After Year 12 was all over, my sister, best friend, and myself decided to celebrate by taking a trip to Bali instead of attending schoolies – it was such a relaxing and refreshing time after such an exhausting but rewarding year.

The nerve wracking time of results being released came around very quickly and I received a score which enabled me to be accepted into my first preference at Flinders
University to study a Bachelor of Nutrition and Dietetics. I decided to defer for a year in order to have some time to work hard, enjoy my first year out of school and prepare for the next few years of study.

Little did I know that my boyfriend was planning to propose and got down on one knee at sunrise mid December at our most treasured place, King Beach Cliffs.  Despite the change of plans Covid-19 brought upon us, I had the most beautiful wedding day in June, marrying my best friend surrounded by the friends and family that mean the most to us both.

I am now working at Specsavers as an optical assistant and with plans to begin my study at Flinders University in 2021 with hope of one day being able to help others within my desired field of nutrition and dietetics, of which I am very passionate about.

I would love to encourage young people especially, to take a hold of every moment, every smile, memory and life lesson. Something this year has truly shown me since leaving school is that every moment is precious, fleeting but such a treasure.

And for every student, don’t ever underestimate the honour it is to call Encounter family – the love, support, respect and opportunities Encounter offers to its community is like no other and is something I know I will forever hold very close to my heart.