In the small farming community of Bung Bong, surrounded by gum trees on a sprawling rural property, Rylan Jardine dreamt big.
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The VCE student from north central Victoria had his eyes set on an advanced bachelor of science at Monash University and was aiming for an ATAR of 95.
He also wanted to beat his older brother and the previous dux of his school.
He ended up with an ATAR 98.85 – Maryborough Education Centre's best ever VCE result.
"I was pretty ecstatic," he said. "I was over the moon, shouting and running around. I was just relieved."
On Wednesday, when first round offers are released to thousands of students, the 18-year-old is set to receive confirmation that he has been accepted into the course of his choice.
He'll be stacking shelves and lending books at his part-time job at Maryborough Library when he receives the news, saving up for the big move to Melbourne.
It's an impressive feat for a student from a low-socioeconomic state school in the country.
Rylan, who lives on a former sheep farm between Avoca and Maryborough, had a strategic approach to the VCE.
He decided what subjects he would study when he was in year 7.
He completed seven VCE subjects during years 11 and 12, knowing that one wouldn't count towards his final result. He was going to drop biology but stuck with it, achieving a perfect study score of 50.
There were not enough students interested in specialist maths and physics to justify running a class at his school, so he enrolled in the subjects via the Victorian Virtual Learning Network.
The initiative is the brainchild of Bendigo Senior Secondary College and lets rural students complete VCE subjects online using instructional videos, online exercises and Skype conversations with tutors.
"I had to be more disciplined because there was no one in my class urging me to stay ahead," he said.
This discipline involved studying for three hours a day. When his head wasn't buried in books he played soccer, cricket, read books and floated on his dam in a dinghy.
Country students face many challenges that many of their city counterparts will never encounter.
They often don't have the same availability of VCE subjects, and going to university can be prohibitive for many families because it involves moving out of home.
Maryborough Education Centre principal David Sutton said the P-12 school, which has about 1000 enrolments, accepted all students.
"We work hard to develop high aspirations and to have high expectations of our students," he said.
Rylan has applied to live in a residential college at Monash and has received a small scholarship to help him with the cost of moving out of home. He wants to pursue a career in scientific research.
"It's a big change," he said. "I'm getting a bit nervous."