BSSC Year 12 students have had a successful year.
BSSC Dux for 2019 is Isaac Alderton who achieved an ATAR of 99.1.
Isaac had set his alarm for 6:45am this morning but woke at 6:40—which was a problem because he and Caitlin Jackson, who scored 98.85, had agreed to be on the phone at 7am to get their results together.
“The email with my individual scores had already arrived,” Isaac explained, “so I checked that out and was pretty rapt.
“At 6:55 I sent a text to Caitlin once the ATAR results were up. When I saw my result I just stared at it. I rechecked my date of birth—rechecked my name—then sat there with my jaw dropped open.”
Isaac is planning to take a double degree in aerospace engineering and business management at RMIT Melbourne. His dream is to work with NASA.
Caitlin, on top of her commitment to her studies, also served as Student Leadership Team Secretary and attended the National Youth Science Forum in January. She also won a gold medal in the Australian Titration Competition, and was on the debating team.
“I’d wanted to have a few minutes to compose myself, but the results were all up by 6:55am,” she recalls. “When I saw them I did scream—just a little bit… just a quiet one.”
Her plan is to study a Bachelor of Science (Advanced Research) at Monash Uni and her long-term plan is to work as a physics researcher.
Tilly Munro-Lawrence who is also a member of the Student Leadership Team, scored 97.7.
Like Caitlin, she has immersed herself is extra-curricular activities while at BSSC and was a much-valued member of the Student Leadership Team. She also undertook the training to become a BSSC Inclusion Ambassador.
Tilly was with a friend as the 7am deadline rolled around, having a laugh and feeling good about things, but resigned to the fact that “it is what it is”. She admits to being very excited when she saw just how well she’d done.
Tilly plans to take a gap year and then study Psychology and Social Work at RMIT. Her long-term goal is to work as a psychology researcher.
While BSSC Principal, Dale Pearce, said it was a lovely experience to be able to congratulate students who achieved outstanding ATARs, there is another side to the day.
“You can see how pleased and excited these students are, but you also know some students will be extremely disappointed. Even students who have done really well may have missed out by one or two points on the cut-off for a course they want to study.”
BSSC congratulates all its graduating students as they prepare to launch into the next phase of their lives.
