Student Spotlight

In 2020, Xinyue (Candace) Jiang was awarded the Heathmont College Dux after completing her VCE and achieving an ATAR score of 98.9. Candace then received her first preference offer from the Australian National University to study a five year double degree of Engineering and Advanced Computing. Moreover, Candace was also offered the $25,000 ANU Chancellor’s International Scholarship. 

Candace was one of the first students to join our International Student Program after arriving in Australia with her mother in 2016 at the age of 13.  She completed her Year 7, Year 9 , Year 11 and Year 12 and received the Outstanding Academic Excellence Award every year. Due to her outstanding academic achievements, Candace was able to skip Year 8 and Year 10. Her hard work and persistence has been inspiring, and she has been a very positive role model within our International Student Program and throughout her entire journey at Heathmont College. 

What has helped you on your educational journey to stay on track and achieve your academic goals?

One of the things that helped me is to plan ahead and always be clear about what I wanted to achieve so I knew what I should or should not be doing, which also allowed me to be more productive. 

Do you have any words of advice for students who are about to begin their final years of school?

Stay organised and keep things in perspective.

Maintain a healthy work/study/life balance.

Do not be complacent, keep learning and be intellectually humble.

What was your favorite thing about your time at Heathmont College?

The interactions between my teachers and classmates, they brought me some fun times. 

What are you goals for the future?

My long-term goal is to work as a software engineer or an aerospace engineer. I am planning to study a master’s degree in England or Singapore after finishing my bachelor’s degree, then after that I am considering doing a doctorate degree in China. 

2020 has not been an easy year for me and it changed me a lot. I want to express my gratitude to the school for letting me feel welcome, as well as for its help and support over the past four years. I may not always say it, but I sincerely appreciate all my teachers that encouraged and helped me through this difficult time. Thanks to their efforts and everything they have taught me. I would like to say a special thank you to Mr. Yong who inspired and motivated me a lot. I am not sure if he has realised it, but he was such a huge influence on me in 2020. Without him, I wouldn’t have achieved what I got. After all, I am glad that I got into the course I wanted and I really look forward to it.

Congratulations, Candace! We know you will do amazing things and we wish you all the best for your future endeavours.