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 Cassandra navigated Year 12 differently throughout 2021!
Introducing: Cassandra Fayers
Category: Social Impact & Change
School: St Philip’s Christian College Newcastle
Career Aspiration: Something creative!
Achievements
- Youth Leader and Vice Captain of her school
- Qualified for the Olympic swimming trials
- Volunteered over a 1000 hrs through church, sports and fundraising events
What makes Cassandra a Trailblazer?
As a young leader Cassandra has been influential in her community from the age of 10 taking on multiple leaderships roles in most aspects of her life including being a youth leader at her church, organising fundraisers and being an advocate for mental health and gender equality within the Newcastle area as well as taking on the role of Vice Captain in her final year of school at St Philip’s Christian College Newcastle.
Cassandra was also Young Person of the Year in 2017 due to her outstanding efforts as a leader within her community.
Her passion for supporting others has resulted in her volunteering over 20 hrs every week through school, sports and church. As a leader this has seen Cassandra at the forefront of current issues where she has been working to make changes to build a better future for society surrounding gender equality, community health, the impacts of social media as well as mental health.
Cassandra’s volunteer work doesn’t just stop with her local community! Through her role as a youth leader she went on a missionary trip to the rural town of Boggabilla in far North NSW were she supported and interacted with the local Indigenous community to provide food, led worship as well taught and gardened within the community.
Outside her leadership and volunteer duties Cassandra has been nominated as sportswoman of the year 4 years in a row! She has had an impressive track record in both swimming and running and has competed nationally and has been named national champion in multiple events.
Her dedication to both swimming and running has required her to balance 30 hours a week of training alongside her volunteer work all while completing her final year at school. Her commitment resulted in her qualifying for the Olympic trials where she just missed out on joining the Australian Olympic swimming team by 1 spot.
Being so active within her community whilst training and completing her HSC did see Cassandra go through burnout midway through Year 11. Throughout the last couple years Cassandra found her mental health was being impacted, as she was navigating her way to a healthy balance in her schedule Cassandra struggled with depression and anxiety which was only heightened by the COVID-19 lockdown.
Despite her burnout and personal mental health challenges Cassandra feels most proud of her choice to stop, breathe and really focus on herself and her recovery. Cassandra was able to recover mentally, physically and spiritually by taking this time for herself, which has made her even more passionate about mental health and actively shares her story with others as an athlete, a young woman and a fighter in the hopes of helping others.
Cassandra plans to use her leadership skills to build a better future for everyone.
“I’ve learned to not take our impact and influence for granted- small change can make a ripple in a pond. Small change is still change.”
She hopes to one day work in a creative industry which supports people through art, design and film. As a creative person herself she knows it can make a real difference and be the change she wants to see.
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.