ZOE Steicke’s lifelong dream of studying medicine is within reach after she was named Swan Hill College’s dux for 2023, achieving an Australian Tertiary Admission Rank score of 94.2.
The aspiring medical student said that her brother achieved dux at the same school in 2015 and that the support at the school to reach her goals was fantastic.
“I was over the moon with the results and all the hard work over the years has finally paid off,” Zoe said.
“I was just hoping for anything above 90.
“From a young age, I have always wanted to do medicine, but it was only in Year 7 when I first got dux that I realised I do have the academic ability to get into medicine.”
The daughter of local fruit farmers is looking forward to returning to regional towns and helping people and regional communities like Swan Hill that have supported her on her academic journey.
On Monday, the Victorian Tertiary Admissions Centre released the ATAR results to 45,239 students who have been awarded the VCE and met the requirements to receive an ATAR in Victoria.
Swan Hill College’s 84 Year 12 students who were eligible for an ATAR achieved very good results, with more than 50 per cent of them receiving an ATAR score of more than 70, which exceeds the state average of 69.41.
Senior school manager, Dylan Kiel, said they were really pleased with the result as one of the goals of the school is to increase their median scores.
“That shows us that what we are doing is working and the kids are taking on that feedback,” Mr Kiel said.
“We have been doing things like looking at study plans, study habits and set up before school, after school and lunchtime study.
“We also have staff that have been involved in marking external exams before and they talk to the Year 12s about how to answer the questions and how to tackle the questions and feedback on how to approach the exam.
“The teachers here go above and beyond and that is matched by the kids as well, they have worked really hard and those results are reflective of the effort that the kids have put in.”
