Receiving a high ATAR (Australian Tertiary Admission Rank) is an achievement for any student, but for Elly Unicomb, who suffers from profound hearing loss, success is particularly sweet.
After contracting meningitis when she was 18 months old, Elly was left deaf in her left ear and suffered mild to moderate hearing loss in her right ear.
Since then she has relied on a hearing aid in her right ear, and has studied with the aid of a support teacher to help with tasks such as note taking.
HSC '09 results: Meet the faces of the futureThe extra challenges have done nothing to hold her back, with the Kiama High School student scoring an ATAR of 93.05 yesterday.
"I've grown up with this so I've never known anything different," Elly said.
"I just have to do the best with what I've got and work to the best of my ability.
"I have a good group of friends, they've been very supportive, and the teachers were really good as well.
"I felt pretty confident about the exams, I put in a lot of effort."
The 18-year-old said she was thrilled with her HSC results earlier this week, which included scores of 93 in community and family studies and 93 in personal development, health and physical education.
She hopes to study at the Australian National University next year.
Elly's support teacher, Chris Brosnan, said she had worked extremely hard.
"It's been a case of sheer determination from her to achieve the level that she has," Mrs Brosnan said.
"The hearing loss has had a profound impact on her language acquisition and level of understanding.
"I'm so proud of her because it's an unseen handicap and she has had to work really hard to overcome this disability."
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