THIS time last year, Charlotte Crossen found herself in a bit of a whirlwind and spent the summer relishing her acknowledgment as one of Western Australia's top students.
Typical for this motivated 19-year-old, though, she didn't rest on any laurels.
A Kondut girl, who grew up on a Merino stud, she has spent the past 12 months honing her sheep and wool handling skills, with a firm view to progress through the industry.
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"I really want to be a wool classer and wool rep,'' Ms Crossen said.
"I guess because I have grown up around it, I've always had a lot to do with sheep and wool, I find it really interesting and it is something I am passionate about.
"Wool is a sustainable fibre and the world should be using it a lot more."
It's been a busy 12 months or so for the 2021 Beazley Medal winner, who was presented with her prize at the end of the 2021 school year by then WA governor Kim Beazley, at a special ceremony at Government House.
She is now working at Elders Merredin, having finished working in a wool shed in October - after a nine-month stint as a shed hand and 'rousie'.
"I was working for a shearing contractor in Bencubbin,'' Ms Crossen said.
"I am really interested in the wool industry and that side of ag at the moment, after working with wool and now with Elders."
A highlight of her year was being part of the WA team at the National Shearing and Wool Handling Competition in Bendigo, Victoria, in November.
"I had really good fun and I learned a lot there,'' she said.
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The Beazley Medal is WA's top academic award, and potentially the most prestigious recognition of secondary school students in Australia.
Two medals are awarded at the close of each academic year.
One is for excellence in the WA Certificate of Education (WACE) - for the student with the highest examination marks across five ATAR courses in year 12 - and a second is awarded for excellence in vocational studies (VET).
The WACE medal was first awarded in 1984 and the VET medal, which Ms Crossen won, was introduced in 2000 - and both were named after Mr Beazley's father, Kim Beazley senior, a former teacher and Federal education minister.
While the WACE award regularly goes to a student from one of Perth's top private schools, or the selective State school Perth Modern, the VET medal has been won by a healthy cohort students at country high schools who thrive on the combination of ATAR and TAFE courses that the VET pathway offers.
Ms Crossen is the second student from WA College of Agriculture, Cunderdin, to win the accolade, following in the footsteps of Andrew Reynolds in 2009.
"Initially I had no idea what the Beazley Medal was...I got the phone call that I'd won it when I was doing shift work at CBH,'' she said.
"They were like 'you have won the Beazley Medal and you can't tell anyone for two weeks' and then I freaked out a little bit.
"Ms Crossen grew up on a mixed cropping and sheep enterprise that her father Stefan Crossen works on, home to the Northwich Merino stud run by David and Scott Kelly.
Sheep and shearing were always her family's main focus, but there was also a cropping program and a small herd of cows she could get involved with.
"I definitely got to do a lot of different things on the farm growing up, but we only got paid for sheep work, so we definitely did a lot more of that,'' she said.
And this young girl is truly a product of a country education, having attended Ballidu Primary School and then years 7-10 at Wongan Hills District High School.
She went to WACOA 'Cundy' for years 11 and 12, encouraged by her older sister Madi's positive experience there and buoyed by the fact that it was only about 1.5 hour's drive back home.
Once she got her driver's licence in year 12, it meant she could return to the farm most weekends and continue playing sports for Wongan Hills.
"I loved moving around the three different schools but staying local,'' she said.
"I never wanted to go away to boarding school, and I'm not a big fan of the city.
"So I think 'Cundy' was a bit of a compromise.
"Definitely, going to 'Cundy', I was given a lot of opportunities to do different things and learn a lot more.
"I got a lot out of it and I don't regret making that decision at all."
And I had a lot of fun boarding at 'Cundy'.
''The school helped her build connections and friendships with people across the State, many of whom have started careers in agricultural industries or farming.
"You can make some strong connections there and get some good networking opportunities which lead to future jobs and careers and things,'' she said.
In year 12, Ms Crossen studied animal and plant production systems, maths and English ATAR courses, plus achieved three Certificate IIIs in pork production, agriculture and advanced wool handling and completed trades pathway courses in automotive trades and furniture making.
In year 11, she completed a certificate II in wool handling and agriculture.
Though it was a big program of study, Ms Crossen said students were given a lot of support and many of the units crossed over, which eased the load.
It also gave her the skills and confidence to walk straight into a job in the shearing shed last year.
"Having that experience means the contractor can trust you and they don't have to spend so much time teaching you,'' she said.
"On my first day, I was so stressed about it, I literally got chucked in, but it was fine.
"You leave Cunderdin with a full resume, that's for sure."
Ms Crossen said the school's assistant farm manager Madison Corsini, who she took to the medal presentation ceremony along with principal Matt Dowell, was an amazing help and support to students at the school
"Ms Corsini definitely supported us all the way,'' Ms Crossen said.
A bit of time has given Ms Crossen the distance to reflect on her high school and Beazley Medal experience - and though it has been daunting in some respects, she is starting to make her way.
Her advice to incoming final years students: just give everything a go.
"To be honest no-one knows what they are doing,'' she said.
"I was stressing out last year because I thought 'I won the Beazley Medal and I have no idea what I am doing'.
"I had this fear of disappointing everyone and that everyone expected that I was going to do big things."
Now she doesn't worry so much and said her contemporaries moving from school into new jobs and careers shouldn't either.
"As long as you are happy and living your life and doing a job that you enjoy getting up and going to, then you can't do anything better than that,'' she said.
"Give every opportunity a go, you never know who you are going to meet through it, and what is going to happen.
"And everything you do just adds up to make your resume look good."
BEAZLEY MEDAL VET WINNERS
2000 Darren Chapman, WA College of Agriculture, Narrogin
2001 Bianca Batten, Forrestfield Senior High School
2002 Natasha Lea Pierce, Clarkson Community High School
2003 Joel David Treeby, WA College of Agriculture, Denmark
2004 Lachlan Patterson, WA College of Agriculture, Narrogin
2005 Linda Greenwood Tully, Methodist Ladies' College
2006 Michael Gibbings, WA School of Agriculture, Harvey
2007 Michelle Kite, Corpus Christi College
2008 Emma Hudson, St Mary's Anglican Girls' School
2009 Andrew Reynolds, WA College of Agriculture, Cunderdin
2010 Jaclyn East, WA College of Agriculture, Narrogin
2011 Nicole Kerr, Woodvale Secondary College
2012 Madisen Scott, Woodvale Secondary College
2013 Emma Hay, Georgiana Molloy Anglican School
2014 Robert Rubery, Applecross Senior High School
2015 Megan McSeveney, WA College of Agriculture, Harvey
2016 Tate Bertola, Esperance Senior High School
2017 Andreea Ioan, Willetton Senior High School
2018 Jess Haydon, Swan Valley Anglican Community School
2019 Jesse Morris-Parmer, St Mark's Anglican Community School
2020 Luke de Laeter, Wesley College
2021 Charlotte Crossen, WA College of Agriculture, Cunderdin
2022 Ashton Fowler, Harrisdale Senior High School
- Source: Wikipedia.
