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 Krystal navigated Year 12 differently throughout 2021!
Introducing: Krystal Lau
Category: Social Impact & Change
School: North Sydney Girls High School
Career Aspiration: Business and Entrepreneurship
Achievements
- Competed at state level for Tournament of the Minds, Philosothon and various sports
- Fundraising captain for her school’s luncheon committee
- Invited to play with The Occasional Performing Sinfonia and at the Sydney Community Centre open event
What makes Krystal a Trailblazer?
Krystal is a firm advocate for using one’s talents for good. In 2019 she did exactly that when she spent three weeks busking with her violin to raise funds for the Vinnies Bushfire Appeal. She did it again in 2020 following the initial COVID-19 lockdowns and organised solo concerts to perform for senior citizens at her local retirement village.
She used this as an opportunity to bring live music back to people in the community who were suffering from a lack of connection. The success of her performances was profound. Residents approached her saying her music was a welcome form of therapy and offered them a sense of hope. Krystal was invited back to the retirement village, as well as asked to perform at the Sydney Community Centre open event.
Krystal’s social justice initiatives continue with her impressive fundraising efforts in her school community. Lockdown restrictions posed a significant challenge to her ability to fundraise and so Krystal had to quickly adapt. As a result she spent many hours reconfiguring initiative and events in order to transition them online. She led her assisting team effectively, facilitating brainstorming sessions, delegating tasks and coming up with new ideas to get the school community involved. One of these included the creation of online art competitions.
“Through this experience, I have learnt how to view problems from another angle to find alternative solutions. I have also developed greater resilience in problem solving. This role has strengthened my adaptability and critical thinking skills, providing me with invaluable capacity to embrace any challenge that I may face in the future.”
Amongst all this, Krystal was trying to support her family as they took care of her grandmother with dementia and help out where she could. With a peer unfortunately passing away as well, Krystal has shown compassion and resilience at every turn.
Following all these experiences, Krystal sees herself working in a management role in the future where she can put her problem solving skills to use in different projects that have positive impacts on people’s lives. Once she gets more business experience, she is excited at the prospect of becoming an entrepreneur and developing a product to help out those in aged care.
Her commitment and achievements throughout Year 12 despite the confronting circumstances are why Krystal is one of 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.
