A "RELIEVED" Paw Bleh Htoo is savouring freedom from school but her attention is already turning to a new adventure, this time in the skies above your head.
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The aspiring flight attendant is about to head to China on a one year scholarship but for the moment the Bendigo Senior Secondary School graduate is just glad to have passed year 12.
"It was stressful. I would not want to repeat it again even if my score was bad," she said.
Paw Bleh was one of the 45,465 students across the state awarded an ATAR score.
"I think I did better than I thought I would," she said.
That journey is now over, but another one is only just beginning.
Paw Bleh will head to China in February in a move she hopes will bolster her chances of landing a job in air travel.
She will start her studies at the Shanghai Normal University and, while it may seem an unconventional path for an aspiring flight attendant, Paw Bleh said it would likely be a change to sharpen her Chinese language skills.
"That would help me, maybe more than what is taught, to get the jobs I want," she said.
"The teachers introduced it to me as a good opportunity to learn and travel - and have fun."
China's - and the wider region's - culture and food fascinate Paw Bleh.
"That really grabs me, to want to learn more. And they have long histories as well," she said.
Paw Bleh hopes she can one day work on international flight crews, ideally into and around China and Thailand.
She is already familiar with parts of the region. She is Karen and her family hails from Myanmar.
Part of the appeal of the airline industry is the chance to help people out - plus the uniforms.
"And the way they walk the aisles," Paw Bleh said.
Tom O'Callaghan
I grew up in Bendigo and I want to tell your stories.
I grew up in Bendigo and I want to tell your stories.
