A map can tell Brooklyn Thorpe much more than where to go. The Southern River College Year 7 student is interested in how maps can be used to display data about different places, and that interest has helped her achieve a strong result on the national stage.
Brooklyn ranked in the top 20 percent of students across Australia in this year’s Australian Geography Competition, earning a Certificate of Distinction.
“I felt proud of myself because it’s nice to be recognised for my effort throughout the year and excited that I got one of the highest scores in the Nation,” she said.
Brooklyn said she enjoyed having the chance to test herself against students she would not normally compete with.
“Being able to compete against people I wouldn’t usually have the opportunity to and seeing if my hard work is paying off,” she said.
Her favourite part of the competition involved questions about different types of maps and the ways they can be used to present geographical data.
Brooklyn said her interest in geography started well before the competition.
“I’ve always been interested in Geography because I enjoy learning about different places in the world, not just where I live,” she said.
She prepared by working through questions from the 2025 competition to get an idea of what she could expect.
Her interest now extends to water scarcity, a topic she has been studying in class.
Brooklyn said she wanted to learn more about which parts of the world lacked access to clean water, how water sources could be sustained and what people could do to save water in everyday life.
Teacher Ms Schmidt said Brooklyn, who is part of the school’s Year 7.1 Inspire class, regularly showed curiosity and a willingness to challenge herself.
“What stood out most about Brooklyn’s achievement was the level at which she was able to perform as a Year 7 student in a national competition,” Ms Schmidt said.
“Competing against students from across Australia is a significant challenge, and Brooklyn demonstrated an impressive ability to apply her geographical knowledge, critical thinking and problem-solving skills.”
This was Southern River College’s second year taking part in the Australian Geography Competition after students also recorded strong results in 2025.
Ms Schmidt said the competition gave students an opportunity to use what they had learnt in class while testing their skills against students from across the country.
Brooklyn’s result was a highlight among this year’s Year 7 participants.
