Amelia Stevens, a 2024 Henry Kendall High School graduate, has proven that physical disability is no barrier to academic and leadership success. Despite living with a hearing impairment since childhood and relying on a cochlear implant, Stevens achieved Band 6 marks in all her higher school certificate (HSC) courses, earning Distinguished Achiever awards in each subject.
Henry Kendall High School principal Andrew Backhouse praised Stevens for her hard work and determination, calling her achievements a testament to her dedication and resilience.
“The former school prefect’s natural leadership and passion for community involvement has left a lasting impact and has been an inspiration to both her peers and teachers,” Backhouse said. “Amelia is frequently approached by younger students, who look up to her for her kindness, compassion, and humility. Her contributions extend beyond the classroom, as she has also been a long-term volunteer with St John’s Ambulance, demonstrating her commitment to helping others.”
Reflecting on her accomplishments, Stevens shared her emotional response to her HSC results, which affirmed her years of effort. “The confirmation that my hard work was all for something in the end was overwhelming, and I’m so lucky to have been in a supportive environment when they came through,” she said.
The journey to achieving such success was not without its challenges. Stevens eleborated, “The HSC was a challenge like no other, so it was like a weight lifted off my shoulders when the results came through—I cried.”
Stevens also described her unique challenges posed by her hearing impairment and the additional effort required to keep up with her studies. “My hearing impairment means that in order to get the same amount out of my classes as other students, I often have to go back over the content in my free time, ask more questions, and so forth,” she said.
“To achieve this, I have received the most incredible support from Hearing Australia and my itinerant hearing support (IST-H) teachers across the 13 years of my schooling. Not only that, Henry Kendall’s amazing student services team was consistently amazing, and I am so grateful for everyone that helped me along the way to ensure that in classes I was getting the same amount of education and learning my classmates were, without which I would have fallen behind and not have been able to do the extra work and effort at home that the HSC required.”
This year, Stevens plans to pursue her passion for writing and education by studying communications (writing and publishing) and secondary education (English and society and culture) at the University of Technology, Sydney. Her achievements reflect the value of determination and the support of a compassionate community.