Year 12 student, Meg Shurey, is one of a group of students who travel around an hour by train to get to BSSC each day. It’s a big commitment, but she says it’s worth it.
“I feel like my teachers are here because they really want to be—and love being on first name basis with them. I also appreciate the way we are encouraged to express ourselves.
“It’s not that BSSC teachers are my friends—but those relationships are really respectful. It’s so completely different to other schools I have attended.”
Meg often takes opportunities to get the word out about the quality of education at BSSC and is also a BSSC Student Ambassador on both the Environmental and Art committees.
Her subjects this year are Maths Methods, Chemistry, Environmental Science, English Literature and Art Fashion.
Meg has particularly enjoyed diving deeply into particular topics—organic chemistry in Chem, and Climate Change in Environmental Science.
One of her Art Fashion pieces also featured in a recent college art exhibition.
Asked about her study methods, Meg has an interesting approach.
“I know the research recommends not listening to music or having other distractions around. But the music makes me more likely to actually sit down and do my homework or study—much better than not sitting down at all!”
As she approaches the end of Year 12, Meg is feeling somewhat burnt out and has made a conscious commitment to foster a balance in her life.
“As well as my part-time job, I’m keeping up Ju Jitsu training.
“I’m so grateful to have the most fantastic martial arts teacher—and when I need to nurture myself, I’ll take a long bath or catch up with friends.”
Walking and Ju Jitsu can be forms of meditation—and Meg has found them wonderfully restorative.
During Year 11, Meg was settled on a future beginning with a Chemical Engineering degree. She was captivated by projects such as the possibility of making plastics from cellulose.
Since then, she has realised, not only are four more intense years of study not for her, but the debate about the burden of HECs on young adults made her stop and reflect on whether uni was truly what she wanted.
“I’ve decided not to go to uni—at least not at this point in my life,” she says.
“Instead, I’m planning to head to TAFE to study Cert IV in Outdoor Leadership, hoping for a career leading outdoor camps.”
Love for the outdoors embedded in Meg after numerous wilderness experiences—including completing the winter program at Mittagundi Outdoor Education Centre in the Victorian High Country, and the BSSC Kakadu trip in the middle of this year.
“Actually,” says Meg, “if I haven’t been on a hike for a while, I get a bit antsy.”
From walks in Gariwerd National Park (The Grampians) to holidays in the Blue Mountains; from trekking to the ‘Walls of Jerusalem’ in Tassie’s wilderness, to planning a family holiday around South Australia last year—Meg’s experience is already extensive.
But Meg is just at the beginning of her plans.
Once she has some financial security—so she can purchase a suitable van—Meg hopes to take a year-long road-trip around this big country of ours.
Following this she wants to park the van and head to Asia, visiting Mongolia, China, Malaysia and the Philippines.
While some families may value university education above all else—or hold concerns about young solo travellers—Meg appreciates the way her parents have been very accepting of her aspirations.
It was the 2024 Kakadu trip—swimming below waterfalls in pristine pools, seeing remarkable pandanus weaving, being awed by spectacular views of the Milky Way on clear nights—that brought Meg the final confirmation about changing her career pathway.
“Mandy, a traditional custodian of the Kakadu Lands, taught us how environmentally sustainable First Nations cultural practices and lifestyles are—I’d had no idea of this before.
“I was also inspired with how she managed to connect Traditional Culture to modern society.”
Perhaps it’s not surprising when an Environmental Science student speaks with concern about issues facing our planet. However, Meg has long been switched on about human impact on natural ecosystems and factors the environment into every decision she makes.
“I avoid the use of plastic packaging as much as possible and poor agricultural practices inspired me to become a vegetarian.
“I think I was in Grade Six when I began to realise our world is sort of dying—it’s another reason I want to explore and appreciate it as much as I can.”
When Meg’s family purchased a 20-acre property with just five trees on it, they set about rewilding and replanting.
“There are now over 1000 trees on that land,” Meg says, “but so much has been cleared around it, that animals—such as koalas—can’t actually get to us.”
In the spaces between her adventures—and despite ongoing issues such as land-clearing—Meg is grateful to live in such a naturally beautiful place.
“But there are a few things I’d love to change about me too,” she says.
“While everything that has happened and all the decisions I’ve made, make me who I am today, if I could do that magical journey back to talk with my 12-year-old self, I’d say:
“For a start, don’t have that terrible haircut that wrecked the Grade Six photograph,” she laughs.
“More seriously, I would say, ‘give up dance in Year Eight—before it gets too competitive and becomes a toxic environment in terms of your body image’.
“The stark contrast between how I was treated back then in dance and now, in Ju Jitsu, is incredible.
“In Ju Jitsu, my teachers are wise people completely focused on helping students grow their skills—wherever you’re at, and whatever shape you might be!”
“These days, I see how people who care about me, and the diverse interests I have, are keeping my creative spirit strong.”
