Perfect TER Not A Passport To Success, Say High-fliers From Class Of '95
Kate Cox
787 words
8 January 1997
Sydney Morning Herald
AMBER Glynn, 18, was one of the top performers in the HSC class of 1995. Along with 12 other students, she scored a perfect Tertiary Entrance Rank of 100 when the results were announced in January last year.
The former Westport Technology High School student then spent a hectic January fielding rejection slips from university scholarship committees.
Another high achiever, Joel Gibson, spent a "bearable" year working in an English school while John Butts returned from travelling Europe to open mail at Macquarie Bank. Melvin Wong, who went on to study medicine at the University of NSW, describes his university results as "mediocre, nothing special".
According to the best and brightest students of 1995, a perfect TER score does not guarantee an easy future. Most of the 13 top HSC performers -nine girls, four boys - found their first year out of school was a bigger challenge than expected.
"A TER of 100 doesn't necessarily guarantee success," says Kirrily Stow, who is studying commerce at the University of NSW.
She has been turned down for a number of jobs and says she was surprised to find she needed to work harder at university than at school: "You think, 'OK, I can relax, I've worked so hard'- but the work is even harder."
Glynn achieved a high distinction average in her first year of a Bachelor of Science degree at UNSW and also says it was more difficult than she had expected: "It was a completely different way of studying. You have to be careful to stay motivated, it's hard to get back into a study routine after the long break," she says.
"The people are totally different, they have an entirely different mentality, there's an emphasis on different things. You can discuss mathematics at lunchtime and nobody thinks you're a bore.
"I changed so much last year. I matured through having to look after myself: just like a character in one of those related English plays."
Wong, who is spending time with his his family in Beijing, says: "I don't think anyone would prefer school over university. You have more freedom, you're not as spoon-fed."
Stow, the victim of a radio hoax last year when a DJ rang and told her there had been an error and that she had not achieved a TER of 100, received cards from strangers congratulating her on her top score.
"It made me realise there's heaps of nice people around," she says. "(But) I was filled with trepidation when I started uni. People have preconceptions about what you'll be like."
Glynn agrees: "After a while I started to think, 'Do I really deserve all this fuss? I'm just the same as everybody else.' It was flattering, but a little too much. People's attitudes towards you change with attention and people start to resent you."
John Butts feels the HSC was a long time ago. "It's not that the HSC is irrelevant, but it does pale into insignificance. It's not as important as people think."
Joel Gibson says HSC students should not worry too much about their results. "I know it is easy for me to say that now, but if they look at it in context, there are a lot of other ways they can go. I was just lucky - the way I learned and the stuff I learned was right."
Butts interrupts: "It's a bit late for advice now."
WHERE ARE THEY NOW?
Uni choices: Three travelled, two went to Sydney University (two more to start this year), seven went to UNSW (one more to start), one went to Newcastle:
* John Butts, 19, (St Ignatius College), travelled Europe until August, worked Macquarie Bank mail room, will start commerce/law at Sydney.
* Saadiah Freeman, 18, (SCEGGS Darlinghurst), Arts/Law at Sydney.
* Joel Gibson, 19, (Trinity Grammar), worked at Wells Cathedral School in England, will start arts/law at Sydney.
* Amber Glynn, 18, (Westport Technology High), Bachelor of Science at UNSW.
* Sylvia Mak, 18, (North Sydney Girls'), BA Science/Law at UNSW.
* Nicolette Maury, 18, on one-year school exchange in Germany for a year, will start industrial chemistry at UNSW on Co-op scholarship.
* Allison Newey, 19, (James Ruse Agricultural High), medicine at UNSW.
* Katrina Sanders, 19, (Ravenswood), BA Arts/Law at Sydney.
* Kirrily Stow, 19, (North Sydney Girls' High), bachelor of commerce at UNSW.
* Andy Wang, 19, (North Sydney Boys'), medicine at UNSW.
* Syephanie Ward, 18, (Merewether* High), medicine at Newcastle University.
* Melvin Wong, 19, (Knox Grammar), medicine at UNSW.
* Sally Yue, 18, (Abbotsleigh), medicine at UNSW, New College.
