TYRRELL College graduate and school captain Lily McClelland has been named this year’s dux.
Receiving the accolade at the school’s awards night on Wednesday, Lily said she was both surprised and proud of the achievement.
“The hard work has paid off,” she said.
“It’s still a little bit surreal to think it’s all over now.”
Helping out with her family’s harvest was a big distraction in the lead-up to the release of her Victorian Certificate of Education results, which were released at 7am on Monday.
Having had very little sleep, an exhausted Lily was one of 51,214 students statewide to log on to the system to receive her long-awaited VCE results and Australian Tertiary Admission Rankings.
Happy with her results, Lily hopes to study occupational therapy at university, focusing on spinal injury rehabilitation.
Her career pathway was inspired by the movie Full Out, based on the true story of American gymnast Ariana Berlin, whose promising future was shattered by a debilitating car accident.
Lily said she became intrigued by the movie, which she watched alongside her younger sister Charli, and the health specialists who helped the gymnast overcome her injuries to again compete at professional level.
“I was going into Year 10 at the time and I remember after watching the film I did some Google searches to find out what the occupation was of the girl who helped the gymnast walk again.”
It turned out to be a life-defining moment for Lily, who has had her heart set on becoming an occupational therapist ever since.
The inspiring film is an uplifting story of persistence, confidence and courage in overcoming adversity.
Faced with her own challenges throughout Year 12, Lily displayed many of the attributes portrayed in the film following the death of her grandfather.
He was diagnosed with an aggressive cancer at the start of the year.
“It was pretty tough and hectic, and at times school really wasn’t my priority,” Lily said.
“We didn’t know how much time we had left with him and I missed a bit of school so that we could spend time together.”
Grieving over her grandfather while forging ahead with her studies, Lily proved she possessed the skills and resilience to ensure a bright future.
While there were difficult times, Lily said there were also lots of highlights in her final year of schooling.
She was selected to take part in the Rural Youth Ambassador Program, volunteered as a trainer with her local football-netball club and took part in the leadership program yLead.
Preparing to bid farewell to Sea Lake, her friends and family as she embarks on the next chapter of her life, Lily said she wanted to thank Tyrrell College and her teachers for helping her excel throughout high school.
“I’m going to miss everyone.”
