Isabella Stansfield is a Year 12 student at Willoughby Girls High School who is one of 30 incredible Art of Smart Future Leaders from across NSW for 2018.
Our Future Leaders Program is NSW’s premier Career & Leadership program that invests in and supports young leaders in Years 10-12 at high school. The program provides mentoring, rigorous peer learning, skills development, work experience and national connections so young people can effectively answer the big question of “What am I going to do with my life when I finish school?” and develop the key skills they need to make an impact in their communities.
We recently spoke with Isabella about her goals for the future, how she’s pursuing these goals during Year 12 and much more!
When you finish school, what do you want to do?
When I finish school I would love to study a Bachelor of Addiction and Criminal Psychology in London!
What is your long-term ‘dream big’ goal?
My long-term, dream big goal is to become a practising psychologist in the juvenile justice system.Â
What has inspired you to pursue this goal?
I was inspired to pursue this goal as earlier this year I experienced a very serious mental illness and was getting help by a psychologist who was amazing!
She has completely inspired me to help people, especially children.Â
What subjects are you currently taking for your HSC?
Standard English, Biology, Society and Culture, Modern History and Studies of Religion II.Â
What is the biggest challenge you’re experiencing at school at the moment?
My biggest challenge would have to be my Society and Culture major work. I am tackling it by motivating myself to do a little bit each day!Â
What is the #1 study tip you’d recommend to other students to implement?
My #1 study tip is probably to organise my study space!
This works for me as it gets rid of all distractions, and makes me feel as comfortable and able to focus as i can possibly be. For me, background music helps a lot!Â
What extracurricular activities are you currently involved in?
I’m currently involved in netball, learning piano, tutoring, and hanging out with friends!Â
What is the extracurricular activity or project you’ve engaged with that you are the most proud of?
I have been playing Netball for almost 11 years now! I find it really amazing, because it can so easily clear my mind.
Where do you work and what has your biggest learning from working been?
I currently work doing babysitting twice a week.Â
My biggest learning from working so far is to focus on the task at hand. It doesn’t work if you’re constantly getting distracted!
What is your favourite hobby?
Gym. This is because for me, it is so so important to clear my head, especially when I’m stressed.
What is a quote that inspires you?
Choose to focus your time, energy and conversation around people who inspire you, support you and help you to grow you into your happiest, strongest, wisest self.
What does it mean to you to be a future leader?
Being a future leader means exhibiting courage and setting an example for everyone. Being able to communicate effectively is a fundamental skill to be a future leader.
A good leader will often gain the attention of an entire room, sometimes without even speaking. The ability to put up your hand and admit when you’ve done something wrong never comes easily, responsibility is definitely a key part.
About Art of Smart and the Future Leaders Program
Art of Smart is a multi-award winning provider of world-class HSC tutoring and inspirational mentoring. Recognising that excelling at school takes more than a focus on the syllabus, over the last 8 years, we have built a reputation for our holistic approach to helping students develop both strong academic foundations and critical study, exam and life skills.
Based on 8+ years of research we’ve conducted with Australia’s top students, we’ve helped over 4,000 students on average achieve mark improvements of 19.41% and help students successfully transition from school to rewarding and challenging studies & careers.
