roryclifford knows what he's on about.
And frankly, HSC is not the be-all-and-end-all of everything.
These days you can do transfers into just about anything, so the road to your dreams isn't cut off entirely. Just...slightly detoured (Or maybe more than slightly, for some). But that all depends on your mindset. If you have a defeatist mindset like 'oh crap, i didn't get the mark i wanted, i'll just go and flip burgers for the rest of my life', well then you're destined to not go anywhere. But if you have an optimistic attitude to things, you pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and keep soldiering on, something will come up.
And sometimes, getting 99.95 and all those high marks isn't the best thing that can happen. For example, you're an absolute genius, but have absolutely no people skills whatsoever, regardless of how smart you are, you probably won't get that far, whereas a person who might have got a 79 might have excellent people skills and will get somewhere in life because they're a pleasant person to be around and can make conversation, talk to and get along with people easily.
Also, the introverted 99.95'er will most likely not last long in the bustling uni life, whereas the extroverted 79'er will thrive.
Speaking of extroversion and introversion, how many of you have done the Myers-Briggs personality test? It's a good way (But not ultimately determinate) of showing what your personality type would be suited to, in terms of career prospects and courses, etc.
Marks are not everything. Let me repeat that. MARKS ARE NOT EVERYTHING!!!
Deal with it.