Student Spotlight!

Swimming Champion: Ieli D9

I'm Ieli and I'm new to the school. I had the great opportunity to swim at the district carnival and compete against other schools. 

Every time I marshalled up for my race, I was very nervous. I would stand there and compare myself to other competitors, but I always made sure to distract myself from the nerve-racking feeling. As the race went on, I made sure to push through and get that 1st place. The feeling of winning is unbelievable! It makes you so proud as you walk up to get your ribbons. 

It was such a great day to meet new people and really understand the feeling of being in a race. I came first in all 6 races and I cannot wait to go to the regional swimming competition!

Star of the Silver Screen: Ellmir Asipi 

Hey everyone. I’m Ellmir and I graduated Dandy High in 2018. Some of you may remember me as School Captain in 2018, some may not remember me at all. I just wanted to give you guys a little rundown of how my life has been after high school and some of the things that I’ve been up to. 

We’ll start at the end of 2018 when I was reflecting back on my years at Dandenong High. I was extremely proud of myself for putting in my best effort with my VCE and really appreciated the support from all my teachers and peers when it came to maximising opportunities within and outside of school. However, I definitely didn’t expect the pressure of adulthood to hit that rapidly. 

I also want to note that I’d been doing acting part time for the past 10 years, doing bits and pieces of work. However, I only started to take it more seriously in the last five years. Being School Captain at Dandy High helped me gain strong people skills and the strong encouragement from my personal loving circle of teachers helped me realise that anything was possible. 

I started my five year University course in 2019, studying a double degree in Civil Engineering / Business Management. Whilst this was happening, I also got myself a part time job at Bank of Melbourne as a teller. The stresses of life began to hit. Paying bills, paying for fuel, VOTING..... and everything else that comes with being an adult, I guess. It wasn’t easy juggling all these things, but there was one thing I knew for sure; that, in life, you have to work hard to achieve your goals. Things don’t just drop onto your lap because you feel like you deserve it. 

In 2019, I auditioned for a role on Neighbours, which I successfully won. They were constantly calling me back for guest stints over a two year period. This is also whilst I was still juggling working at the bank (which I got a promotion in that year) and studying all at the same time. I lost 10kg that year due to stress and over-working myself. While I wouldn't be where I am today if not for the challenges I faced that year, I am so much healthier now. I put the 10kg back on, however in a muscle format. I've been eating so much healthier this past year and a half and have learnt to manage stress much better these days. You have to go through rough patches in order to learn how to manage those situations differently in future. That’s something I’m proud of myself for mastering if I’m honest. 

The end of 2019 came about and my first episode of Neighbours went to air. On that night, I received a Instagram message from Olivia Deeble asking me to audition for her new TV series that she’d been writing. I was stoked. I auditioned and I successfully won this role. But let me just say, between the Neighbours audition and this audition, I had probably auditioned for over 30 roles in between which I lost. REJECTION MAKES US WORK HARDER. Don’t give up after receiving a 'no', because the 'yes' is just around the corner. 

I was involved in the development stages of this show and had a lot of input to what my character would look like and be like. Trust me, you don’t understand how handy those English persuasive essays were when I was writing up and pitching the character to the Producers/Directors. I quit my job at the bank in the middle of 2020 to film this show which is now called ‘MORE THAN THIS’. It is a teen drama delving deep into the lives of five teenagers whose worlds collide when they meet in an English Extension class. The cultural diversity in this show is crazy and every teen will be able to pinpoint a particular part of their own life within an issue that these teens face. It is streaming exclusively on Paramount+ in Australia and New Zealand and yet to be released in the UK and US. 

The work ethic that you develop in your high school years and especially VCE is the work ethic that you will carry for the rest of your life. I could honestly say that if I hadn’t have worked hard and had the support at Dandy High with solid education and great people, I probably wouldn’t be where I am today. I consider myself one of the fortunate ones to understand that in life, things don’t just happen, but you have to work for them to happen. The quicker you realise this, the quicker you will put in the hard yards for your dreams to come true. 

All the best for the year and glad I could share just one story of life after high school.