A collective sigh of relief was shared by Busselton Year 12 students on December 18 following the release of the ATAR results.
Some of the city’s top achievers told the Mail they were ecstatic with their scores, after exams rocked their confidence.
Cape Naturaliste College graduates and friends Isobel Chappel and Jess Hoppe were able to share their success.
Isobel, 17, and Jess, 18, scored 97.25 and 96.95 respectively.
The pair have spent the last two years as ‘study mates’ and sat next to each other in several classes.
Isobel has applied for Biomedicine at UWA and Jess has applied for Physiotherapy at Curtin University.
The teens said their success was down to a combination of hard work and balance.
“I just worked on fine-tuning study habits and tried to keep on top of exam stress,” Isobel said.
“It was hard work but I allowed myself time to take a break from studying – I think it is really important, if you work too hard you can burn out,” Jess added.
Fellow Cape Naturaliste College alumni Riley Nail, 17, scored 95.45.
He said he was stoked with the result, which would set him up for a career in Engineering.
“I hoped for the best and expected the worst,” he said.
“I just tried to put work in during class and touch up on things later instead of relearning later.”
Cornerstone Christian College graduates also excelled, with three students scoring more than 97.
Matt Haagensen (97.75) used his sensational results to obtain an electrical apprenticeship with BP in Perth.
“I probably wouldn’t have got this apprenticeship without that score,” he said.
“I wanted to keep my options open as I do want to go to university one day.”
Mart van der Veen (97.1) will apply to study optometry in Melbourne.
“I’m super happy and relieved,” he said.
“My Dad was an optometrist in the Netherlands so I’ve always had an interest in that.”
All students credited their teachers for contributing to their success
The median ATAR across WA was 78.60.
