Recent Stories
Juggling it all for top scores
By Tina Luton
Harry Jennens
Juggling the demanding final years of school with a social life can be difficult for many VCE students, but former University High School student Harry Jennens found it was all a matter of timing and balance.
The accomplished juggler and acrobat, who scored an impressive ENTER of 99.95, earning him a High Achiever Award and awards for maths and English, is now studying medicine at the University of Melbourne, so he can be a doctor like his father.
He said he studied for about two hours each night, in between training three times a week with the Trick youth circus based at Abbotsford Convent.
“Circus training was something to look forward to and it really helped me to focus on my studies, because it was a great physical outlet. It was two hours, three times a week, where I didn’t have to think about anything else, just turn up and enjoy and then get back to work,” he said.
Mr Jennens said his teachers were also of enormous help because they devoted a lot of time to students and made their subjects interesting.
Joshua Cowan
Joshua Cowan is currently enjoying life in the big smoke after moving from Wangaratta to study medicine at the University of Melbourne.
“Moving to Melbourne has been fantastic and the transition has been much smoother and easier than I expected,” said Mr Cowan, who had two bites of the cherry at the recent awards ceremony, with a VCE High Achievers Award presented to him by Premier John Brumby and an award for physics presented by Governor of Victoria Professor David de Kretser.
“It was a big day,” he admits.
With an ENTER score of 99.9, the former Wangarrata High School student had several career paths he could have followed, but decided he was best suited to medicine – something his teachers also recognised and supported during his VCE studies last year.
“My teachers were fantastic. They were extremely supportive and willing to listen to any question, and they were available whenever you needed them – often over and beyond what was required,” he said.
Mr Cowan, who described himself as being “quite driven and motivated and conscientious in my work ethic”, said he spent more time trying to grasp concepts than details and survived the gruelling VCE year by not getting too “hung up in intricacies of things”.
“The teachers were aware that I am self-motivated and they let me work at my own pace, which was fantastic. They put no pressure on me, as they knew that I put enough pressure on myself,” he laughed.
“They often reminded me that I should take a break and pursue other social and sporting outlets. I also had a really good support group of peers, and that’s very important, because you’re all going through the same things, so you can relate.”
Elizabeth Hicks
The former Pembroke Secondary College student achieved an ENTER score of 99.75 and intends to spend six months travelling through India and Nepal before returning to Melbourne to study arts/law at Monash University next year.
“I am going to India to teach English as part of a GAP Australia activity project and then I want to trek in Nepal,” she said.
A self-confessed perfectionist, Ms Hicks said her drive for top marks was enhanced by the incredible support of her teachers, who told her to cut back on study and relax if they thought she was overdoing things.
“Pembroke is a fabulous school; it cares about learning for learning’s sake,” she said.
“The teachers are amazing. During VCE, they really provided that support base to motivate, structure and organise and to stop me from panicking,” she laughed.
“They gave us their email addresses so that we could contact them whenever we needed to. They even made themselves available on their days off, to ensure that they were on-hand while we were studying.”