Taree student makes 2020 HSC All Rounders and Distinguished Achievers list

Academically he has topped his selective high school - he is Dux of the government-funded Hurlstone Agricultural High School in Sydney's west.

His ATAR of 99.9 is well above the 99.5 he was hoping would make him eligible to study medicine at Sydney University. Tomorrow (Saturday December 19) he has an interview with the university - he will be vying for one of the 35 places for medicine.

Today the 17-year-old is feeling "pretty pumped." He is home, looking forward to some beach time with mates and golf with his dad, and cruising around, as he recently got his driver's licence.

Hunter has scored Band 6 in Economics, Advanced English, Maths Extension 1 and 2, and physics, marking him as an All Rounder. He is also a Distinguished Achiever, scoring 90 or above in all of his subjects.

Medicine has been on Hunter's radar for a while now. His preferences change - maybe oncology, maybe paediatrics - but he believes there's breadth in medicine to challenge his desire to learn.

Hunter attended a few primary schools before Hurlstone, including Manning Valley Anglican College and a couple of winters at Jindabyne, with skiing on the side. One special teacher at Tinonee Primary School, Robyn Middleton was catching up with Hunter this afternoon.

His mum, Jacinda O'Neill had confidence in Hunter's maturity to handle boarding school from the age of 12. At the time Jacinta had a farm and Hunter's sister Lily, who is five years his junior, to look after at Taree South so trips to see him were limited. She said the 12-year-old had to navigate Sydney's public transport to have braces fitted.

However his dad, John was his regular visitor.

His classmates came from mainly Vietnamese and Indian backgrounds, many of the boarders came from the Central West.

Hunter says he lacked the confidence in himself academically coming in to year 11. He took standard English for the first term but then chose to take Advanced English. Likewise with mathematics, he backed himself to take on Extension 1 and 2.

2020 has been a particularly tough year for the boarders who were in strict lockdown from March through to early November, a decision covering all government boarding schools, despite the lifting of COVID restrictions months earlier. It also meant he couldn't get a haircut in all those months.

During lockdown, Hunter taught himself to play piano. His sister Lily had won a piano and gave it to him, and it was installed in his room. He can't read music and plays by "ear". His piano skills have astounded his mum, although she admits her own father could play any instrument he picked up.

2020 was also the year Hunter decided to put sport aside to concentrate on the HSC.

In 2016 he was selected on the Greater Western Sydney Giants (AFL) development squad. In 2018 he attended the Giants' senior academy and played with the Flying Boomerangs under 15s indigenous side, a national team that played in Darwin.

Last year he played representative AFL with the under 16s Rams.

But playing at such a high level wasn't without its consequences and he suffered some serious injuries. And mucking around at school earlier this year, he had another serious fall where he could have broken his arm - he didn't, but he realised the injury could have impacted on sitting the HSC, which had been his focus.

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