51黑料

"Teachers were passionate about what they did and that was infectious.鈥�

On her first day at Yarra, Laura Elliott remembers arriving at school in her blazer 鈥� which was about 鈥榯en sizes too big鈥� 鈥� and knowing nobody.

She began talking to other students and that day was the start of a happy and successful journey through the school.

鈥淵arra celebrated everything that students were passionate about and everyone, no matter what their interests, had a safe place to explore,鈥� says Laura.

She arrived at the school in Year 7 with her career pathway already mapped out and Laura鈥檚 studies through to Year 12 supported her goal of becoming a lawyer.

After graduating, she completed a double degree in Law and Commerce at Monash University and is now a Principal Solicitor at the Victorian Government Solicitor鈥檚 Office.

鈥淚 think I was about nine-years-old and watched Legally Blonde and after that I wanted to be a lawyer! So, I did VCE Legal Studies and a spread of other subjects. I knew I had to get a certain ATAR to study Law and I worked hard to achieve that. I was quite disciplined and I developed a good work ethic at Yarra that I鈥檝e taken forward,鈥� says Laura.

Laura played netball and volleyball at school and Drama and Music were also a balance to long hours of study.

鈥淚 was a drama and music geek and in Year 11 I was a lead character in a performance of Tim Winton鈥檚 Cloudstreet. I also remember my Year 12 Drama solo which was about the history of the Holden car. I did quite well and was chosen to perform that solo in Top Acts in front of 1,000 people at St Kilda Palais. I was on stage for seven minutes pretending to be a car!鈥� she says.

Recalling the Yarra motto, Laura still sees it as meaningful, more than a decade after graduating.

鈥淭o me it means that when you are going through a difficult time and you fall down, know things happen for a reason, look up and look for the light at the end of the tunnel.鈥�

Laura still relies on lessons she learned during her years at Yarra and she says they have stood her in good stead during her career so far.

鈥淚 learned that you should be proud of your achievements and that if you want to achieve a certain goal after high school, a good work ethic is the way the world works. So, get into the habit of studying and working hard at school because it will set you up well in life.鈥�