Education: the greatest gift – “Teachers have transformed my life”
Even those blessed by a life-enhancing education can take years to fully appreciate it. Not Elton Huang, who already calls his Trinity experience the “greatest gift” of his life.
He singles out his teachers for special mention, telling them: “You make a real difference to our lives and I feel that this is often forgotten.
“The memories I will cherish from school are from the teachers who have transformed not only my education, but my life.
“I am constantly inspired by them, every day. The greatest gift I have received is my education from them and I will always be grateful.”
He has a long memory, too. In his Year 12 yearbook he describes Ms Wang, his Year 7 Maths teacher, as his role model, saying: “Her work ethic, selflessness, and passion for education is something that I look up to.
“For those teachers who I really connected with, particularly my Year 11-12 teachers, they offered me their unconditional support that I will always be grateful for.
“I’m not usually one to open up, so it was rare that I found that trust and support system with many teachers.
“Without their guidance and support, I would not have achieved what I have today.”
He also thanked his parents, who left China separately to make a new life in Australia, and friends for “always supporting me – they have made a real difference in my life, helping me to persist through difficult times”.
“The truth is without them my life would have been a lot more dull and boring.”
He faced constant challenges managing his workload.
“The truth is I don’t really think I ever overcame these. I just had to push through and stay resilient and do my all-nighters like the desperate student I am,” he said of snatching as little as 30 minutes to three hours of sleep before exams.
He is proud of “surviving” high school, making friends along the way, and his academic achievements, particularly becoming IB dux and first in English literature.
Despite tutoring another student in English each week he said: “It was a huge surprise for me, as I never thought that I was particularly good or capable in English.”
He also passed his AMusA with distinction and gained his LMusA in piano.
He played competitive chess alongside his closest friends, and joined the Symphony Orchestra, Serenata, and his favourite, the Sinfonietta: “It was a close, tight-knit group where we competed in Eisteddfods together and shared many memories, funny, sad, happy, altogether.”
He unwound by playing video games with his friends or talking with them online: “I am a chronic yapper with those close to me.”
His favourite memory is of the “pretty transformative experience” of the Field Studies camp.
He hopes to become a doctor or, perhaps buoyed by his own experience, a teacher.