Youth: CASSIE LIESCHKE, Smith’s Hill High School
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Cassie Lieschke is proof that some lucky people can have it all.
Next month she will be among about 400 students to attend the National Youth Science Forum.
The forum brings together Australia’s brightest young scientific minds for 12 days of activities, lab visits and debates on major scientific issues.
The students will meet top research teams at the Australian National University and visit the CSIRO’s Division of Ecosystem Sciences, the Tidbinbilla Deep Space Network and the Australian Institute of Sport.
‘‘Excelling at school work is one of the most important things to me, second only to my family,’’ Lieschke says.
‘‘A love for learning makes it enjoyable but also the saying, ‘You only get out what you put in,’ encourages its importance to me.
‘‘Most of my motivation and inspiration comes from my extremely supportive family.’’
She was part of the team that won the Junior State Debating Championships in 2011 and is hoping to enrol for a Bachelor of Medical and Health Sciences at University of Wollongong.
But the bright Year 11 student is just as likely to make the headlines at the back of the paper as in the school’s pages.
Last year, she went to Brisbane after making the NSW state team for high jump. She competed in the 18-year-old girls’ high jump at the Australian All Schools Championships and placed 10th.
She broke a 29-year-old record held by an Olympian to win the Zone title, then defended her Area and state crowns.
‘‘Eventually, I would love to represent Australia at the Olympics if I was lucky enough to have that opportunity,’’ Lieschke said.