A score to save lives
College co-captain Isabel Greer hopes to study medicine after acing VCE
THINGS never stand still for Geelong College co-captain Isabel Greer.
Fresh from receiving her VCE results last Friday, where she received a 99.20 score, the 18-year-old was straight down to her local lifesaving club in Ocean Grove where she has been instructing all week for the bronze swimming course.
Saving lives is something the teen hopes to do well into the future and she is eyeing off a career in medicine. Izzy said she was delighted to see she had been given a score which will help make her dream all the more possible.
“I was stoked to see my score, it was a great way to finish off a big year,” she said.
“I was hoping for a score in the 90s, but I wasn’t quite sure where I would score, but to get 99.2 was just great.”
Izzy has long been a lover of all sports. She was an active member in a variety of school sporting teams, as well as the lifesaving club. While she took on less sporting activities during year 12, she still managed to co-captain the girls’ first soccer team.
For her efforts, Izzy was awarded The Jack B Hawkes Memorial Cup for outstanding sportsmanship, the principal’s prize for the captains of the school and the fairest-and-best award for soccer, on top of achieving school colours for tennis and water polo.
Izzy said her desire to become a doctor had largely grown from her experience around the ocean. She wants to be able to help people.
“I’d really like to study medicine,” she said. “Monash (University) would be my preference, but depending on how I go I might look interstate.
“I guess my interest is something that has progressed over time. With my involvement in the surf club, I’ve seen situations where people are vulnerable and in need of lifesaving efforts.
“It’s definitely a career where you can be stimulated scientifically, but then also have that people aspect where you need to interact with patients.”
With talents not limited to the classroom or the sporting arena, Izzy was also awarded school honours for debating and symphony orchestra. However, she said one of her greatest achievements for the year was being selected as school co-captain, alongside Thomas Page.
“I definitely loved taking on the leadership role,” she said.
“It was so good to be able to work so closely with the school and the students, it was something I really enjoyed.”
Among all of her extra-curricular activity, Izzy excelled in each of her subjects, which included mathematical methods, chemistry, French and English. She had earlier completed biology and further maths in year 11.
Together with her classmates, Geelong College recorded the highest number of students with ATARS above 99. Izzy was one of six in the 99 and over category, and 39.4 per cent of students achieved an ATAR of 90 or higher.
Individual study scores saw 19.1 per cent achieving 40 or more, and five students getting a perfect 50. Izzy said the key to a successful year was organisation and support.
“It is a challenge balancing everything and learning to Please note that not all students who receive a study score of 40 or more have given permission for their results to be published. Consequently, the range of study scores appearing in this publication is not comprehensive. ’Copyright VCAA 2017, published with permission.’ prioritise,” she said.
“It’s something that is really hard to do on your own, so you need to surround yourself with people who can support you as well as challenge you.
“There are so many challenges which hit you in year 12, not all academic, but with the right people around you to help, you can really bring out the best in each other.”