Student among high achievers

REWARD FOR EFFORT: Beachport resident and St Martins Lutheran College student Zoe Moran received an Australian Tertiary Admission Rank of 98.95, placing her as the equal third top achiever from Mount Gambier's four secondary schools.
REWARD FOR EFFORT: Beachport resident and St Martins Lutheran College student Zoe Moran received an Australian Tertiary Admission Rank of 98.95, placing her as the equal third top achiever from Mount Gambier’s four secondary schools.

IT has been a whirlwind week for Beachport resident Zoe Moran after Tuesday morning’s release of the Australian Tertiary Admission Rank (ATAR) results revealed she was among the top high achievers in the South East.

The St Martins Lutheran College Year 12 graduate’s score of 98.95 was the equal third highest recorded at Mount Gambier’s four secondary schools, placing her narrowly behind classmate Jackson Archibald, who topped the Blue Lake city’s high achievers with 99.6.

The good news came just a day after Zoe was named the Wattle Range Council young citizen of the year for the Kintore Ward, following in the footsteps of her mother Julie who was the ward’s 2017 citizen of the year.

Her early morning elation was delayed on Tuesday after she checked her schooling results online, only to fall back asleep.

“I woke up and went to check again and the whole SACE (South Australian Certificate of Education) website looked different and I could not find my results,” Zoe said.

“I thought ‘wait, did I dream this or was it real?’

“Thankfully it was real.”

Studying physics, english literary studies, maths methods and biology, alongside completing the mandatory research project, Zoe’s career pathway to becoming a physiotherapist was planned before Year 12.

“Biology and physics are assumed knowledge,” she said.

“I really like helping people and I like the idea of helping people using their own bodies and seeing them get better would be very rewarding.”

Zoe plans to apply at the University of South Australia to study next year, but would also include Flinders University in her applications.

While the course has no guaranteed entry, the 18 year old has certainly put her best foot forward in pursuing a lifetime of helping others.