Mohammad Allah-Yari had the advantage of rich personal experience when he was asked to craft a journal entry about belonging during his first HSC exam on Monday.
The Homebush Boys High School graduate, who began the four-week exam period with more than 70,000 peers, is a refugee from Afghanistan.
"When you first come to a new country and you leave your entire life behind, it's a genuine struggle at the beginning to find connections and identify with this new culture and environment," he said after the first English exam on Monday morning. "The first time I realise my sense of belonging had dramatically changed was when I travelled to America in 2011 and I was feeling really proud to be an Australian."
Mohammad was one of about 2500 students across the state who sat an exam for English as a Second Language. Almost 27,000 students studied Advanced English, while 32,000 sat the Standard English exam.
The concept of belonging was the focus of the exam in each subject.
Advanced and Standard English candidates were asked: "An individual's identity is shaped by the way they perceive their connections with others and the world around them. How is this view represented in your prescribed text and ONE other related text of your own choosing?"
Vidhushan Paheerathan, a refugee from Sri Lanka, said it was easy to build a sense of belonging in such a multicultural school where almost 50 different languages are spoken.
"Sometimes you feel like you don't belong anywhere," he said. "But this school has provided me with everything I need to feel safe and respected. I'd rather come to school than stay at home. This is my home. Homebush actually has the word home in it."
Mohammad said Australians had overwhelmingly made him feel as though he belongs in the country he now calls home.
"The fact that we have some bigots in our community is totally outweighed by the fact that we have so many tolerant people," he said. "With the current events and the raids that happened and us going to war, it creates a bit of hysteria but I think this will go away after a while just like the animosity after 9/11 did."
Over the next month of HSC exams, 800 presiding officers will supervise 76,679 students. Two million exam booklets will be handed out and there will be 14 million written pages to be marked.
There are 116 exam papers and 750 exam centres across the state.
Board of Studies president Tom Alegounarias said the HSC was the "passport to the best education pathways in the world".
He said students would be feeling pressured but there was no need to panic.
"It is absolutely glib for any adult to say that students should stay relaxed and not worry but it is important to remember that not one question can muck up all your exams," he said.
Premier Mike Baird said students should do their best and be proud of the work they had completed.
"Remember, you have already done much of the work which will determine your final HSC result in assessments and tests undertaken during the year," he said.
Mohammad said it was a big relief to have one exam out of the way.
"My hands are probably more relieved than anything else because they were writing fiercely," he said.
Vidhushan said he had already been invited to three bonfire nights to sacrifice HSC notes.
"I would like to try it but I don't think I'll burn all my notes," he said.
The high-stakes exams continue on Tuesday morning at 9.25am with the second English paper.
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