What was your greatest accomplishment in high school?Winning the
Class Clown sash at year 12 formal.
Okay. Serious answer - being music captain.
I was never really into leadership positions (responsibility scares me), and never even did stuff like SRC. I applied for music captain because
I lost a bet, and unexpectedly ended up getting it.
What was your most memorable event in high school?2017 musical production -
We Will Rock You.
This was the first time I was casted as lead, and it wasn’t just any lead – he was a freaking reincarnation of FREDDIE MERCURY. I got to sing his vocals for so many Queen songs, including
Bohemian Rhapsody, We are the Champions, I Want to Break Free, and of course,
We Will Rock You, and that was by far the most amazing experience of my life.
Our 2018 musical was cool as well, and playing the lead villain was a whole new experience. It doesn’t compare with channelling Freddie Mercury though.
Year 12 formal was also quite a memorable experience.
What was your favourite / least favourite extracurricular activity?Favourite(s): Jazz band and cross country.
Whenever I tell people I do cross country they say “
What? You can do sport? But you’re a theatre kid!”
Jazz band is just awesome. ‘nuff said.
Least favourite: Stage crew.
I did this in year 8, as I came to the school midway through and the musical cast has already been decided. This was torture.
What was one class you’ve always looked forward to / dreaded going to?Looked forward to: Before VCE – music, PE (prac). Now – history.
Dreaded: Before VCE – Japanese, PE (theory). Now – global.
What was your most embarrassing moment?Year 11 - Our drama teacher was leaving and on his last day, a bunch of us theatre kids did a re-enactment of the
‘O Captain, My Captain’ scene from
Dead Poets Society, except the desk I was standing on turned out to be a
prop that was NOT designed to hold weight. You can probably imagine what happened next.
What’s your funniest story about a teacher?I think I’ve talked about this on AN before.During a maths test in year 8 our supervisor was a sub, and being the mathematically challenged individual I was, I copied off my sister. Our sub saw, and dragged both of us out, but instead of a lecture on cheating, she lectured us on DATING. Needless to say, it was
super awkward.
She later became a full time teacher at our school. Fast forward to 2018 and guess who’s my methods teacher??
We’re cool now lol. She was the teacher I had a ballet duet with during our
Greatest Showman performance last week.
She still hates me for being intellectually inept though.
Do you have any regrets about high school?Yes. Of course. I regret taking year 11 as a joke and not putting in any effort at all.
Another regret is quitting extracurricular activities in year 12 (Debating + Model UN). Looking back, they really didn’t take up that much time.
I also wish I talked to a lot more people. It’s just dawning on me that the people I’ve been seeing 5 days a week for the past 4.5 years are all going our separate ways and I’ll never see them again.
If you could give one advice to the younger year levels, what would it be?Participate in as many extra-curricular activities as you can, whether it be sport, performing/visual arts, public speaking etc.
Also, try out for leadership positions. They actually aren’t that daunting, speaking from personal experience as someone who has never undertaken any leadership positions until this year. They really help you with time management, problem-solving and communication skills. You also get some sick as privileges (like using the staff bathroom
) Super rewarding. Even if you don’t get the position, just trying out is better than not doing anything at all.