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 Samantha navigated Year 12 differently throughout 2021!
Introducing: Samantha Edvell
Category: Science and Technology
School: St George Girls High School
Career Aspiration: Mechatronic engineer
Achievements
- Vice Captain
- Raising $7,000 for her school
- Improving morale at school
What makes Samantha a Trailblazer?
Samantha was elected as vice captain of her high school — a role which saw her help lead a group of 13 prefects in various social justice, cultural and academic events. Her most notable achievement in this position was the implementation of a positive feedback system, where students were encouraged to write kind messages to their teachers to say thank you for all of the hard work they do.
Samantha single-handedly developed a system to organise and distribute these messages. Her establishment of this initiative has helped to foster a culture of support and appreciation within her school community and improve overall morale. In addition to this, she also assisted in the organisation and execution of a fundraising event which raised $7,000 for the school.
Throughout all of this, Samantha was constantly employing and bettering her problem solving skills. There were numerous instances where she, being in a leadership position, needed to think creatively and quickly to solve issues that arose during different projects.
“Things happen that we can’t plan for all the time, as they did in school and as they will continue to in the future. therefore my problem-solving skills will assist me in adapting to change and continuing to achieve successful results.”
Like many Year 12 students, lockdown was extremely difficult for Samantha. She struggled to find motivation and maintain connections with her peers. She felt disconnected and started losing confidence in her academic abilities. However, she eventually learnt to prioritise her mental health, allowing her to better balance online learning with socialising and extracurriculars.
Samantha is keen to continue studying after high school, wanting to pursue mechatronic engineering. She hopes to help develop technology that will improve the overall quality of life for others.
Samantha’s awesome work helping out her school community and being resilient with her studies during lockdown have landed her a place 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.
