Education is the means by which young people encounter their future. Narrowly, it implies the acquisition of knowledge and skills that will be instrumental in professional careers that are pursued beyond the years of school, which in the New South Wales context are in the aftermath of the consuming challenges of the HSC. Success in this area brings with it access to cultural capital – that is, entry to social connections, employment and opportunities that are in due proportion to respective income streams and through them, arguably, happiness and well-being. The latter is anything but a linear equation.