Welcome to the Gold Coast
isn't it beautiful here
and this is where I go to high school.
I'm Nya from Thailand and I'm a student at Queensland Academies Health Sciences campus.
Let's bring it home girls we've got 20 seconds left, working hard here!
Here at QAHS is Queensland Academy for Health Sciences and we are a senior high school for students in year 10, 11 and 12.
Exclusively we do the International Baccalaureate diploma program
at this school we're very fortunate with beautiful facilities people describe it as a University campus style
it's a school but not as you know it.
For many years now we've had a fitness coordinator who trains with students
morning and now in the afternoon and we have purpose-built big gym area
the Mantra is be well in order to do well for others.
I would say QAHS is my second home and as an international student I'm being away from family
it's important to get to know new people to be involved in new activities to kind of find
myself a little bit and QA has definitely offered that to me and I definitely have made really
good friends there and I've definitely really gotten fitter and healthier
being a student you need to have a balance between just relaxing and studying
I just felt like this is where I'm meant to be and just because I've always
wanted to go into a health science career
my mum has a PHD in Biochemistry and I've always loved
you know what she's been studying.
In the science labs we have amazing things like anatomy models
we've got models of the brain, models of the heart.
Each year we would have about 60 to 70 percent
of graduates seeking careers in health and medicine
state-of-the-art laboratories are set up here in the academy
and state-of-the-art equipment
so we have equipment at this school that no other school would have
and that is to facilitate the the richness in the scientific investigation and research.
We are the only school located in the Gold Coast Health and Knowledge Precinct
this is a precinct recognised in the Gold Coast as a hub for scientific research.
So literally our students can be five minutes walking distance across the Footbridge
accessing all the richness that comes in their learning
with knowing that there's internationally acclaimed, and world first research that's being undertaken
Over the years our students, for example, they've been able to be in laboratories over at Griffith University
and for a future medical student that is an opportunity
that they just wouldn't get anywhere else.
I've been to Griffith and I've seen their labs and it's amazing
and that confirmed, and sparked my interest in science, and how I
really really want to go down this path.
I love experimenting, I love learning about new things
and I have ended up with an experiment about how capsaicin, which is a chemical in chilli,
potentially capsaicin would be able to help slow down Alzheimer's.
I felt really close to this research topic because I'm from Thailand and I love spice and I eat everything with chilli.
It's fundamental to the IB ethos that you're not just developing as an academic learner but
you are developing in your creativity you know over 50 in-school activities that are running
so students can choose anything from K-pop, Bollywood dancing, they will do dragon dancing,
battle of the bands, surf life-saving, we also have a rich community connection beyond school here.
Queensland Academies on the Gold Coast offers so much more than just quality education it's the
scenery, it's the beach, it's the people.
Coming to QAHS has really set me up for my science career in the future.
My big aspiration would be to make an impact in the science field one way or another
maybe as a medical doctor, maybe as a researcher, or maybe as a you know the next person who finds
a new cure for something and I feel like I could definitely do something amazing.