General News
20 December, 2023
Isaac sacrifices his footy to become Dux
Isaac Wren is setting his sights on a career in physiotherapy after finishing his year as Dux of Dimboola Memorial Secondary College.
But it came at a price - his love of footy.
The eighteen-year-old received an ATAR score of 85.85 in his VCE exams.
While he was initially "a little disappointed" when he first viewed his results, as he expected better based on his performance through the year, he said after a couple of days he became more content with his final score, especially after he learned it earned him Dux.
"I learned of my results last Monday morning through the results and the ATAR website as well as by email," Isaac said.
"I learned that I was the Dux on Monday about mid-morning when the principal rang to congratulate me on my results and confirm it.
"After hearing that I had received the Dux I felt both delighted and proud that my efforts had paid off."
His score will allow him to follow his dreams.
After taking a gap year to earn money and "enjoy a well-earned break", Isaac will study a Bachelor of Physiotherapy, with hopes to open a business in the industry down the track.
Isaac completed Biology, Business Management, English, Health and Human Development and Physical Education this year, on top of Further Maths last year.
"My favourite subject was Business Management because the content was relatively easy to grasp and in many scenarios was applicable to everyday life," he said.
He said in the lead-up to exams he prepared himself by sitting many practice exams across different subjects, often timed to simulate the atmosphere he was to face at exam time.
"I would then present this practice exam to my teacher for them to mark with the aim of receiving feedback in the areas I was strong in and needed to improve on," Isaac said.
"I appreciated the dedication and support the teachers demonstrated to me during this time."
Despite his score, Isaac said his education at school wasn't always easy.
"The biggest challenge with school was definitely having the motivation to show up each day and do the work both at home and during school to stop myself from falling behind," he explained.
"By far the biggest challenge in VCE is the sheer size of the workload that you are faced with, and having the motivation to complete that work or even go above and beyond to give yourself the best chance at success."
Isaac loves playing sport, but said his passion had to take a back seat during Year 12.
"I love playing sport but thought the best way to make use of my time in Year 12 was to make more time for extra study," he said.
"That came at the cost of playing sport - which is quite time consuming - forcing me to enter premature retirement as I undertook my Year 12 studies."
Isaac said his employment, working on the checkouts at the local IGA, gave him a good outlet to prevent him thinking about his studies 24/7.