HUNTER students have overcome two years of COVID-19 disruption to their studies to excel and top NSW in six Higher School Certificate subjects - the region's highest number in six years.
The NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA) announced the 139 students who achieved first place in 149 courses in a Wednesday online ceremony.
Merewether High's Delta Hateley said she was "shocked" to be number one in Earth and Environmental Science.
"I don't think it's sunk in yet," Delta said.
"When I first got the call I was pretty stoked and I thought the lady said I got third and I was even amazed at that.
"I'm really proud and happy and ecstatic."
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Hunter Valley Grammar School's Lucy Saywell said it felt "surreal" to outperform the English Extension 2 cohort and she "can't quite believe it yet".
Newcastle Grammar School's Matthew Macdougall said reaching the top spot in Engineering Studies was a "good reward for all the hard work I put in".
St Paul's Catholic College Booragul's Caleb Baker and St Philip's Christian College Waratah's Damon Herington have only just started year 12, after achieving first place in last year's Retail Services and Entertainment Industry exams respectively.
"I don't how I did it, but I'm pretty stoked," Caleb said.
Damon said he hadn't been sure he performed well in the exam.
"I had to do my school captain speech the morning of the exam and I walked in super emotional," he said.
"I was pretty keen on getting top five, but to get first is pretty incredible."
Merewether High's Sophie Loiselle said it was "exciting" to lead the state in Society and Culture.
Delta, 18, attributed her success to consistency, her helpful teachers and her love of learning, particularly about climate science.
"I did put in a lot of time and effort and consistently throughout the two years, it definitely wasn't 'Hammer down in the last two months and achieve those results'," she said.
"I do remember in year 11 and 12 always trying my best, not aiming to get any accolades or get first but just trying to push myself."
Lucy, 18, spent 10 months on her major work, 2000 words of free verse post modern imagist style poetry influenced by the 2020 bushfires.
"The goal was to create a new voice in the climate change crisis conversation, particularly in Australian society," she said.
Matthew, 18, spent "lots of hours" on past papers dating back 30 years.
"It was a good bit of effort put in, but it was worth the pay off," he said.
"The fear of doing poorly [drove me], plus living up to my own expectations.
"I was consistently looking at any mistakes I made and shoring them up on the spot and not ignoring any areas I was weak in."
He said completing two HSC subjects in 2020 proved useful.
"It helped me understand the workload and the additional pressure you get during a year 12 course."
Sophie, 17, said she dedicated "a lot of effort over a long period of time" to the subject's personal interest project.
She focused on the neo-liberalisation of mainstream feminism in Australia.
Caleb, 16, completed a school-based traineeship through his employer McDonalds and received his Certificate III in Retail at the start of 2021.
This meant he could sit the exam without needing to do the subject at school.
He spent his one study period each week learning the HSC syllabus without a teacher.
"It was a struggle sometimes, understanding some of the stuff on my own, but I'm glad I pulled through and stuck with it."
Damon, 16, did past papers, had a talented teacher and "stuck to the game plan".
The Hunter went into lockdown in August, which impacted students' preparation.
Delta said she was an independent learner and mostly coped well, but found the final weeks before exams stressful.
"You do what you have to do, I kept telling myself 'You can't control what happens in terms of COVID, but you can control your attitude and what you do yourself, what study you do and how much effort you put in'."
Lucy said it was hard to maintain motivation to keep studying in the same spot at home where she'd spent her school day, but her teachers and her family helped inspire and encourage her.
"I'll look back on it as a novel period of my life and an interesting and very unique situation," she said.
Matthew, who lives in Kilaben Bay, said remote learning saved him up to three hours on the bus each day, which he redirected to studying.
Caleb said lockdown provided time to "really knuckle down".
Damon said the pandemic hit the arts industry hard, but he built up his required practical hours on three St Philip's musicals.
NESA will send students HSC results from 6am on Thursday and the Universities Admissions Centre will release Australian Tertiary Admission Ranks three hours later.
Matthew hopes to study engineering and commerce at UNSW.
Delta has accepted an offer to study physiotherapy at the University of Newcastle (UON) and Lucy has accepted an offer to study law and social science at UON.
Sophie is considering deferring university for six months and studying arts.
Minister for Education Sarah Mitchell praised the students - dubbed "quaranteens" - for their talent, commitment and persistence and said she was proud of them.
She said at the ceremony she'd called many of the students on a weekend to tell them about their achievement.
"What came through most of all to me was just the fact you're all so humble, you couldn't believe it was you who came first," she said.
Premier Dominic Perrottet congratulated the cohort for their "outstanding efforts" in a recorded message played during the ceremony.
"You've worked extremely hard to top your course in the HSC and you've been able to do it despite all of the challenges and interruptions to your last two years of school," Mr Perrottet said.
"You worked with your teachers, your parents and each other, you stayed the course and you got the results you deserved.
"69,000 students completed the HSC last year and a further 7000 students studied one or more HSC course. These numbers speak volumes about your dedication and ability to achieve a first place among such a massive group of students.
"Though today's ceremony is a recognition of all you've done so far, it's also an encouragement to continue the same dedication and hard work in the future.
"You're at a turning point in your lives, you've spent the majority of your lives so far at school preparing for what comes next.
"The journey won't always be smooth, but you've already shown you have the strength and resilience to navigate whatever life throws at you.
"Managing senior high school through a global pandemic has tested your patience and taught you to trust yourself and those who stepped up to support you.
"Seeing you and all you've achieved gives me real hope for what our future has in store.
"I look forward to seeing you take your place as the leaders of the future."
