By Tyler Wright
Three Emerald Secondary College Year 12 students have come out their VCE studies with an ATAR of 90 and above, despite challenging circumstances throughout the past three years.
College dux Emily Tilson is looking to study a general science course at Melbourne University with an ATAR of 94.45, and following that is hoping to go on to specialise in a particular science she is interested in.
“It feels pretty unreal…I don’t think it’s quite hit me yet,” Emily said of being named Dux.
“People are going in all different directions, some are looking at uni and summer trying to take a gap year…It’s a lot of celebration.”
Jade Poort is leaving her secondary education with an ATAR of 93.8, and will most likely defer study next year.
“I’m going to go into psychology… I’m going to apply and then most likely defer to take a gap year and take some time off,” Jade said.
For Jade, being able to complete her Year 12 studies in person rather than virtually was a “major relief”.
“I found that really tough because I was doing a year 12 subject [in Year 11] and there was different restrictions for Year 12s and Year 11s, so sometimes I had to come into school for only a single period of my Year 12 class and then had to go back home for the next period and miss out on some of my year 11 classes because of travel time,” she said.
“It was really hard because there were different restrictions and they were constantly changing.”
But with school assessed coursework, or SACs, being so close together throughout the year, Jade said she was able to better prepare for the exam period.
And her efforts paid off in her final results.
“I woke up right on the dot, and I was just waiting. I was so nervous. I barely slept that night,” Jade said.
“Then I woke up and I was so surprised I just didn’t know what to do with myself, [and] because no-one was awake, I was freaking out.”
In Ebony Dasler’s Valedictorian speech, she reminded those sitting before her that their toughest critic is always themselves.
“When I saw my individual scores for my subjects, If I’m honest, I was a little bit disappointed. But then when I saw my ATAR, it was very surprising to me, I was very happy with my overall score,” Ebony said.
With an ATAR of above 90, Ebony is looking to study Occupational Therapy at the Australian Catholic University (ACU).
