After a disruptive year of learning, Year 12 students at Bowral High School have performed exceptionally well in the 2021 HSC.
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School principal Jason Conroy said he was proud of the Year 12 students.
"I'm absolutely stoked for the students and staff after these last two years," he said.
"They are the best results since my time at Bowral, I am really proud of them."
Dux of the school Bohdan Saffioti achieved an ATAR of 96.05 and was pleasantly surprised by how well he did.
"I expected a good ATAR but nothing close to that, to be honest," he said.
"The night before I was a little bit anxious, kind of like that feeling you get the night before Christmas.
"I didn't know what to say when I looked at it and it shocked me. It was very strange, to be honest."
He said his mum was over the moon with his results.
"She wasn't blown away because she knew I was going to do well," he said.
"Mum and Dad were always supportive and always believed that I could achieve this even when I couldn't see it.
"They were very happy for me."
Bohdan will soon head off to the University of Wollongong after he received an early entrance spot to study law.
His interest in law came began when he did work experience in Year 10 at a family friend's law firm.
"I instantly fell in love with it," he said.
"I found that it was suited to my work ethic and style and personality."
Top achiever Rebekah Bates placed 9th in NSW for her Construction Examination, where she was the only girl in the class.
"I wasn't expecting it to be honest," she said.
"I started in business studies but it wasn't for me and the other option was construction, so I took a leap and did that.
"I had no prior knowledge of any of the tools other than what my dad had taught me. It was a big gap in knowledge from Year 8 to Year 11 and it was quite hard.
"I had to do extra work to catch up but somehow I did it."
She also received a band six for Music.
"I was right on the edge of a band six," she said.
"I wasn't expecting that in music either because it's quite hard, especially the examination part."
Rebekah also credits her family for the support she received.
"I had a lot of support, especially for construction from my teacher and my family. My Dad is so proud.
"I really wanted to make my dad proud and that was one of my driving factors.
"I had my brother accompany me in my music exam which calmed me down."
With the HSC out of the way, Rebekah will study pre-med at university after she received an early acceptance spot.
"I want to study physiotherapy, but it's got quite a high ATAR which unfortunately I didn't achieve but it didn't really bother me because I already had early acceptance.
"Pre-med is pretty much an umbrella subject and you can get into anything from there."
Overall, 13 students were identified as distinguished achievers for getting the highest band possible for one or more courses, 20 band six results and one E4 result across the Year 12 cohort.
Bowral High School's Distinguished Achievers:
- Rebekah Bates - Music 1 and Construction Examination
- Thomas Cayzer - Earth and Environmental Science and Mathematics Advanced
- Connor Gill - Mathematics Advanced
- Samuel Heague - Entertainment Industry Examination
- Jessica Howell - Music 1 and Entertainment Industry Examination
- Alexi Lawrence - Mathematics Standard 2
- Ebony Monro - Mathematics Standard 2
- Elliot Moore - Entertainment Industry Examination
- Jasmine Moscrop - Mathematics Advanced
- Angelina Petrola - Investigating Science and Hospitality Examination (Food & Beverage)
- Bohdan Saffioti - Biology, Investigating Science, Legal Studies and Modern History
- Jakob Simpson - Mathematics Standard 2
- Peta Smith - Mathematics Extension 1 and Mathematics Advanced
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