Inner west students shine at First in Course awards

Students from Burwood Girls High, St Patrick’s College in Strathfield and Newtown High School of Performing Arts all did their schools proud in the First in Course awards

Laurence Neuhaus and Alifa Imagine Abdul Azis at the First in Course awards at UNSW. (AAP Image / Monique Harmer)

LAURENCE Neuhaus was already on a high after hearing he’d been just one of 10 Australians to make it into the New Zealand School of Dance.

So the Newtown High School of Performing Arts student couldn’t have been happier when he found out he had topped NSW in dance.

Students who topped this year’s High School Certificate where honoured today in a First in Course awards ceremony at UNSW.

Laurence, 18, came equal first with Zoe Harrison from Pymble Ladies College in the subject of dance.

“It is quite a competitive subject but I have the passion and the love for it and that’s why I think I got the result I did,”he said.

His secret to success was “just enjoying it”.

“You have to make sure you have enough strength and that you’re at your optimum level of fitness but making sure you’re not too stressed and being relaxed and not overthinking it is important.”

Laurence started doing ballet when he was seven and has never looked back.

“I love how I can be really creative, especially through choreographing my own dance and the freedom the art form brings.

“My dream is to be in a contemporary dance company either in Australia or overseas and being creative and doing something I love every day.”

Elliot Malyon topped NSW in Design & Technology. (AAP Image / Monique Harmer)

Burwood Girls High students Alifa Imanina Abdul Azis and Anusha Ojha topped the State in Indonesian in Context and Korean Continuers, respectively.

Alifa said she could not have achieved that without the encouragement of her parents Cynthia and Abdul, who are from Jakarta.

“It’s almost testament to their hard work as well,” she said.

“My parents were equally as invested as I was and doing Indonesian has made me a lot closer to them.

“I was glad to have a subject I could immerse myself into and gain a deeper understanding of my culture because although Indonesia and Australia are close geographically, culturally they’re worlds apart.”

Repetition, practise and hard work were the keys to her success.

“Pace yourself and stay consistent so don’t burn yourself out at the beginning of the year.

“Try your best but don’t let the HSC dictate your future because it’s not everything.”

But she was “shocked” to learn she had come first in NSW after failing to finish the last question in the exam.

Alifa, 17, plans to study speech pathology.

Elliot Malyon’s first preference was to study communications at UTS but he may rethink his decision now after topping the state in design and technology.

The Sydney Secondary College (Blackwattle Bay campus) student impressed markers with his major work; a bike rack integrated with a locking device.

He got the idea when his mate’s bike was stolen and feels the device could be picked up by councils, schools and many more.

“The number of people cycling is increasing and the number of bikes being stolen is going up as well,” he said.

His advice for others doing their HSC is to have hobbies outside school.

“I play tennis and hang out with friends. You need to have a balance because just focusing on work will burn you out easily.”

Zachary Joel Saric from St Patrick’s College in Strathfield came first in Entertainment Industry Examination.

The remaining 76,700 students who sat their HSC this year will receive their results by SMS, email or online from 6am tomorrow.