By Matthew Sims
Bleary-eyed and nervous Year 12 students across Maribyrnong and Hobsons Bay discovered their results for the year on Monday, December 12.
Williamstown High School principal Gino Catalano said he was “extremely pleased” with the students’ results.
“We had three perfect study scores across accounting, media and English language,” he said.
Mr Catalano said while the COVID-19 pandemic brought with it a number of disadvantages over the past couple of years, there was also a number of benefits, including more teachers providing individual feedback and a more personal focus.
“They’ve just gone above and beyond,” he said.
The school’s VCE cohort broke the school’s record of above-90 ATAR scores, with 38 students achieving a score of 90 and above, while 80 students received a score of 80 and above and 80 students received study scores above 40.
The school’s dux was Shirley Lin, who achieved a score of 99.7 and raw study scores of 50 in English language and accounting.
She said she was not expecting to receive such a high result.
“Honestly, I’m still a little bit in shock,” Ms Lin said.
She said she was torn between direct entry medicine at Monash University or dentristy at La Trobe University.
Ms Lin said she would thank all of her teachers, including her English language teacher Tim Lilley and accounting teacher Shao Chen.
“Every teacher that I had have really helped me and motivated me,” she said.
Fellow Williamstown High School student Neve Sterjovski also overcame personal hardships to achieve a high score of 96.2, as well as a study score of 47 in Mathematical Methods and chemistry.
Diagnosed with chronic fatigue at the age of 10 and postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome [POTS] at the age of 14, she said she received a lot of support from the school community.
“I have difficulty and walking over long distances,” Ms Sterjovski said.
“When I stand up, my blood vessels tightedn and my heart beats faster than it should.
“I’ve had a lot of support, including special exam arrangements.”
She said she was “very grateful” to the school community for helping her achieve her results towards her plans to enter pharmaceutical science.
“I feel proud of this result,” Ms Sterjovski said.
Footscray High School’s dux was Tori Ruwoldt, with a score of 99.8 and raw study scores of 50 in psychology, 47 in German and 46 in economics and English language.
She said she felt a mix of relief and shock when she received her result in the early hours of Monday, December 12.
Ms Ruwoldt said she was grateful to return to in-person classes this year after the remote learning systems in place during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It was really tough doing online learning,” she said.
“It was such a relief to move back into the classrooms.”
Ms Ruwoldt said the support she received from teachers contributed to her success.
“I owe it to all my teachers being available during the lockdowns,” she said.
Ms Ruwoldt said she was hoping to get into Monash University’s medicine undergraduate course.
Bayside P-12 College student Addis Phan was this year’s dux for the school.
He said it was “very exciting” to see his results and learn he was the top achiever at his school.
“I didn’t sleep at all,” he said.
Mr Phan said he was tossing up between studying radiography and medical imagery, education and engineering.
