By GRACE DOBELL
TWO Overnewton Anglican Community College students were presented with the Premiers VCE award at the Melbourne Convention Centre for receiving some of the highest scores in the state.
Dux for 2012 Rhiannon Brooks says she was surprised to win the award for her achievement in her Australian History subject.
“I was really happy with myself, and it was just exciting to go,” she said.
After getting a 99.00 Australian Tertiary Admission Rank (ATAR) Rhiannon decided to defer a place in the Journalism course at RMIT to take a gap year.
“I’m still so tired from year 12, so I just thought I’d take a break,” Rhiannon said.
“I think a lot of kids don’t realise that you need to take a gap year to know what you want to do. I really need to love what I’m doing,” she said.
While Rhiannon is chasing a career in the performing arts, fellow student Derek Huynh hopes to become an architect once he has completed a Bachelor of Environments at Melbourne University.
“Uni is definitely harder, and there’s a lot more independence. You have to know when all the dates are and rock up to all the classes,” he said.
Derek said the freedom to be creative in his Visual and Communication Design subject helped him achieve a perfect study score.
“My VCD teacher, who helped me get a 50, was really dedicated. I remember staying after school a lot and he was always there to help,” he said.
The pair were among 12 students from the Western suburbs who joined a total of 310 recipients of the Premier awards.
Rhiannon and Derek both received study awards for students who got a some of the highest scores in one of their subjects.
