Athalia's educational story is nothing short of inspiring. Her journey, which began with an appearance on the AM Show in New Zealand alongside her family, has been a fascinating one. They openly discussed their trials with various educational options before discovering Crimson Global Academy (CGA), a decision that has completely impacted their lives. Since embracing online schooling, Athalia has actively participated in extracurricular activities, which has developed into her recent appointment as Head of Elon House, evident to her impressive growth at CGA.

Athalia is currently taking AS Level subjects, including Math, English, Physics, Chemistry, and Biology.

A New Chapter at CGA

Since joining CGA, Athalia has a newfound confidence in her ability to take on new challenges. “This year, I did actually directly apply for Head of Elon House. I really wanted to get that role. I thought it would be really cool to follow after Paige, who had it last year…So I was really happy when I got it because I have a lot of ideas for it and I really thought it would be an awesome opportunity to work together with other student leaders this year,” says Athalia.

Drawing from her own experiences as a newcomer at CGA Athalia is passionate about creating a welcoming atmosphere for everyone. Her vision for Elon House intertwines with this vision as she aims to focus on integrating the student community through various activities.“As a student, I've experienced what it's like to be completely new to CGA, and so focusing on that and new students…looking at a buddy system… and also continuing on the academic tutoring opportunities that were brought up last year and more extracurricular house competitions.”

Beyond the fun and learning, Athalia sees an untapped potential in bridging the gap between students and teachers, particularly through school assemblies.  “I feel like assemblies are a really good opportunity to increase the engagement and interaction between not just students but teachers as well... So that'd be really cool to work on.”

Rediscovering the Joy of Learning

The transition to CGA marked a turning point for Athalia’s education story. “Before CGA, I was at boarding school and… by the end of it, I really did not like school. I was failing most of my classes and I had no passion or anything.”

Today, Athalia aims to give other students the tools to excel in the online environment and to rediscover their enthusiasm for learning within the school community. She attributes much of her positive experience to the environment at CGA, “One thing that's helped a lot with my experience here is the high-quality teachers and also the fact that students are here to learn. Everybody here is focused, and we all kind of push each other to be better.”

Athalia's ambitions are as impressive as her journey. “I'm currently working towards studying at Harvard in the US. I eventually want to go to med school, and want to study astrophysics at Harvard because that's one area that really interests me. And I'd love to go into the field of Astro-medicine.”

Athalia’s Final Advice

As Athalia's story at CGA continues to unfold, we are excited to see the impact she'll make in her new role as Head of Elon House and the experiences she'll bring to the student community. Her final advice to fellow students is “Take every opportunity that you see, whether that's a new club that has started up, or [message] someone in the introductions of the Slack channel and start new friendships…I think just take every opportunity that you see. You learn a lot, and that's definitely how I built a lot of my friendships.”

From a place of uncertainty to becoming an active community leader and an aspiring Harvard student, her story is an example of how determination can shape a future of possibilities.