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 Prisha navigated Year 12 differently throughout 2022!
Introducing: Prisha Desai
Category: Social Impact & Change
School: Hornsby Girls High School
State: NSW
Career Aspiration: Criminal or Family Lawyer
Achievements
- Awarded the Macquarie University Year 11 Emerging Leader Award
- Held the position of Deputy-Head of SRC in 2021 and School-Vice Captain for 2022
- Lead the prefect team to run charity events and school-spirit initiatives
What makes Prisha a Trailblazer?
Helping lead the SRC and Prefect team isn’t an easy task, but Prisha Desai’s leadership at Hornsby Girls High School has done a stellar job of it. Prisha is currently the School Vice-Captain for 2022 and has done much this year to deserve this position. Since 2019, she has participated in the SRC and earned the title of Deputy-Head of SRC in 2021.
As School Vice-Captain, Prisha has worked closely with the School Captain to host and run events for her cohort and other grades to enjoy, as well as initiatives that give back to her local community. By leading the prefect team, Prisha has made events such as HGHS’s Rent-A-Prefect Auction, Prefect Afternoon Tea and a Trivia Night with Normanhurst Boys High school possible for all HGHS students to participate in. She has also run social-impact initiatives such as Anglicare’s Christmas Toys ‘n’ Tucker program and fundraising for several charities including the veterans’ charity ‘Legacy’.
Becoming Vice-Captain was a rigorous process with three rounds of voting. The first round narrowed down just over 60 applicants to 40 nominees. In the second round, students in Years 9-12 voted for the top 18 who would make up the prefect body. The final round elected the top 4 (1 School Captain, 1 Vice Captain and 2 Senior Prefects) where each prefect would give a speech on their commitments and vote on the executive roles.
With her brilliant assortment of achievements, Prisha hasn’t gone unnoticed by others — besides being a 2022 Trailblazer, Prisha has also been awarded the Macquarie University Year 11 Emerging Leader Award.
School leadership is just one of Prisha’s fortes that she has under her belt and she has juggled the life of a HSC student with many extracurricular commitments. Over 2022, she has been sharpening her wit in debating with the Mock Trial Committee, breaking a sweat during extra curricular oz-tag and working her casual job at Officeworks. This has graced Prisha with some important life-learning and has increased her skills in independence, teamwork, communication and financial-handling.
“These jobs have increased my independence and overall teamwork, communication, money handling and responsibility skills and I am very grateful to have experienced them… I believe that these skills, particularly communication, will definitely set me up for future success, especially considering my desire to pursue law after high school.”
Year 12 has also come with its challenges. Much like all students in Australia, the COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted how they expect the last year of school to play out. As a School Vice-Captain during the COVID-19 pandemic, the fluctuating restrictions meant tackling how to run school events and initiatives that were safe for all students and participants. In her own life, Prisha’s making the most of Year 12 to pursue her post-Year 12 dreams nonetheless. She hopes to pursue law at university and, down the line, work as a criminal or family lawyer.
With all the dedication and passion Prisha has put into her roles at school and in her local community, Prisha fits right into our lineup of 2022 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.
