Now that the stress of Year 12 is over, Madeline Judd isn’t taking too long to relax.
The recent Greater Shepparton Secondary College graduate has already moved to Melbourne and is about to have a busy summer ahead of her.
With an affinity for STEM, Madeline took up one of the hardest subjects on offer, and it wound up being her favourite.
“My favourite subject was specialist maths, my most difficult subject, but I enjoyed the challenge that it brought,” she said.
“I was the only girl in five years to do specialist maths (in year 12 at GSSC).”
Taking that leap of faith into doing the subject was one that she was very thankful for, but at the start of the year, it was harder to keep her convinced.
“I tried to drop out of specialist maths three times,” she said.
“It was challenging, having no female students to look up to, but because my teacher was a female, I had a bit of a confidence boost.”
Her specialist maths teacher saw something special in Madeline, and recommended she apply to the Jane Street WiSE (Women in STEM Education) program.
The program is designed for women and non gender-specific individuals who are recent high school graduates about to head into their first year of university.
The lucky participants of the WiSE program get to head to one of Jane Street’s offices and intern over two days, learning all about how the proprietary trading firm works and how they use computer science, maths and probability concepts in trading.
In 2025, participants will get to go to Hong Kong over Feburary 6 and 7.
“When I saw the opportunity, I thought this will help me to decide if a Bachelor of Science is what I want to do, or if I want to transfer into something more finance focused,” Madeline said.
“I didn’t actually tell my parents because it was in Hong Kong, and I didn’t know what they’d say, so (I thought) I’ll just apply and see.
“When I found out (I got in), I was living in Melbourne by myself, and I started jumping up and down on my kitchen floor.”
Telling her parents that she’s leaving the country by herself for the very first time to Hong Kong wasn’t an easy conversation, but she says they won’t be difficult to convince.
When she lands back in Australia, Madeline will start a Bachelor of Science at the University of Melbourne. after securing one of GSSC’s top ATARs of the class of 2024 with 95.75.
“I have the Kwong Lee Dow Young Scholars scholarship, that was awarded at the end of Year 10, and it covered my move to Melbourne,” she said.
“I’m excited to experience the uni life and the freedom comes with it.”