For Jane Haeusler, back to school this year will mean a long distance move from her hometown of Barellan in New South Wales to Brisbane in pursuit of her dreams to one day become a professional tennis player.
The fifteen-year-old started playing tennis at age ten, convincing her father to let her practise in one of the grain sheds on the family farm.
“When I got a bit more serious about tennis and started playing tournaments, Dad let me use one of the grain sheds on the farm and built a wall with slabs of concrete for me to hit against,” Jane said.
Jane is currently ranked 223 in Australia and the decision to make the 1800km move from her hometown will give her more opportunities to train and play regular tournaments so that she can one day reach her goal of playing for Australia.
The Year 10 student will board at St Margaret’s where she says she is looking forward to having “tennis courts right on the doorstep” when the school’s state-of-the-art new sports complex opens later this year.
Jane acknowledges it will be a big change but says she is excited at the prospect.
“The size of the school and campus will be one of the biggest adjustments. My old school had about 100 students whereas St Margaret’s has over 1000. Not getting lost and forgetting everyone’s name will be a challenge.
“It will also be a big change getting used to boarding; instead of going home to the farm everyday I will be going home to a boarding house filled with 186 other girls.
“I’ve never lived in a city before. It’s a big move and a big change which might be difficult to adjust to for the first few weeks but I’m definitely more excited than nervous right now,” Jane said.
St Margaret’s will welcome 186 new and veteran boarders for the start of school with students hailing from all over Queensland, NSW, the Northern Territory and overseas destinations.