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 Joshua navigated Year 12 differently throughout 2021!
Introducing: Joshua Borland
Category: Social Impact & Change
School: St Stanislaus College
Career Aspiration: Law and Social Justice
Achievements
- Elected to join Bathurst Youth Council
- Appointed Youth Deputy Mayor
- Successful execution of ‘R U OK?’ campaign
What makes Joshua a Trailblazer?
In 2021, Joshua was elected to join Bathurst Youth Council. After this, he was then appointed Youth Deputy Mayor. This was a huge honour for Joshua, who was given an opportunity to represent the young people of his rural town at a local government level.
In his position as Youth Deputy Mayor, Joshua participated in many networking events and was able to voice and discuss some of the concerns of young people in his area. These included the COVID-19 pandemic, the impact of isolation and social media. Joshua managed to do this, all while completing Year 12, being a prefect and holding down a part-time job!
Being able to lead the Bathurst Youth Council was a significant achievement for Joshua. It is a source of great pride, as he is passionate about helping his local community and offering support to those in need. The Council’s large-scale ‘R U OK? Campaign is one example of how he was able to do this. The event generated major publicity from newspapers, online forums and TV broadcasters. It was highly successful in helping start conversations about being connected and united during lockdowns and isolation.
Joshua’s experiences as Youth Deputy Mayor has really helped develop his organisational skills. Through delegating roles to youth councillors, liaising with necessary stakeholders and meticulously planning out each initiative, Joshua was able to lead an organised team which was able to effectively serve their community. He believes this will be highly beneficial in his future endeavours as a leader and a teammate.
Over the years, Joshua has been involved in a range of extracurriculars, he has been an important member of college musicals, captain of the college tennis team, debating team and media team. He was also team captain of the NSW STEM championship, where they qualified as state finalists.
Joshua found online learning to be one of the greatest challenges of his final year. He struggled to find appropriate resources and support to help him juggle being an essential worker and HSC student. It was incredibly difficult to maintain motivation and stay focused on study and exams. However, as his extensive extracurriculars and work leading the Bathurst Youth Council suggests, Joshua tackled this year with incredible resilience and maturity.
After high school, Joshua aims to complete a Bachelor’s degree in Law, as he is passionate about serving the local community and championing equality.
“I wish to work with international organisations, as well as the Australian Government, to address the many inequalities faced due to individuals colour of skin, gender, religion or sexual orientation. I plan on focusing my career on promoting justice, equality and maintaining human rights.”
Because of all of his incredible achievements and the work he has done for his local community, Joshua has placed in our Top 50 Trailblazers!
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.
