My Story
Just a few short days before I began my HSC I stood over 5000 metres above sea level in front of some of the world’s greatest mountains. My small expedition and I had stopped before a valley where Tibet’s seven Goddesses resided in all their glory. I had never been in a place so vast and yet so full of energy. It was not until later that I realised the full impact of those moments on my life.
Qomolangma (Mt. Everest) Basecamp.
As we descended into the valley it occurred to me that Australia is quite a different world entirely, and that I was privileged to advantages in all manner of life, from education to technology to politics, that most of the Tibetan children could not even imagine. Thus far, I had failed to take advantage of it, I had wandered through the world failing to live out my dreams and really reach my full potential, and to realise that in the face of Quomolangma brought up feelings of shame. In that vast valley I imagined my consciousness occupying the entire space and found, for the first time, a hunger to be more than who I had been.
Throughout my HSC I devoted myself to taking advantage of every opportunity that came my way. I set my aims high, and put the pressure on myself.
Applying to Oxford began as a goal setting exercise: aim for the moon and if you don’t quite make it, at least you’ll be among the stars. I don’t think I ever wrote an essay I thought was good enough, or considered that I had done enough practice questions for maths. Toward the end I was leaving parties early to go home for one last practice introduction for a belonging essay and pretending I had to go to work so that I could study instead of going out with my friends.