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, get exam ready in our 1-day HSC Trials Accelerator, and so much more!
Find out how Dean navigated Year 12 differently throughout 2022!
Introducing: Dean Overton
Category: Science & Technology
School: Woonona High School
State: NSW
Career Aspiration: Software engineering
Achievements
- Started a successful NFT business
- Raised money for the Smith Family
- Year 11 House Leader
What makes Dean a Trailblazer?
Dean has balanced his time between his Year 12 studies and turning his curiosity about NFTs and cryptocurrency into a profitable business. Alongside his brother, he has sold over 800 digital art pieces, even raising money to support the Smith Family.
Furthermore, he has learnt invaluable business skills including how to engage customers through competitions and building a social network. He has managed all of this while completing Year 12 from home! Dean has been proactive in seeking work experience opportunities outside of school, joining Fiverr, a freelancing job website, in 2019.
Since then, he has worked for a robotics company and spent one of his Christmas holidays working with his brother to develop an Uber clone – in just 50 days! He taught himself the knowledge required to start his NFT business and is clearly a very driven and hardworking individual. The skills he has both acquired throughout his journey give him the opportunity to enter his chosen career field, software engineering, with already established technological and entrepreneurial abilities.
The cryptocurrency business that Dean and his brother have built has reached a community of almost 8000 people across the world. Not only has Dean learnt the technical skills required to operate the business, but he has had to develop marketing and business management skills in order to acquire profit.
By being organised, hosting competitions and events to engage customers, and engaging with an international community, Dean has created a business that is solid enough to also give back to his community; through a community art competition, he raised $100 for the Smith Family.
On an individual level, Dean’s endeavours have broadened his understanding of the business world, as he has developed a ‘bigger picture’ mindset towards the project. Beyond thinking about profit, Dean has also learnt how to be responsible for consumers’ safety, particularly regarding the malware and scams that appear in the cryptocurrency field.
A major challenge for Dean wasn’t simply managing his time between his studies and his project, but also managing a schedule that included 1am conversations with an international community. To ensure he could maintain a healthy sleep schedule for Year 12, Dean took the initiative to hire international moderators. Furthermore, he made a conscious effort to employ the Pomodoro technique to avoid eye strain and burnout when both his studies and job required him to sit at a computer all day.
“The leadership required to help and task others in a team and a community…had a huge impact on me to see ‘the bigger picture’ for our project to ensure it was successful.”
Dean plans on pursuing a career in software engineering, a field which his current NFT business and previous work experience place him in great stead for.
He has accomplished so much at such a young age, and the professional skills, as well as the personal development, he has gained from building his own business will certainly distinguish him from other candidates. Dean’s drive and passion to pursue opportunities has earned him this spot on our Top 50 Trailblazers list.
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.
