Mr Drage said he received his score on December 30, 2020, and then only a few hours later received a call from Warracknabeal Secondary's principal telling him he had scored the highest ATAR of his class.

"I was relieved that it was finally done," he said when he got his ATAR.

"I was just at home. Mum was way more excited at that point.

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"But I didn't know how to react to it. It's a really cool achievement. I just don't know how I'm supposed to react to it."

Mr Drage said his teachers were incredibly supportive and helped him and his class make it through 2020.

"We would have Webex sessions to go over work with teachers," he said.

"I want to thank Mr Foley who I had for my two maths classes was great. Mr Cramp taught physics and made it fun, I don't know how you could do that. I'm so thankful for Ms Downes for putting up with all of us in English, which is not a fun class. Ms Davidson for being able to teach us all chemistry when none of us really knew what we were doing."

Looking ahead, Mr Drage wants to study science and see where it leads.

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"I want to study a Bachelor of Science at Monash university. I'd like to stay in the maths or physics areas," he said.

Maths and physics were his favourite subjects and he got his highest score in Further Maths.

"Year 12 in 2020 was not a fun experience. We spent over half of our schooling at home. We couldn't do the practical work for science units," he said.

Mr Drage studied English, Chemistry, Maths Methods, Physics and Specialist Maths. In 2019, he completed Further Maths.

He said to help reduce stress he would make sure he got his work done.

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"I always spent about half an hour before bed doing something that relaxed me, even if it was just watching television," he said.

"I would try to go swimming every week but the Horsham pool was closed a lot.

"I would go for walks when I was stressed or needed a break."

Luckily, Mr Drage's younger brother Toby, only 15, did all the chores so his big brother could focus on his studies.

"My family left me alone to do my own thing. Toby was stuck with the hard work and I just got to do my schoolwork," he said.

Mr Drage was also given the GMW Water Science Achievement Award.

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