An Olympic swimmer and a Burmese refugee are among inspirational Year 12 students singled out by their Canberra schools for going the extra mile to complete their studies.
The ACT Board of Senior Secondary Studies asked schools to nominate a student who had completed Year 12 the hard way and six have been highlighted for their efforts.
They are Burmese refugee Cheam Banyar who arrived in Australia only three years ago with little English, Olympic swimmer Belinda Hocking who spent three long years completing her studies while also competing, Tess Attenborough who battled health problems while achieving top marks, twins Adam and Michael Phelan who finished school while forging their way on the road cycling circuit, and mother-of-10 Leonie Woodland who finished Year 12 by evening class at the Canberra Institute of Technology.
Cheam, 19, gained his Year 12 certificate at Dickson College after first graduating from the on-site Secondary Introductory English Centre. A member of the Mon community, a persecuted minority group from Burma, he fled his homeland, living in a refugee camp on the Thai border for 20 months where he started to learn English while living amid shocking violence.
For more, pick up a copy of today's Canberra Times
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