A BALANCE of hard work and fun was the common factor behind the success of students completing their Victorian Certificate of Education at the Stawell Secondary College.
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Lauren Knights was crowned the Dux of the college at the presentation night on Tuesday and said she was thrilled with the way her year had panned out.
With her best subjects being Mathematics Methods and English, Lauren obtained an Australian Tertiary Admissions Rank (ATAR) of 89.85.
Lauren said she was surprised with how well she went in English.
"I expected I would do pretty well in Maths Methods, but English was a real surprise," she said.
"It was a bit of a shock really."
Lauren said she could not have guessed she would receive such a high ATAR score, but that too, came as a pleasant surprise.
"I had no idea what to expect in terms of a score," she said.
"I was hoping for something around 80, so to get 89.85 I was stoked with the result."
Lauren is now hoping to study Engineering at Monash University next year.
"I'm sure I will have a pretty good shot at it, given my score," Lauren said.
"It is something I have always wanted to pursue."
Lauren said she had coped with the heavy workload associated with the VCE, but was able to find the right balance.
"I was able to cope with the workload. It was stressful, but I found a good balance between working and socialising, so I was able to manage that stress well," she said.
"The plan now is to find a bit of work during the summer, have some fun and combine that with a bit of a rest, as I prepare for university next year."
Titian Linley performed well in all subjects in 2014, but said her ATAR was a little lower than she had hoped for.
However, achieving a ranking of 77.30 is enough to still get Titian into the course she desires next year at university.
"My score was a bit lower than I wanted, but it's enough to get me where I want to be," she said.
"I'm hoping to be accepted into an arts course at university.
"My long term goal is to become a lawyer, so I thought if I do an undergraduate degree in arts first, then a post graduate degree in law, that would be a good plan."
Titian said she performed better in some subjects than she expected, particularly English.
Abby Kaczynski has been presented with the opportunity to change her preference for next year, given she achieved a higher ATAR than expected.
Abby achieved an ATAR of 70.60 and said it was reward for a lot of hard work.
"It was a lot more than I thought I would get," she said.
"I didn't think I had done that well, so I thought about 60 would be the mark. It was a nice surprise to get above that. The score clearly gets me into the course I had originally chosen, which was teaching.
"Now I have achieved such a good score, I'm going to change my preference to Occupational Therapy."
Abby admitted it had been a tough year, but the combination of study and having time with friends created an excellent balance.
She said everyone in VCE this year helped each other through.
"It was a very tough year but at the same time, we all stuck together and got through it," Abby said.
"I had a good balance of hard work and some fun, I think we all did and this proved very important in the end. I was very happy with how the year went."