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 Mauatua navigated Year 12 differently throughout 2021!
Introducing: Mauatua Fa’ara-Reynolds
Category: Arts & Music
School: Armidale Secondary College
Career Aspiration: Cultural Anthropology/Philosophy/Museum Curation/Conservation
Achievements
- Toured Europe with Gondwana Voices
- Conductor with New England Chamber Choir
- Represented her school at the Da Vinci Decathlon
What makes Mauatua a Trailblazer?
Mauatua is a talented musician. Still only a teenager, she already has extensive experience as a conductor where she interacts with a variety of people from younger children to professional musicians! In doing so, she has developed effective communication skills and learnt how to make a team work.
In 2019, Mauatua was selected to tour Europe with Gondwana Voices ending the tour in Berlin playing Brett Dean’s “Vexations and Devotions” in the Berlin Philharmonie. Mauatua’s involvement eventually led her to become the conductor for the New England Chamber Choir who she now regularly performs with!
Balancing her mental health throughout Year 12, Mauatua has found value in reaching out and built a support system around herself. With a passion for music, she continued to represent her school each year at local singing eisteddfods, receiving the Vocal Solo Championship twice. Mauatau has also been the conductor of her school choir, leading them at eisteddfods and receiving first place for the past 5 years.
Not only is Mauatua involved in her school’s musical events, but she is also involved with the Environmental Group, and initiated a Philosophy club to spark new conversations amongst her peers. Additionally, she has travelled to Tamworth to compete against other schools as part of the Debating team. Further, Mauatua co-ran a traditional barkcloth making workshop earlier this year, as she sought to perpetuate cultural continuity on Norfolk Island.
Mauatua’s interests and aspirations currently lie in the area of humanities. Following her historian mother around, Mauatua has visited a plethora of museums around the world and seen many artefacts, this has inspired her to pursue a career in museum curation. She believes that her unique and extensive experience conducting will help her. To reach this goal, she plans to study Cultural Anthropology and Pacific Studies as majors with a minor in Philosophy and is already thinking of doing a PhD in the future!
Mauatua’s dedication to music and impressive experiences across different performance platforms places her in the Top 50 for our 2021 Trailblazer Awards!
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.
