Academic Achievement – Class of 2021

Mody Yim (FB'21)

Mody, from Hong Kong, joined the School in Year 8 on a Lee Hysan Scholarship* and is the second Geelong Grammar student in three years to achieve a perfect IB score after Frank Zhao (M’19) in 2019. “I was quite thrilled and delighted,” Mody said after receiving his score. “There was also the great relief of knowing that I have achieved what I wanted to, especially through many years of hard work. I am lucky that I have always been motivated to strive for this ultimate goal, but finally achieving it was a very remarkable and special moment.” He spent his Senior School years in Francis Brown house and speaks very fondly of his experience. “Even though I have written a whole page in the Corian about Francis Brown house, I still don’t think it captures fully what significance it has to me. I am very grateful to be able to spend three years of my life with such a nice group of people, of which many of them would go on and become my life-long friends.”

Mody hopes to study Medicine at Monash University in 2022. Acknowledging the difficulties of spending effectively two years away from home, Mody was able to embrace the positives of spending more time in Australia than he perhaps initially expected. “In these past two years, I have gotten to know and appreciate the Australian culture a bit more, which is a big positive if I am staying here post-GGS.”

Mody is the third Lee Hysan scholar to be Dux of Geelong Grammar in the space of five years, following in the footsteps of Nat Lam (Ga’17) and Bernice Ng (Ga’18). Mody recalls having little interest in the scholarship “until one of my teachers put the application form in my hands with my name already on it.” “It was life-changing,” Mody said of receiving the scholarship. “Without the support I have gotten in the past four-and-a-half years, I wouldn’t be sitting here today. I could not thank the Lee Hysan Foundation enough for the opportunity it provided me.”

Skyler Waring (A'21)

Skyler, from Lara, joined the School in Year 7 and spent Senior School in Allen. “I was really lucky to be in a really close year level in Allen for the past three years. It’s always nice to just hang around the people in your house,” Skyler said. Speaking at this year’s Leavers’ Celebration, she reflected on what has been two years full of interruptions and setbacks, while commending the class of 2021 for continuing to do their best even when they felt like closing their books/ laptops and giving up. “Towards the end it was a grind – working non-stop – I just had to keep in mind that it goes really quickly and it’s only one year of your life. If you are able to push through, you get to the end and you can really see the results of all your hard work.”

For Skyler, the relationships built and friendships formed over the past six years are an enduring legacy of her time at the School. “Middle School was all about making new friends at a new school. And I’m lucky enough that I’ve kept a lot of those friends over the past couple of years. At Timbertop, I enjoyed the times when the unit was all together; unit celebrations; finishing runs and going to see your friends after, and everyone would have this great sense of achievement. It did make all the running seem worth it.”

Beyond GGS, Skyler hopes to study osteopathy. “That’s probably been my top preference for most of the year,” she said. “I would really love to study in the health/ science sector, so osteopathy while maybe specialising in sports medicine, or even just overall wellbeing.”

Nicholas Lester (M'21)

Nicholas, from Glen Iris in Melbourne’s south-east, joined the School at Toorak Campus in Prep. “As someone who is a product of the complete GGS experience from Toorak (onwards), I can say that I am immensely grateful for the environment which GGS has provided, and for the great guidance of excellent teachers and mentors especially in Year 12,” Nicholas said, reflecting on his Geelong Grammar experience. That guidance assisted Nicholas in achieving a score he is immensely proud of. “I have always had (lofty) aspirations academically, having always enjoyed my studies and learning in general. I knew for a while that shooting for a top score was within my grasp and something that would give me genuine fulfillment in my education journey.”

The sense of community at Corio Campus is what Nicholas will remember most fondly as he moves onto the next stage of life. “There is something special about living on campus, about seeing peers every day,” he said. “This was particularly evident to me in my final weeks at school where I studied in the library. This is something that has not only allowed me to meet my closest friends, but I believe it also has bestowed upon me a genuine love of school life, daily optimism, and a desire to do well.”

He was heavily involved in school life, captaining the Boys’ 1st Tennis team in addition to representing the School in debating, hockey and public speaking. “While from the outside I may have seemed busy, to me I was just doing what I enjoyed. I believe this was essential to my success – I chose things to do which I was passionate about, and I believe that if we all strive to do this, no matter what those activities are, we will be granted success.”

Nicholas hopes to study Mathematics at The University of Melbourne.