Student Experiences

Rylee

Year 11 will graduate in 2026

Pathway/Program:   
Undecided

Personal Journey
What sparked your interest in this pathway?

I am still discovering areas of interest to research and decide on for a pathway.  I am currently focussing on getting my grades higher and finishing Year 11 with acceptable grades.

Key Achievements
What's one accomplishment you're proud of in this area?  
When I first started meeting with the careers person, I was ready to drop out of school.  After lots of talking, I realised that getting better grades would somehow make it easier in the future and would help me get into an occupation that I would enjoy.  I am proud of the improvement that I made from Semester 1 to Semester 2 in year 10.

Future Goals
What are your plans after high school related to this pathway? 
I would like to get into a career pathway where I am happy with the work, and can gain experience to transfer to a similar job in a different State.

Advice
What advice would you give to students exploring this pathway?  
My advice for students would be to stay in school and better your grades while you decide what you want to do.  You are setting yourself up better for future employers, and will have more to offer.   Once you have decided on a career pathway it is easier to decide what would work best for you.  Talking to Ms DeBoer helped me clarify what I wanted to do and what I did not.

Imogen

Year 12 will graduate in 2025

Pathway/Program:   
Paramedics, Extension Studies – Math focus at Flinders University (Extension Studies program)

Personal Journey
What sparked your interest in this pathway?

I became interested in this pathway because I wanted to help people and I am very good at working under pressure.

Key Achievements
What's one accomplishment you're proud of in this area?  

Achieving great success in my middle schooling, accelerated my learning in year 10, completing Stage 1 Spanish and Mathematical Methods, allowing me to complete Stage 2 during Year 11. As I enter 2025 and Stage 2, it has created flexibility in my SACE completion allowing me to enroll in Extension Studies (first year university subjects) at Flinders University.

The advantage of competing Extension Studies significantly improves my possible ATAR result as there is a high conversion of university outcomes to Stage 2 result. With the combination of Stage 2 Mathematical Methods, Specialist Mathematics, Chemistry, Spanish, AIF and Extension Studies, I am setting myself up for a bright pathway beyond Golden Grove High School.

Future Goals
What are your plans after high school related to this pathway? 
After high school, I want to study paramedicine at Flinders University.

Advice
What advice would you give to students exploring this pathway?  

Try your best in school and keep pushing yourself to your limits. Anything is achievable if you are prepared to work hard enough.

Jaeger

Graduated 2024

Pathway/Program:

Degree Apprenticeship through BAE – Bachelor of Software Engineering Honours at UniSA

Personal Journey
What sparked your interest in this pathway?

I always loved anything “IT” and decided to take on a Cert III in Information Technology in Year 12.  It took a while, and some changes in direction, but I eventually realised that what I really wanted to do was to become a Software Engineer.

Key Achievements
What's one accomplishment you're proud of in this area? 

I am proud to have gotten an ATAR and be the first person in my family to go to Uni thanks to the FLO program.  I had a rocky start to my first few years of high school, but with lots of support and guidance I was able to eventually believe in myself.

Future Goals
What are your plans after high school related to this pathway?

I will complete my degree while working at BAE, where I am immersed in my area of interest.  Afterwards, I hope to continue to work at BAE, as it is a fantastic organisation, which I am extremely grateful for the opportunity.

Advice
What advice would you give to students exploring this pathway?  

For any student exploring any pathway, I would advise them to seek out help from anywhere that they can find it.  There is much that I didn’t know or understand, even in Year 12, and almost made a choice that would have delayed my pathway significantly.  By bouncing ideas off of someone else, it helped me clarify my thoughts and give me a clear goal.