2025 Scholars find success through balance

Each year, the Scholars’ Assembly recognises and honours the academic achievements of the graduating year. This year, as the Class of 2025 takes their moment in the sun, there’s much to celebrate. 

Amongst every cohort, there are as many pathways to success as there are students. Dr Heath De Lany (Head of the Senior School) took the time on stage to interview three of this past year’s high achievers about discipline, motivation, and support – everything that sees them being honoured at the Assembly. 

High achievers they may be, but for two of these students, this wasn’t the expected pathway. There was laughter on stage as Dr De Lany recounted the Engagement Point Averages (EPAs) and Grade Point Averages (GPAs) of Michael Nasr (13Mu) and Hadi Saab (13Mu) as they stood in the first semester of Year 10. 

To pull themselves up to achieve stellar results took dedication and a complete mindset shift from the laid back attitudes they had earlier in their academic careers. So … what changed? 

“In Years 7 to 10, I was relying on my natural ability to perform,” says Michael. “I didn’t study, I didn’t go out of my way. As soon as I stepped into Year 11, I felt the drastic change in workload. I knew if I wanted to cope, if I wanted to do well, I had to change my habits. I started studying more, I started asking questions, engaging in class.” 

He says that stepping into the IB Programme showed him how much he needed to shift. 

“I could feel instantly that these boys were focused. They didn’t muck around or anything. Everyone being at the top of their game around me helped push me even more and motivated me to be better.” 

And, better he became, achieving 97.8 and leading him to commence his Bachelor of Civil Engineering at the University of New South Wales.

Hadi felt that shift too, albeit a little later. 

“The closer it got to trials, the more nervous I think we got, just like all our mates. So, in the library, we actually used our time wisely. Reality really hit after that” 

One way he says he was able to do this was by scheduling his week and finding a balance between big tasks – like working on his Individual Assessments – and small tasks – like reading 10 pages of the assigned English text – to ensure he could keep moving forward towards his goal of besting his brother’s IB result, which he managed to do, achieving 98.35, seeing him heading to pursue a Bachelor of Commerce and Law at the University of New South Wales. 

Nathan Chun’s (13Ho) journey was a little different – embracing the full-steam ahead approach much earlier – but he still found the value of balance. 

Completing the Accelerated Maths course in Year 11, this allowed him to free up a lot more of his time in Year 12, allowing him to engage in Sport and Co-curricular activities. 

His approach was to not mess with what worked. 

“I tried to keep things the same. I tried to make more of a plan and a structure to my week, and I tried to be deliberate in what I was doing when I was studying,” he says. “Instead of saying ‘I’m going to study for three hours, I tried to make clear goals and meet those instead.” 

And it certainly worked for him, achieving a 99.5 ATAR, being named one of Trinity’s 2025 Duces and securing his place at the University of New South Wales to pursue a Bachelor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. 

While each of these students had a unique journey to success and different life, personal, sporting, and Co-curricular commitments to juggle along the way, they all cite balance as key, alongside the support of their teachers and mates. 

“There was not one time where I went up to [a teacher] and they refused to help me,” recalls Michael. “It was important for me to approach a teacher to get one-to-one feedback, because the feedback they give you is tailored to you … so they can address your weakness and overall make you a better person.” 

Friendship had a practical role to play as students completed practice tests and shared notes but these graduates say that the emotional support was most valuable. 

“It can drag you down with the amount of work you have to do,” says Nathan. “Just being able to see them in class … just having them there made it more enjoyable.” 

Michael agrees: “They were there, we checked up on each other and just made sure we’re okay to continue powering through.” 

While some of these high achievers might not have ever expected to be honoured at the Scholars’ Assembly, it’s clear they found a pathway that worked for them and it’s their hope that the Class of 2026 might be able to find their own unique balance from hearing their stories.