Students cross fingers
THE countdown is on for hundreds of recently graduated Townsville students, with OP scores released in less than a week.
Many are excited to see the numeric result of their dedication to their studies, none less than six high- achieving St Margaret Mary’s College students crossing their fingers for university offers.
Emily Daumuller, Maddy Zanussi, Sinead Rush and Elise Rawlinson are all praying for an offer into a Bachelor of Medicine at JCU, Sascha Pressley has her fingers crossed to be accepted into JCU’s Bachelor of Clinical Sciences and Kaely Hoult is hoping for a place in a Bachelor of Engineering course at UQ.
“I think we’re all nervous, but know we can’t change anything about it now,” Maddy said.
For the four girls who have applied to study medicine, entrance interviews added an extra layer of stress.
“We’ve all had our inter- views, we’re just hoping for the best,” Emily said.
Aspiring clinical scientist Sascha said she could empath- ise with the pressure placed on hopeful med students.
“I’m not feeling as nervous as everyone else because I’m not applying for medicine and I don’t need an OP1, but I’m still really nervous because I want to get the best OP I can,” she said.
Hopeful biomedical engineer Kaely said the demand for places at the university in Brisbane added pressure.
“They have a set OP for my degree, but you never really know because there’s so much competition down there,” she said.
The girls said they couldn’t wait to continue to contribute to women excelling in STEM- related careers. “We’ve been encouraged to go into these fields that previously women haven’t been encouraged to go into, and I think you’re going to see a lot more going into in the future,” Sascha said.
“I think the school has played a big part in building up our confidence and making sure we know we can achieve whatever we want to, and that our gender doesn’t define how we live the rest of our lives,” Emily said.
The scores are due for release on December 16.