What are the Trailblazer Awards?
The Trailblazer Awards celebrates Year 12 students beyond their ATAR, recognising those who have overcome personal challenges and used their final year of school to positively impact their community.
Our Trailblazers will have the opportunity to network with industry leaders, build their personal brand and profile as a future leader, learn key career skills in our 3-day Pathfinder Accelerator, and so much more!
Find out how Amelia navigated Year 12 differently throughout 2021!
Introducing: Amelia Trkulja
Category: Social Impact & Change
School: Kiama High School
Career Aspiration: Health Industry
Achievements
- Placed 4th in the Australian Road Cycling National Championships
- Managed elite sporting commitments with HSC
- Peer Support Leader
What makes Amelia a Trailblazer?
Amelia is a passionate cyclist who has competed in high-level competitions all around Australia. In 2020 she was selected to race for a National Road series cycling team, where she competed in the Australian Road Cycling National Championships held in Ballarat, Victoria. She followed this performance up by competing in the 2021 Road Nationals, coming away with a 4th place in the Under 19 Women’s National Criterium along with a win in a Preme Sprint. Amelia gained all of these major sporting achievements while completing her final years of high school. Pretty impressive, right?
Competing as a cyclist at such a high level, Amelia has acquired numerous highly valuable skills along the way. Learning to be incredibly organised, determined and resilient – these skills have helped her excel in other areas of her life, namely managing the HSC.
“The road to get to the National Championships was long and hard, I was in the middle of completing my HSC studies in a pandemic. Despite the circumstance I stayed focused and set myself daily, weekly and monthly goals to keep motivated.”
In 2020, Amelia was also elected to be a Year 11 Peer Support leader, holding responsibilities such as mentoring younger students, assisting with class work and attending a school camp where she help the students build their confidence and team building skills.
Amelia says that her greatest challenge during Year 12 was balancing elite level sport with school. Her sporting commitments made it extremely difficult to stay on top of my schooling. Training and competitions resulted in school absences and her needing to catch up on content in her own time. Furthermore, many of her major assessment tasks were due while she was away competing. This meant she had to complete the assessments while travelling or during competition, with limited resources and support from teachers.
Amelia hopes to pursue a career in the health industry. Her experiences completing Aboriginal Studies in Years 11 and 12 has inspired her to work specifically within the sector of Indigenous Health. She recognises this is an area in need of much support and would like to help combat these issues in the future by being a nurse. Her sporting background has contributed to her passion in this area, influencing her desire to help people stay fit and healthy, both mentally and physically.
The Top 50 Year 12 Trailblazer Awards
The Trailblazer Awards aim to identify and celebrate students who use their final years of school to invest holistically in the skills and experiences that will maximise their own future opportunities and make a contribution to the future of our society.
Our winners for the Year 12 Trailblazer Awards have demonstrated initiative in volunteering for their school or community, have participated in co-curricular activities, and have held leadership positions within their schools.
Learn more about who placed in the Top 50 Year 12 Trailblazers here!
About Art of Smart Education
At Art of Smart Education, we’re an award-winning provider of holistic tutoring and mentoring for students in years K-12. Our mission is to help students answer the difficult question, “What am I going to do with my life when I finish school, and how do I get there?”
We understand that true success involves mastering study, career and leadership skills while maintaining your wellbeing, not just excelling in academics and as a result, over the last decade, we’ve supported over 10,000 students to achieve their best and maximise their options for life after school.
Each year over one million young Australians, parents, and teachers access our guides, videos and resources to navigate the journey through high school.
