Seamus Connon: Marcellin College student named best in NSW
Having suffered three concussions in a month playing AFL, Seamus Connon was struggling to remember what he had learnt in class. But the teen played an absolute blinder in his HSC, winning over examiners with his major project idea.
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Marcellin College Randwick student Seamus Connon hardly had the greatest of preparation for his HSC.
The aspiring AFL player suffered a month of concussions, hard knocks, and hospital trips as the gutsy midfielder turned out for his Eastern Suburbs Bulldogs.
But despite it all, the 18-year-old from Maroubra blitzed the HSC in Design and Technology, topping the state in the subject.
Students who came first in a course in this year’s HSC were honoured on Monday in a First in Course awards ceremony at UNSW, attended by Premier Gladys Berejiklian and Minister for Education Sarah Mitchell.
The honour came as a complete surprise to the keen surfer - who thought he was on the end of a prank call when the NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA) gave him the news.
“I got three missed calls when I was working at the surf school down at Maroubra,” he said. “I gave him a call back and he was like ‘Yeah mate you’ve come first in Design and Technology’, and I thought he was joking. I was like someone’s pulling my leg…but it was sick,” he said.
Mr Connon topped all other students on the course despite suffering three concussions in a month while playing for the Bulldogs.
“I was playing really hard and I was in the midfield, so I was just getting a lot of head knocks,” he said. “The first week I got a head knock I vomited everywhere, out of the car on the highway. And we had teammates behind me, so I had to get someone to drive me home in my car.”
The sporting all-rounder was knocked out another two-consecutive weeks in the lead up to HSC trial examinations, resulting in a visit to hospital.
“It was more mental stuff. I couldn’t remember a lot of things,” Mr Connon said. “My recall was gone, and when I was studying in class I had little to no attention. And that just before trials is a big challenge,” he said.
Despite this, Mr Connon still delivered a major project that was a winner with HSC examiners.
He designed a waterproof backpack made out of neoprene – a material often used in swimsuits.
He said he was inspired by his work as a Maroubra lifesaver and surf coach.
“I always saw a need for people to take stuff in the water, like first aid and water and food. You’re just out there for three hours on a shift and you’re so thirsty and can’t come in,” he said.
He now has plans for the backpack to be manufactured on a large scale.
“We’re working on the patent right now. Hopefully we will be able to get that on the market sometime next year.”
He also praised his teacher, Benjamin Toohey.
“We were really close because he’s a surfer as well, he was always down in the water with me,” he said.
“I’m so excited to tell him [that I came first]. He’s an absolute legend.”
Outside of his entrepreneurial ambitions, he said he is tossing up between a design degree at The University of Technology and The University of New South Wales.
When asked to divulge the secret to his HSC success, Mr Connon simply responded: “Passion”.
The remaining 75,000 students who studied one or more HSC courses will receive their results by SMS, email and online tomorrow morning at 6am.