The last couple of years of school are exciting and challenging at the best of times – and the class of 2021 had to deal with the pandemic and the move to online learning.

In this series of profiles, Canberra Daily speaks to class of 2021 graduates who excelled despite the challenges presented by the pandemic.

Georgie Jacques (Dickson College)

First Nations student Georgie Jacques wants to implore Aboriginal youth, asylum seekers and refugees to have a better life. 

This year, she will begin a Bachelor of Social Work at the Australian Catholic University, and play AFL with the GIANTS Academy.

“In all honesty, I think I’m attracted to [social work] by the fact that it’s community based,” Georgie said. “A lot of the time, I like to be a part of community events and leadership groups. I feel it’s cool to organize stuff for community and for people, and I like the idea of empowering people to pursue their own goals.”

At school, for instance, she was part of the leadership group in Years 11 and 12; it was “really fun” organising events for students, as well as the social aspect, she said.

That social aspect was important to survive the last couple of years. Year 11 (2020) was harder than Year 12 (2021), she said, because it was the first year of the pandemic.

“Without that connection with teachers and in class, it just was really hard to have discussions and learn the content when it wasn’t in person,” Georgie said.

“The education system didn’t know how to handle it; eventually, they produced an amazing timetable for us to do online schooling.

“The second year was so much better because you had already done online learning the year before, so you were able to get straight into it; the school and the education system just knew what to do; they knew they needed more connection; and they knew they needed to hold back on that school load. So it was a lot easier to do it in 2021 that it was in 2020.”

As a First Nations student, her experience was slightly different. Once a week, the Indigenous students would meet to connect, play games, and talk.

“It wasn’t any kind of learning. It was just staying connected with our teachers, staying connected with the other students. And regardless of if they were in Year 11 or 12, we were able to just connect. It wasn’t really awkward at all, like normal online classes usually are.”

The last two years might have been difficult, but Georgie thought her year group cohort did really well. “We all achieved very high in the ATAR,” she said.

“I’m happy with what I’ve achieved,” she said. She expected an ATAR score in the high seventies; instead, she got 90. “I was really surprised!”

Her friends, too, are happy with their ATAR results. “That’s really good to just show how resilient we are even during a pandemic.”

This year, too, Georgie hopes to play AFL. She is eligible for the AFL Women’s League draft, and hopes to get drafted at the end of the year, or into another high level league.

“I’ve been playing footie for a couple of years now. I really enjoyed it, and I’d like to go further than just playing in the Canberra comp.”

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