The 17-year-old, who received an early acceptance offer into Curtin University’s engineering course before the ATAR results were released, said she was “fairly happy” with her raw score of 76.75 which equated to 81.75 with rural bonuses. The Australian Christian College Southlands graduate from Albany had been confident she’d get the minimum ATAR of 80 to get into the course after receiving a projected rank of 84 from her mock exams – but had still hoped for slightly higher. “Coming out of my exams I felt fairly confident in what I completed and how I went going into them because I had learnt from my mistakes I made in the mock exams,” Annaliese said. “It wasn't as if I was kicking myself over something that I didn’t know or forgot to study. I’m fairly happy with my performance , there’s some minor hurdles to get through because of my English (result) but otherwise I’m eagerly anticipating Monday (when the early offers come out).” However, Annaliese said had she not met the minimum requirement she would be OK and still have the opportunity to follow her dream of becoming an engineer.

The last two years of her secondary schooling didn’t come without anxiety and nerves though, and the teenager only decided she wanted to be an engineer last year. “I was anxious in Year 11 because I wasn’t 100 per cent sure where I was going or what to do, but this year the majority of that anxiety left before my mock exams,” Annaliese said. “I was most nervous before my mock exams and most of my anxiety was while I was at school. The end goal of becoming an engineer came clearer this year and it was closer in sight so it was much smoother.” Having moved to Perth from Albany after finishing her exams, Annaliese said her short-term goal was focused on earning money to support herself before going to uni, where she’ll be one of a growing number of women entering a STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) field. “I’m going to be a rarity as a woman in engineering and so it’s a great opportunity for myself in my own career as well as showing other people that maths, science or engineering are fun and girls and women can enter into it even if it is male dominated,” she said.