Ethan Ilievski is living proof home-schooled children can succeed in the classroom.
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But the 19-year-old is quick to point out that he has learned a lot during his two years at Five Islands Secondary College in Port Kembla.
The Mercury spoke to the Coniston teenager on Tuesday after he completed his HSC business studies exam.
Ethan will sit for ancient history, his final HSC exam on Thursday.
The college Dux, who won the 2019 Esteemed Principal's award and various faculty awards, said being home-schooled made him the student he is today.
"It shaped the student I am today," Ethan said.
"It definitely helped, especially for my research skills because there was never a teacher there to help me and I had to find out a lot of stuff on my own.
"So I guess being home-schooled forced me to be self-driven and independent."
Ethan was home schooled from Year 1 to Year 8 and then did distance education from home in years 9 and 10 before transitioning to FISC for years 11 and 12.
"The only reason I was home-schooled in the first place is because I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes in kindergarten," he said.
"At the time I had two siblings and my mum was pregnant. It was hard for my mum to manage everything because she had to come down to the school to check I was eating right and looking after myself so we decided it would be easier if I was home-schooled so she could manage it there.
"It was originally going to be a temporary thing but after a while it actually started working out and everyone liked it so we just kept doing it."
Ethan said he also enjoyed doing distance education.
"The best part was that it got me used to having a structured school curriculum. I had to work to deadlines and a structure which was important," he said.
Transitioning to Five Islands Secondary College was also relatively easy.
"I actually found it an easier transition than I thought it would be," Ethan said.
"Having to go somewhere every day is a bit of a change but it wasn't that difficult of a change.
"I found the school really easy to transition into. There wasn't any hostility or difficulties thrown at me, everyone was pretty welcoming."
Ethan also reckons he has done alright in his HSC exams to date.
"I'm pretty happy with how I've done so far. I don't feel like I've stuffed up any of the exams, so that's a good sign," he said.
The pressure to perform is somewhat off for Ethan, who has already been accepted to study at the University of Wollongong next year.
Agron Latifi
Wollongong born and bred. I love reporting about the Illawarra region and have been doing it for more than 20 years. I've moved into sport recently after covering the education round for the last five plus years for the Illawarra Mercury. It's been a great pleasure.
Wollongong born and bred. I love reporting about the Illawarra region and have been doing it for more than 20 years. I've moved into sport recently after covering the education round for the last five plus years for the Illawarra Mercury. It's been a great pleasure.
