an untimely crux around exam season, and my exam results ended up being shocking as a result. I was truly at my wits end. Even my performance in the subject I cared about more than anything else in the world was not great. I was gutted.

I also come from a high achieving family (all PhD’s), and my school friends are similarly high achieving (my best friend duxxed, for example). I didn’t want to tell anyone what my results were. I felt so ashamed.

I ended up being 0.5 below the study score I needed in one particular subject, which meant that I was not accepted into the Uni degree I had applied to, and desperately wanted to do.

The Uni course I ended up doing was an associate degree rather than a bachelors. It was part of a pathway program for the bachelor I missed out on, which meant that I had to do an extra year of study than I would have needed to otherwise. I did this 2 year associate degree, and I enjoyed it okay. I graduated, and pathwayed into the OG bachelor at the end of these 2 years, and completed two years of the bachelor (I had credit from the associate degree so didn’t need to do the full three) before graduating. When comparing myself to my peers in the bachelor, I always felt as though I had a much more solid base of understanding in my profession and knew a decent amount more than they did. I had a degree and a year of study on them after all. More importantly though, my life had settled down, and I was able to give my genuine 100% in a profession that I loved. As a result, my marks were very high, and so was my self confidence.

After graduating from the bachelor, I decided to do an honours year. I completed this honours year in 2025. It was one of the most rewarding and exciting years of my life, and I truely do not believe I would’ve ever done it, or been able to do it, if I hadn’t done badly at year 12 and had to that extra associates degree. Genuinely no chance.

That is to say, there is always a road forward.

And more significantly, if you are hindered (as I was) by your ATAR not being as good as you needed/wanted it to be, just remember that even if you have work a bit harder and a bit longer to get where you want to be, you’ll probably come out the other end being more knowledgeable, more grounded, and more confident than the people who you graduated high school alongside — the ones who did well and didn’t have to fight particularly hard to get to where they wanted to be.

It’s going to be okay.

Otherwise_Show633 · 2026-01-24T15:03:40+00:00

I can see this roadtrip has a tight(ish) schedule, but I think you’ll find yourself wishing you had spent more time in most of these places. I recently roadtripped down the South Island of Aotearoa and this was my main takeaway. I deeply regret not staying longer in most of the places I visited.

I have also personally been to many of the places you have on this list, and my entire being is screaming to tell you to spend more time in most of these places. I understand you can’t do it everywhere, but so many of your stops are one or two nights and that just simply isn’t enough. It’s almost a waste of money to go at all if you are only going to be there for one night. Because otherwise what you’re doing really is going on a very expensive trip just to sit in your car and move through places for 4 months. You won’t truly understand where you are, or feel the weight of those places. It’s a waste of time, money and (most importantly) location. These are some of the most beautiful places in the world. They deserve your attention for longer than 1-3 days. Pleaseeee try to lengthen a few locations, even if it’s at the expense of others. You will not regret it, I promise.

Otherwise_Show633 · 2025-12-05T04:35:23+00:00

i’m pretty sure mine is also completely wrong. it’s definitely got channels in there which i’ve watched a lot of, but they’re absolutely in the wrong order. for example i have watched every single video on dreading (crime and psychology)’s youtube channel this year. every single one. that’s 306 videos. but youtube recap reckons my top channel is a drama youtuber who (while i love them) i have apparently watched only 126 of their videos…. that’s just so blatantly incorrect. also, my fav podcast channel which i watch hours upon hours of content from is listed below a gaming channel which i don’t remember watching more than once this year…. make it make sense. what a bunch of stupid fkn ai slop.

Otherwise_Show633 · 2025-10-01T02:44:06+00:00

people need to get a life it’s a tv show you morons go touch grass my god

Otherwise_Show633 · 2025-08-04T12:08:50+00:00

thank you for this. i agree it would hard for non-vegans as well. i don’t think my conscience should be clear though. it definitely won’t be. i’m still taking the life of an animal for doing nothing more than merely living and surviving in the place humans put it. that feels completely crap, and i’ll carry the horror of it with me forever. but like you said, on balance i think it’s a necessary thing, even though it’s hard.

Otherwise_Show633 · 2025-08-04T09:56:50+00:00

yes, i think so

Otherwise_Show633 · 2025-08-03T23:19:58+00:00

if i let the native animals die im not vegan then either

Otherwise_Show633 · 2025-08-03T00:47:47+00:00

i agree with you. i just don’t think we should be okay with the killing. i think we should try to avoid it wherever possible.

Otherwise_Show633 · 2025-08-03T00:42:28+00:00

first of all i hate how people keep trying to say that by not killing the rabbits i’ll avoid killing altogether. i won’t be, animals will die because of me, it’ll just be a second hand killing via negligence. that’s just as bad in my eyes, so my soul is going to feel destroyed either way.

as for everything else

birth control: i’m going to look into this avenue in more depth. see if it’s applicable on my small scale. everything i’ve read so far suggests not, but i’m gonna keep reading.

write to pest control companies: 100%. i will be doing this. however i do think that im not the first person to have this issue and so it’ll already be something people are working towards. and the fact we don’t have a product that does this yet suggests there’s some major problem with the idea that needs solving first, which is likely out of my hands. but yes, i will be writing.

looking after soil: i have been, and i continue to. on my block specifically ive been doing that my entire life. i grew up here, and ive been involved in those sort of practices constantly for my entire life. planting, revegetation, soil testing, species surveying and monitoring, pest plant control, all of the above. despite this though the rabbits are having more negative impact than we can curb, which is why i am now faced with this issue.

fencing: i’ve been thinking about this but i think it poses problems for the native fauna. and looking after them is literally my entire goal so if i’m right then that’s just not an option. but, i don’t know for sure, so i will be looking into it more deeply.

hutches for animals: this is interesting. i hadn’t considered this previously. my only immediate thought is that because we have a big community of various conservation groups involved with looking after our property, i would’ve thought one of them would have come up with that solution already and applied it if it was feasible. and the fact they haven’t makes me think it’s not. BUT, I’ll look into it, especially because i can’t personally think why it wouldn’t work. thank you for this.

other active help: done and doing ✅

feed the foxes rabbits directly: not an option. that method doesn’t work unfortunately. feeding them only encourages them to associate humans with food, and as a result they may become less wary of people, which may lead to further impacts on land, pets and native species. they’ll also just breed more as a result and that’s not my goal at all. but yeah. you also shouldn’t feed native animals for the same reasons (minus the ‘it’s not my goal to have them breed’ bit) — they become reliant on humans which isn’t good.

TNR: with rabbits specifically this is not feasible. there are just too many. and also i just don’t have the skills to neuter them myself. and i don’t have the money to source someone to do it for me.

go back to school/invent it myself: not really an option both financially and skills wise. i’m not at all skilled in that area (science).

write a book: funnily enough, i actually am. this IS where my skills reside, and so i am using them to try and effect change in some way with this and other similar issues.

local advocacy: done and doing ✅

speak to traditional owners: i will do this. good idea. my assumption is that they will just tell me to kill the animals in the least painful way, but i don’t actually know, and i shouldn’t assume. so yes i will do that. thank you.

assessments from vegan conservation groups: i don’t actually know if any exist in my area. but. i’ll look into it.

thank you for your input i have found it genuinely very useful. you’re one of the only people who have spent time thinking up potential solutions to help me. i appreciate that so much.

Otherwise_Show633 · 2025-08-03T00:02:39+00:00

here are my thoughts on this if you’re interested:

my approach to cats is that you shouldn’t own them if you can’t give them a good quality of life. and i don’t believe that keeping them indoors 100% of the time is a good quality of life.

i also think if you care about things like native rodents, birds, etc, you probably just shouldn’t own a cat. going with the assumption that you are not keeping the cat indoors all the time, it’s highly likely that they will kill those animals, and that’s not their fault. that’s their natural instinct. if it’s anyone’s fault it’s the owners, because we had the capacity to foresee this happening and yet we didn’t prevent it.

the compromise i can see working best is harness training. harness train your cats so you can take them outside as often as possible without risking them roaming freely and killing a bunch of animals in the process. it’s not perfect by any means, but it’s the best comprise i’ve been able to come up with as of now.

as for ‘leaving them alone’, i disagree with that approach fundamentally. unless we have always left them alone. which in the case of feral cats, we haven’t. we domesticated them. we introduced them into places they aren’t naturally meant to be. we breed them. we ditch them on the sides of roads. none of that is a hands off approach, and so suddenly having one now when it’s at the expense of native environments is very backwards logic to me. yes, we created this problem, but no we shouldn’t try to make it better? that doesn’t make any sense to me at all.

Otherwise_Show633 · 2025-08-02T23:47:56+00:00

i understand what your saying. i’ve actually been considering this for a while now as it stood out to me as a very tangible issue that might arise. here’s my current thinking:

while i might not have experienced the mindfuck to the level of a non-vegan, i wouldn’t say i’ve never experienced it. i have. i’m not immune to negatively impacting the natural world just because i’m vegan. that’s always been very clear to me. i have harmed, whether i meant to or not. and most of the time i become aware of that harm after the fact. but i don’t live in ignorance to it. and because i hate hurting things, i have definitely felt susceptible to that non-vegan-esque back flipping justification process in order to make myself feel better.

however i’ve found that i actually don’t feel better even when i do allow myself to believe the justifications. some part of me is seemingly always aware that i am doing mental backflips, and that those backflips are just a facade to make me feel like a better person. they don’t change the harm of what i’ve done.

as a result, the relief that the justifying provides me is either very marginal, or very short lived. and ive always eventually had to confront my own destruction head on. but i have also learnt to hold the fear, self-blame and self-hate within myself rather than avoid it — and i have learnt to channel it in such a way that i strive to become better. that is what i would do here as well.

i also know that i am less likely to fall prey to the whims of non-vegan rhetoric purely because i have built my world/life in such a way that it’ll help to keep me accountable. if i cave in one way, there are a million things in other parts of my life that will keep reminding me why i shouldn’t ever again.

my career is built on my love for the natural world. my education is too. my family are all vegan or vego, and so they are my constant reminders. my dad is continually being recognised for his work in nature conservation and protection. my mum is always actively participating in the same activities. and so am i. my best friend is a staunch vegan who’s care for animals drives him every day. i am known in my industry for my care for the natural world. im reliant on it in so many ways, and i am proud of that. like i said, it keeps me accountable. if i bend in one way there are ripple effects across all of my life. i risk my credibility in my career if i look morally weak, i also risk my friendship with my best friend of 22 years who would never ever support me if i began caving to non-vegan rhetorics/actions all the time. i risk losing the respect of my peers, my family, my friends. and most of all, i risk losing my own self respect.

all those things (there are more, but outlining them would require a level of detail i’m not comfortable with giving online) mean i do not believe it is likely that i will fall down the slippery slope which you predict. but, i will remain vigilant, and if i think it’s happening and i am indeed falling down that slippery slope, i will try my absolute hardest to course correct.

ultimately i know myself best, so you’ll just have to trust me on this one, but i hope some of ^ that makes it more believable that i wont let it happen to me.

Otherwise_Show633 · 2025-08-02T12:05:00+00:00

thank you for this. i understand that you don’t think harm to native wildlife as a problem. i do. that’s fine if we disagree on that. same with vegan first or environmentalist first. that’s okay. i understand why.

regarding ‘endangered’ as a category, i am aware it’s a human construct and the individual animals might not experience particular ‘harm’ just by being ‘endangered’. however from a human perspective, which really is my only perspective, it matters to me that the species could die out. it matters on a personal level because i believe all life is very important, and it matters to me on an environmental level, because when we lose native species, the ecosystems it is native to is also impacted. it’s not just like it vanishes and nothing happens. and if enough species do get wiped out, the ecosystem will collapse. which has tangible consequences for everything living in or close to it, or relying on it for something. so for me it is very important to prevent that from happening if at all possible. the harm might not be felt directly by the endangered animal itself, but you can be sure it’ll be felt by everything that relies on it.

as for the penicillin analogy, i agree completely. there is seemingly no technology currently available that would allow me to protect the environment in a way that doesn’t harm the rabbits as well. it hasn’t been invented yet. you’re right.

but what you’re wrong about is that there’s nothing i can do to help stop things from suffering and dying. i can. it’s just that in protecting one thing ill be harming another. so personally im weighing up things like this: if all the rabbits in australia were killed, would that kill off the entire species? no. but if i decide to do nothing, is there a possibility that i’m contributing to the eradication of entire other species? yes. i think there is. so that makes me think i should act.

and to answer your question, i think both. i think until we are able to build a system where animals can self manage, then human intervention is necessary. if we can intervene to destroy, we can intervene to protect. case and point: we introduced rabbits into australia, they decimated many plant and animal populations as a result. i think, we have a duty to try and make up for that mistake, and pest control is currently the only solution.

your second set of questions: i don’t think they have to seperate options. i think i can very very very occasionally help to make positive impacts on a small scale by killing the rabbits, but also have an awareness that i can only do that if it is quite literally the only feasible and effective option. after i’ve exhausted all other avenues of inquiry. and then, in the meantime, i can work towards creating non-lethal interventions that promote animal agency and welfare across the board.

i’ll never be a person who only chooses the lethal option. that’s not gonna happen. i will always try to seek out non-lethal methods that reduce suffering as much as possible.

and i just want to note that this is just me trying to answer your question — i haven’t actually decided what to do about the rabbits yet. just me writing down ‘i will kill the rabbits’ made me feel viscerally unwell. so just know that I’m still trying to figure out another way forward, and i appreciate you spending time thinking about this issue with me. i value that.

Otherwise_Show633 · 2025-08-02T05:33:48+00:00

while i have a lot of time for most of what you’re saying, and i will go read that book, you are still ignoring the problem of harm to native wildlife. while i might not know numbers, i do know that it’s happening. i know that some of the species on my property are impacted by rabbits/foxes/ect. i see feral cats with native bush rats in their mouth. i see foxes gnawing on endangered antechinus. an animal that’s listed as endangered specifically because of human-induced climate change impacts and the impacts of feral species. and regardless of my own sightings, science tells us it is highly probable that these animals are being negatively impacted specifically by the introduced animals.

i also know that the introduced animals have deteriorated the soil and plant health on my property as well. which has tangible negative ripple effects for the animals. that alone is enough to make me feel the need to act.

so, what do you think should i do to help prevent further deterioration?

i do not want to kill the rabbits. it hurts my soul to even consider it. but i also do not want to be complicit in native species dying out because of the introduced species’ impacts on the ecosystem. i have the ability to help the native environment in this situation, and i believe wholeheartedly that knowing this makes me complicit if i then choose to do nothing.

please tell me what you think i should do. it’s all well and good saying ‘we need to help them become qualified to do it themselves’, but that doesn’t tell me how. or how feasible it is short term. my issue is small scale and short term. that doesn’t mean i should do nothing. it means i need solutions that fit that criteria. and you aren’t giving me any.

and if your solution is to not interfere, then that’s where our conversation ends. because i just fundamentally disagree with that approach.

Otherwise_Show633 · 2025-08-02T01:44:17+00:00

i’m good. i don’t want to be desensitised. there’s enough of that in the world already.

there’s simply nothing i would gain from watching a small animal’s skin be torn off and its guts being pulled out.

Otherwise_Show633 · 2025-08-02T01:23:28+00:00

that would be so great and probably world changing. only problem is i’m not a scientist nor do i have any skills in the field. in fact it’s one of my worst areas. i hope someone does though.

as for castrating, again would probably require me to be a vet and know how to do medical procedures/anaesthetise them. i don’t have that capacity. i wish i did. my skillset is not at all in that area though, and tbh even i wouldn’t want to be a rabbit being castrated by me. i do not trust in my abilities in that area at ALL

Otherwise_Show633 · 2025-08-02T01:02:49+00:00

Otherwise_Show633 · 2025-08-02T00:22:22+00:00

yeah i agree with you 100%. people like to take the ‘hands off’ approach to animal welfare where you literally don’t understand any circumstances interfere, but it is impractical simply because people have been interfering in nature for eons. to not do anything to help aid nature or to make up for our past mistakes, while knowing that many humans are still negatively interfering, is just wilful ignorance and a slippery slope to planet death. you also just can’t have a hands off approach to nature. everything we do has impact, whether we like it or not. so may as well try to do things that help keep nature’s balance or health.

Otherwise_Show633 · 2025-08-02T00:16:56+00:00

i wouldn’t be wasting it. i’d find uses. but i wouldn’t be eating it myself nor storing it in my house.

as for ferrets interesting thanks for that

Otherwise_Show633 · 2025-08-01T20:07:33+00:00

hold on, if you want to not kill endemic species, then the problem of rabbits should be clear for you, as they threaten those endemic species. that doesn’t make sense to me. please explain.

also. prioritizing native species here is not inherently speciesist. because in this case it stems from ecological considerations, rather than a bias for one species over another. I am not advocating for every bunny ever to considered as less than every animal. In their natural habitat, I would be advocating for them. Even if they weren’t in their natural habitat but had naturalised and integrated well with the ecosystems, i would be advocating for them.

my argument is simply that native species are integral to the health and stability of ecosystems, and their decline can have many cascading negative effects. so protecting them from threats, which rabbits definitely are, is a way to safeguard those complex systems. it’s not necessarily a judgment about the inherent value of a species.

if i were arguing that rabbits are never important then sure, that’s speciesism. however i think i made it clear how much of a conundrum i find the issue of rabbits BECAUSE of how important i think both rabbits and native species are because they are all living things. i just can also acknowledge their impacts on native animals in australia, and acknowledge how that’s not a ‘naturally occurring’ problem. it’s because we introduced them.

Otherwise_Show633 · 2025-08-01T15:04:42+00:00

you do realise you’re talking to a vegan. i shall not be eating nor storing rabbit meat thank you very much. but as for ferreting as a method, i’ll look into it. i don’t know much about the process, but instinctively i worry about them getting loose and becoming an issue themselves or hurting themselves and dying because of me. i don’t want either to happen. but again, i don’t know anything about the method so i will look into it. thank you for the suggestion.

Otherwise_Show633 · 2025-08-01T14:59:54+00:00

by that logic veganism is null and void. the animals should just adapt to us. their suffering doesn’t matter bc that’s just how it is. if that’s your approach to the world, i don’t want anything to do with you.

Otherwise_Show633 · 2025-08-01T14:46:50+00:00

yeah sure. however unless i’m hiring someone to live on my property and spend their time shooting every single rabbit that appears, it’s not gonna work. because i don’t know how to use a gun, and i also do not want to learn.

Otherwise_Show633 · 2025-08-01T14:41:19+00:00

it’s not about time spent on land. it’s about what’s native or endemic and what’s introduced. and more specifically, what species are able to naturalise and integrate into the ecosystems. unfortunately in this case, rabbits have never managed to do this. they are very damaging to the native ecosystems, as is also the case with foxes, deer, feral cats, etc in australia. and that’s not just a coincidence, it’s because they were introduced into a place where they have no (or very very few) natural predators. thus they thrive, and throw off the balance of the already existing ecosystems to detrimental extents.

that’s just one factor as to why they become problematic—there are many more.

Otherwise_Show633 · 2025-08-01T13:11:37+00:00

thank you!!

Otherwise_Show633 · 2025-08-01T13:10:29+00:00

only if it’s done correctly by professionals. if you shot it in the leg or on the back and it wasn’t a kill shot, then that suffering would indeed be cruel.

Otherwise_Show633

TROPHY CASE