By XAVIER SMERDON
TWO Werribee students have overcome their own personal struggles to be recognised as some of the best in Victoria.
Natalie Graham and Salomi Ganthala from Heathdale Christian College in Werribee received a VCE Premier’s Award earlier this month for scoring perfect 50s in their VCE Sports and Recreation class.
The scores placed them amongst the top three students for that subject in Victoria, with only eight others receiving a score in the 40s.
Natalie said an injury she received led to her to choose the subject.
“I picked it because I want to be a physiotherapist and this subject will help me work towards that area. It gave me a little bit of a head start,” Natalie said.
“I got an injury playing sport and I had to go to the physiotherapist so I thought that sounds like a pretty good job.”
Salomi said receiving a 50 for the class was particularly rewarding after her dad suffered from a stroke last year.
“For me it was really special because my dad was sick at the start of the year so it was a really stressful time,” Salomi said.
“It was really great to be able to see that result and see the huge journey that I had been on.”
Salomi’s father has now recovered from his stroke and shared in the pride of his daughter’s academic results.
The girl’s skills were also tested when they travelled to New Zealand to take part in two gruelling treks.
One of the treks took 30 hours to complete.
