They may not have received an ATAR of 99.95 but three Illawarra school leavers did exceptionally well in the HSC for subjects they were passionate about.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Grace Sullivan, 18, of Yallah was pleasantly surprised to discover she was named on the Distinguished Achievers list for Textiles and Design, and also achieved a Band 5 in two other subjects. She was the only student from Albion Park High School to do so well.
It’s not the first time Miss Sullivan has been featured in the Illawarra Mercury. Eighteen years ago she graced the front page, a “modern medical miracle” after being born via IVF treatments.
Her father Michael was left a quadriplegic after a racing accident in 1983, and told he could never have children. After trying for 14 years, his wife Maureen finally fell pregnant thanks to medical advancements at the time.
Fast forward to today and Grace has brought joy again to her parents with early acceptance into the University of Wollongong to do a Bachelor of Social Sciences, with her main aim to become a primary teacher.
Jack Willis’s parents are also sparkling with pride after the singer-songwriter was the only student from Lake Illawarra High School to be named a Distinguished Achiever. He’s been playing guitar since age eight and started singing two years ago. He said he loved the way music made him feel, like he was in his own world.
“Year 12 was pretty stressful so I was happy when I got it done,” he said. “Music was one less pressure as I’m happy doing that ... I chose it at the start as a getaway subject to get away from the books but it ended up as my best one.”
Lake Illawarra principal Tony Hicks said Mr Willis was always a good role model and took up leadership positions, always helping the younger students out in the music room. He’s already been accepted into the Australian Institute of Music in Sydney for 2016 and will continue playing gigs at cafes, bars and weddings to help him support himself.
“My dream job is obviously something in the music industry such as a session guitarist. I have also definitely take into consideration teaching music in the future as well,” said Mr Willis.
Creativity also helped Melissa Tang from St Mary Star of the Sea College achieve big, coming second in NSW for her favourite subject Industrial Technology Multimedia. Her assessments included making animations, short-films, mock advertisements, audio production and music. Her three-year-old sister Sophia the star of her major work.
“It was 2D animation in the style of child-like drawings,” she said. “For university i’m thinking of doing Creative Arts Computer Science and blending the courses to do gaming or advertisements.”