A weight was lifted from the shoulders of students across Dubbo on Friday as their Australian Tertiary Education Ranks were finally revealed.
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The release of the ATARS marks the official end of their school careers, and the start of the next adventure for those looking to pursue university study.
Outgoing Macquarie Anglican Grammar School captain Natalie Roth achieved a rank of 94.65 – one of the city’s best – and was hopeful she’s done enough to get into her desired course in 2019.
“It’s good to know that all the work paid off,” Natalie said.
“I haven’t really spoken to anyone about the results today but everyone’s really happy to have it done, and to not have to worry about the marks anymore.”
Natalie studied biology, chemistry, community and family studies, advanced English and maths, with biology her favourite.
She has been recognised as a distinguished achiever for scoring 90 or above in biology and community and family studies, alongside classmate Phoebe Jones (English extension 1). She joins 22 distinguished achievers from Dubbo College, 21 from St Johns and three from Dubbo Christian School.
But Natalie’s proudest achievement was scoring 88 in chemistry.
“I walked out of the exam and I was kind of like, I could have gone alright, but not really good,” she explained.
“But I was two marks off a band six in it … I’m pretty happy with that!”
Inspired by her parents – two health professionals – she hopes to study either medical radiography or physiotherapy at the University of Newcastle.
Natalie is excited for the next challenge, but admits finishing school is “kind of bittersweet”.
“It’s good to be done but I’m probably also going to miss it a lot. It was my life for so long and now I don’t even know what to do with myself!” she laughed, thanking her teachers for “always pushing me out of my comfort zone”.
“Without them, I probably wouldn’t be where I am.
“It will be sad to leave my friends and family … but [moving to Newcastle] will be good: the independence, and starting over.”
She wished the rest of Dubbo’s 2018 cohort all the best for the future.
“All my friends, I know a lot of them, what they want to do and I know that they’ll do really well in what they want to do.”