Brett receives Youth Award
Brett O'Neill of Umina took out the runner up prize in the hotly-contested academic category of the 1999 Peninsula Youth of the Year Awards.
Brett was dux of his year at St Edwards College in Years 10, 11 and 12.
He achieved university admission marks of 98.7 and has been accepted into the Bachelor of Advanced Mathematics and Science course at the University of Sydney.
While at school, Brett was awarded the Edmund Rice Scholarship for Academic Excellence twice.
These outstanding results were achieved under adverse conditions.
During years 10, 11 and 12, the school was going through a major growth period and there were ongoing building noises including jackhammers on a regular basis.
Additionally, at the beginning of year 12, Brett's Four Unit Mathematics teacher left the school and Brett undertook this most difficult of courses by correspondence with no one to help resolve problems.
In spite of this, he still achieved a final 4 unit assessment mark of 98/100.
At 18, Brett now has the world at his feet.
Cec BucelIo, February 19