Kondut local wins a Beazley medal

Ms Crossen, from the Western Australian College of Agriculture, Cunderdin, was awarded the Beazley medal: VET in recognition of her excellent performance in vocational education and training.

The award is named after Whitlam government education minister Kim Edward Beazley, whose son is the WA govenor and also a former federal minister.

Growing up on a farm at Kondut, near Wongan Hills, Ms Crossen had been surrounded by sheep and farming her whole life.

Despite this, she was hesitant to go to agricultural school, as she was unsure if that was what she wanted to do.

"I didn't love farming growing up, I loved the sheep work side of things, but not so much sitting in a truck with dad," Ms Crossen said.

"My older sister went to ag school, she had such good things to say about it, so I thought maybe I should give that a go.

"Although I didn't know what I wanted to do, I knew I didn't want to go to Perth."

At Cunderdin, her favourite subject quickly became animal production systems.

Working with the sheep and pigs, in particular, became a highlight and she completed a Certificate III in both enterprises.

"I did ATAR courses which provided in-depth learning, which I loved," Ms Crossen said.

"I discovered that I enjoyed working with sheep and pigs, anything that was hands-on with the animals."

With a love of sheep already engrained in her, it grew as she had the opportunity to learn about wool handling and developed her shearing skills.

"It's hard work, but I love it," she said.

Although initially other students tried to dissuade Ms Crossen from working with pigs, she found a real joy in working with them and the systems required at a piggery.

"I'd never had anything to do with pigs and going to Cunderdin everyone was like, 'nah don't do pigs, the pigs smell', but I really enjoyed it," she said.

"I love the management side, there's always so much going on and everything's very organised - it's interesting running such a big, intensive piggery and it was so new to me."

Throughout her final years of school, COVID-19 only became a slight hiccup in year 11, when many classes turned online, moving to zoom schooling.

However this didn't slow Ms Crossen down, as she went on to sit ATAR examinations for animal production systems, English, mathematics applications and plant production systems.

She also received a VET Exhibition and VET Certificate of Excellence: Primary, Environmental and Animal Care, a Certificate of Merit and achieved a Certificate II and III in Agriculture, a Certificate III in Pork Production and a Certificate III in Advanced Wool Handling.

To be in the running for the Beazley Medal:VET, Ms Crossen was put forward by her school and then submitted an application with four pages on why she believed she should win the award.

The final stage of the application was an interview process followed by a second interview.

A key highlight from her schooling was competing in the wool handling competitions around the State.

It was something which she admits she wasn't aware existed, before her sheep teacher, a judge at some of the competitions, provided an opportunity for the students to have a go.

Winning the Beazley Medal has given Ms Crossen a bit of a buzz and while she has enjoyed her 15 minutes of fame, she is looking forward to things quieting down again.

"While the award has made my hard work worthwhile and it's been nice to be recognised in such a way, I am looking forward to going back to my quiet life," she said.

Ms Crossen encourages 2022 year 12 students to try not to worry as they see out their final year of schooling.

"Just give it a go and try to focus on balance," she said.

"Year 12 isn't the be all and end all, there's definitely other options if it doesn't work out like you wanted it too, so just give everything a go and have some fun, it's your last year so make the most out of it."

As for this year, Ms Crossen is looking forward to a small break from study, having secured a job in a shearing team at Bencubbin.

"I'm going to do that for a little bit, then I might go to university in the second semester of next year, I definitely will go back, but I don't know when yet," she said.

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