St Monica’s College in Epping has built up a strong reputation throughout Whittlesea as a top school, capable of producing outstanding VCE scores, and this year was no exception.
Prisha Bhanot was the college DUX with an impressive 98.5 ATAR score, placing her in the top 1.5 per cent of year 12 students state-wide.
Prisha had a restless night’s sleep as she waited for her score to come out on Monday morning.
“I couldn’t sleep, my brain woke me up early and I was just waiting for it,” she said.
“When 7am hit, I was half asleep, but I was extremely excited. It was a lot higher than I was expecting.”
She undertook English, psychology, chemistry, further mathematics and maths methods, achieving four study scores above 40, with a 47 in psychology her best.
Looking ahead to next year, she has her sights set on a pathway into medicine at either Monash University or the University of Melbourne.
As a piece of advice to future students, Prisha said to choose subjects that you enjoy.
“You’re not going to excel as much in the ones that are a big chore,” she said. “I had to do methods as a prerequisite, and I knew I wasn’t going to score as well.”
College principal Brian Hanley said he was elated with her efforts.
“Prisha’s personal result is a credit to her for her work and commitment,” he said. “She achieved the result she deserved and we are very proud.”
This year’s cohort of graduates had their year 9 and 10 years heavily affected by COVID lockdowns and remote learning, which Mr Hanley said took great resilience to overcome.
“The pandemic years were very challenging for staff and students,” he said. “I am very pleased that we were able to support our students at the highest level during this time. Our VCE results demonstrate that we have been able to ensure our students could still achieve outstanding outcomes.”
Gerald Lynch
