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Year 12 graduates dream big for 2025 and beyond

Wednesday, 22 January 2025
Future physicists, lawyers, educators, health professionals and winemakers are among the Class of 2024. We catch up with six of them to discuss their final year, university studies, and career aspirations.

Sam Richards

Marketing & Communications Manager

Will Fitton
ATAR: 96.45

Will found out his results while on holiday in New Zealand with his Dad.

2024 College Dux Will Fitton is studying a Bachelor of Science (Advanced) at the University of Adelaide and majoring in physics.

Initially he was split between physics and mechanical engineering but decided to pursue the field that fascinated him most. This allows him to delve into subtopics including Quantum Physics – the domain of complex ideas such as Schrodinger’s cat.

“I hope to be able to combine my physics course into an engineering field,” Will explains.

“Multiple companies such as Apple are utilising complex quantum physics in new innovative technology, and I aim to pursue something similar. This is a field that is exponentially increasing.”

Will was in New Zealand with his Dad to run New Zealand’s Routeburn Track when he found out his results. He believes his approach to learning and exams may be the secret to his academic results.

“I think the biggest reason I did as well as I did was because I took the exams as seriously as I could, but kept myself calm,” he says.

“You are given about 6-7 weeks to study for these exams, and I used every minute of it. I studied at school instead of home to ensure I didn’t get distracted, and I gave myself healthy breaks, so I didn’t burn out.”

Throughout the year, he also learned to make the most of the resources available to him.

“Make the most of your teachers – they want you to succeed. They want you to ask questions, so ask away,” he says.


Lucy Haythorpe
ATAR: 94.00

A school excursion to Flinders Medical Centre inspired Lucy to study Occupational Therapy.

Lucy felt a wave of relief when she walked out of her final exam.

“The weight lifted off my shoulders, knowing I couldn’t possibly do anything more to change my grades and knowing that hopefully all my hard work would pay off,” she says.

Her hard work did pay off, when she was offered a place in her first preference – a Bachelor of Health Science, Master of Occupational Therapy at Flinders University.

It was her experiences talking with allied health professionals during a school excursion to Flinders Medical Centre for the ‘PARTY program’ that motivated her to put OT at the top.

She hopes to specialise in occupational therapy for children after her positive experiences in Year 12 child studies.

“In 10 years, I see myself living out this passion of helping people,” she says.

“I am inspired to become an OT because I will be able to assist people throughout some of the hardest, most life-changing moments of their lives.

“I’m both sad and happy to have left school. Sad to be saying goodbye to the school I spent 13 years at, next to some of my closest friends, with amazing teachers.

“But happy because I’m starting this big new chapter of life with so many adventures and pathways awaiting.”


Matthew Boyd, 2024 Co-Captain
ATAR 93.85

Matthew as Tulsa in Gypsy: A Musical Fable as produced by the South Coast Choral and Arts Society in 2023.

Matthew will be studying a Bachelor of Arts (Advanced) and Bachelor of Laws at the University of Adelaide.

Matthew’s father and sister are both lawyers, making it a family vocation. However, by incorporating the Arts, Matthew is keeping his options open and exploring a passion for the humanities kindled by his Year 12 subjects English Literary Studies and Modern History.

“This double degree will allow me to see what fits, what works, what I enjoy,” he says.

Reflecting on Year 12, Matthew says he is pleased to have achieved his goals without sacrificing his mental health, passions or friendships.

“I also cherished the opportunity to be a representative and ambassador for my cohort as College Captain,” he says.

“Leadership gives me an incentive to be a better person; to lead and inspire others to be their best, you have to be better yourself.”

He has spent his holidays preparing for his relocation to St Marks Residential College and enjoying the company of family and friends – which has made him reflect what he loves about living on the Fleurieu Peninsula.

He also hopes to maintain his engagement with theatre – a passion born of his involvement in many Investigator College and South Coast Choral Society productions.


Bell Parker
ATAR: 93.15

Bell participated in the South Australian Space School in Year 10, a program designed to introduce talented students to careers in science, engineering, aviation and astronomy.

Bell dreams of working as an Astrophysicist, researching the mysteries of space. She’s been accepted into an Advanced Bachelor of Science at the University of Adelaide and will major in physics.

“I’ll be able to research topics that others never have before, gathering a deeper understanding of our universe,” she says.

“I’ve always been fascinated with the unknown and space is a great unknown. To be able to research and understand it is such an awesome opportunity.

“The beauty of research is that the more you know, the better you understand how much you don’t know. Who can say what the major questions will be in 10 years?”

Bell will be entering the sector at the right time, with Adelaide designated as the space capital of Australia and thousands of new jobs being created in the industry.

During her studies she’ll continue to live and work part-time on the Fleurieu Peninsula, travelling into the city a few days a week.

She’s thankful for her supportive friendship groups during Year 12, which helped her manage the workload.

She’s used the quieter holiday period to work full-time as a manager at a local eatery and catch up on her reading.


Chloe McPherson, 2024 Co-Captain
ATAR: 92.45

Chloe dreams of creating new wines as an oenologist, a field that combines her family history with a love of biochemistry.

Chloe is studying a Bachelor of Science at the University of Adelaide and boarding at St Ann’s College. She ultimately aims to graduate with a Bachelor of Viticulture and Oenology.

Her family has a long connection with wine, spanning back to when Ira McPherson, a migrant from Scotland, started growing sultana grapes in Waikerie in 1915.

“Behind my Grandparent’s house, the very same one Ira built, surrounded by new varieties of grapes that are harvested every year for wine production, is a small section of that very first patch of sultana grapes,” she remembers.

“Walking home from school each day through the block [as a child growing up in the Riverland], my sisters and I used to stop by the row and take a handful each to snack on, unknowingly carrying on a tradition that spanned many generations before us.”

The family business is now known as ‘Kirriemuir Pty Ltd’, named for the town where Ira’s father, and Chloe’s great great great grandfather, James McPherson originated from.

But although Chloe has grown up surrounded by viticulturalists, the science of winemaking is her calling. Oenology, as it is known, will allow her to apply her passion for biology and chemistry, fostered through her schooling at Investigator.

“I’m proud to be the fifth generation in this family of wine experts and hope to carry on the tradition in new and exciting ways,” she says.


Omid Hussaini
2024 Vice Captain

Omid plans to one day practise law alongside his father.

Omid’s Mum and Dad embody the entrepreneurial spirit that he hopes to replicate in work, study and life. In 1999, they migrated to Australia from Afghanistan. His father studied law down under and now runs his own multi-lingual legal practice.

The practice specialises in wills and estates, small business law, and migration law. Omid has already helped with software, IT, marketing and admin. Now he’s studying a Bachelor Laws and Bachelor of Economics (Advanced) at the University of Adelaide, with the goal of one day practising alongside his Dad.

“Our main demographic is the migrant community,” Omid says.

“My Dad is very passionate to help, knowing what people have been through. In Australia, we have luxuries that are just a fantasy across the sea.

“Being from Afghanistan, speaking Hazaragi/Dari, and understanding the migrant experience – these things help us build rapport.”

Omid enjoyed Year 12, particularly the small class groups which allowed for deep discussions and greater individual support. He approaches 2025 with mixed emotions.

“I’m happy Year 12 is over, but also those were some of the best days. I’ll miss them forever. But I’m excited for what’s next.”

Copyright Information

All articles, updates, media releases and event information remain the intellectual property of Investigator College and its authors, unless otherwise stated and may only be reproduced with permission.
© Investigator College, 2023
Sam Richards
Marketing & Communications Manager
srichards@investigator.sa.edu.au

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