While thousands of NSW school students nervously awaited the release of the results of their HSC on Thursday morning, one Monaro student was celebrating early, as the brightest sparks of the 2017 HSC were recognised at a First in Course ceremony held in Sydney on Wednesday.
The months of hard work have well and truly paid off for Monaro High student Emily Blyton, 18, of ‘Hillfarm’, Nimmitabel, who was awarded with first place in the state for the Primary Industries Examination course.
The course, which is mostly concentrated on practical learning of agriculture, had Emily undertake work experience at Monaro Wool, Cooma, and on the family farm, a wool and commercial cattle operation.
Emily says the hands on approach to teaching agriculture provides students with the relevant practical skills to succeed in the industry.
“I have lived on the farm my whole life. My Dad and Granddad brought me up working on the farm, so I am very interested in the industry.”
“The course has a big focus on pests and diseases in livestock. You go hands on with a lot of different practices. We learnt drenching, vaccinating and mustering skills as well as spraying and plant management.”
The course also provides students with a Certificate 3 in Agriculture.
Emily hopes that her success in the Primary Industries course, will contribute to a positive HSC result overall.
“It’s a pretty good feeling. I went in to the exam thinking that I had a good shot of doing pretty well, so it was great to get the call telling me I had come first in the course.”
“I worked really hard and studied hard because I knew I could do well.”
Emily, who was accepted via early entry into a Bachelor of Agricultural Science at Charles Sturt University, will defer university for one year to complete a traineeship with Boyce Chartered Accountants.
Her long term goal however, is to use her skills and knowledge to make a move into agronomy.
Rural NSW had a number of other winners on the day, including Darragh Newton, “Summerville”, Bourke, who achieved first in automotive.
Darragh has spent the last six years at St Stanilsaus College in Bathurst, but returns regularly to the family goat property outside Bourke.
The course took him to work placement in Bathurst, Dubbo and back home and has earnt him a diesel mechanic apprenticeship in Dubbo, which he will start in the new year.
While Darragh has a passion for all things automotive, he wasn’t expecting to top the state.
“It was a great call, it was a big suprise. The family is real excited and I’m very happy.”