General News
14 December, 2023
Ari Pugh creates a moment of meaning
TERANG College graduate Ari Pugh has been accepted in to one of the state’s most prestigious art schools, and earned this year’s principal award for a gesture of courage.
Ari earned the principal’s award at Terang College’s recent graduation dinner, which farewelled 10 graduates.
“I feel extremely grateful and honoured.
“We all encouraged each other and put in the hard work.
“That ultimately led me to achieve what I wanted to achieve.”
Ari said the main reason he had earned the principal’s award was due to a speech he delivered at the dinner.
Giving a speech in front of your peers and school staff is daunting at the best of times, but for Ari it required the additional fortitude to push through despite struggling with a stutter.
“I felt like I wanted to do something meaningful for one of my last times attending Terang College as a student,” he said.
“I often viewed my stutter as an enemy, but I’ve recently been able to combat it and overcome it.
“My speech was about time, and how we essentially really need to be present and cherish these moments and the people around us who we connect with.
“In doing that I wanted to acknowledge the importance of the people around me. My classmates, my teachers, and my parents who have helped me to achieve all I set out to do.”
Since graduating Ari has received an offer to study a Bachelor of Fine Arts at the Victorian College of Arts, with a focus on photography.
The college is internationally renowned as a leading tertiary institution which drives artistic invention and innovation across a wide range of mediums.
Ari said he was “honoured and surprised” to be among the few presented with such an opportunity despite being a relative newcomer to photography.
“I got in to photography in year nine after choosing to do it as an elective and my teacher, Liam O’Connor, and my art teacher, Jeanette Miller, really inspired me,” he said.
“I had wonderful teachers through the Virtual Schools Victoria program, through which I also did my art class.
“It’s really brought me to the point of being able to develop my photography in to various niches, such as infrared photography which I am interested in at the moment.”
Terang College principal Kath Tanner said she was proud to see Ari reaching such a significant accomplishment.
“He achieved a really good study score and to be accepted to the Victorian College of Arts is a really big accomplishment,” she said.
“He completed two subjects in arts online, so he’s done incredibly well.”
Ari is exploring taking a gap year, which would require him to re-apply for art school next year, but remains confident he can develop his abilities to see wherever the lens may take him.
“I believe if I continue to apply myself to photography and videography I’ll be able to earn a place again,” he said.
“If not, there’s plenty of other opportunities out there which I look forward to pursuing.”