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 Farrah navigated Year 12 differently throughout 2022!
Introducing: Farrah Wahidin
Category: Social Impact & Change
School: St Ursula’s College, Kingsgrove
State: NSW
Career Aspiration: Biomedical engineer
Achievements
- Passionate social justice advocate tackling the issue of homelessnes in Australia
- Over 100 hours of community service
- Volunteering at a variety of organisations including St Vincent De Paul’s Society, Breast Cancer Network Australia, Westmead Children’s hospital and One Meal
- Student leader for the past 3 years
What makes Farrah a Trailblazer?
Farrah is a passionate social change maker, tackling important social issues through hundreds of hours of community service and volunteering. Instigated by her desire to speak out about the issue of homelessness within Australia, especially after the COVID pandemic, Farrah has led the organisation through a multitude of fundraising events for a variety of organisations.
From sausage sizzles to winter hampers these fundraising events have raised a large sum of funds for St Vincent de Paul’s Society while simultaneously increasing awareness on the causes of poverty and inequality. Amongst these, Farrah was also actively involved in the organisation and running of a community market stall night, which had over 50 stalls, had over 500 attendees and raised over $12,500! This event was a massive success, raising awareness on breast cancer detection and treatment, funding research into this disease which has and continues to affect many members of our community.
In addition to this growing list of amazing work, Farrah has also been a passionate participant in her school’s Aspire program which provides academic mentorship and emotional guidance to junior students as they navigate their first years of high school and has been a weekly volunteer for ‘One Meal’s’ meal service – an organisation that helps feed, clothe and support the homeless, underprivileged and disenfranchised members of our local community.
Through Farrah’s volunteering experience, she has been given the opportunity to make connections, exercise her leadership, communication, teamwork and organisation skills, and has been shown first hand, the issues that are present in today’s society. However, seeing this has only made her more passionate to make and inspire change – seen through her extensive community service.
“Through my volunteer work with organisations that have tackled homelessness, cancer, and by immersing myself within my local community and talking to people who have experienced hardships first hand, many barriers of ignorance that I have previously held have been broken down, and I have developed a heightened sensitivity to justice issues.”
Like many of us during COVID lockdowns, there was an added emotional burden on Farrah as she was not able to go to school, and felt isolated and disconnected from her peers. However, despite this, she persevered and continued to give back to the community!
In the future, Farrah would like to become a biomedical engineer and continue to give back to the community in a unique way.
Farrah’s dedication and passion has allowed her to seal her spot as one of our Top 50 Trailblazers 2022!
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.
