One of the girls that I have been tutoring at the high schoool decided to drop out three weeks before the exams start.  I have to confess I feel a bit disappointed.  I certainly spent a lot of time and effort with her.  However, my time and effort are really irrelevant here and probably just about ego anyway.  Mostly I feel a bit sad for her. Not that I believe having a SACE (the equivalent of the HSC here in the Territory) is everything but it sure does make things easier not to mention gives people a sense of satisfaction to finish.  And she was so close but could no longer take the pressure, she didn’t believe that she could do it.  I really wish that there wasn’t so much pressure put on young people at this time.  I know mostly teachers, parents etc are just trying to encourage them, I am too, but so often it comes across as simply pressure.