Gavin Carballo, recipient of the 2016 NSW Premier Award
There’s good news in the mail! For the Carballo family, it was exciting times when the postman delivered their regular mail on Monday, January 25, a day prior to Australia Day. Along with the usual letters and junk mail, was a letter from none other than NSW Premier, Michael Baird congratulating their son, Gavin Carballo for academic excellence.
Gavin Carballo, 17 years of age of Freeman Catholic College was the recipient of the Premier’s Award for overall academic excellence in the whole of NSW. His test score for Year 12 was a mere 99.2! Although, Gavin was born in Australia, both his parents are Filipinos who came to Australia in the early 70’s.
“He’s a gifted child,” said his Dad, Gilly. “At the age of one year and three months, he knew his alphabet. He skipped year one. At the age of six he was assessed with an IQ of 138,” his Dad proudly adds.
“It was a shock but it feels great,” said Gavin. “It’s good when the all the hard work, I’ve put in pays off,” he adds.
Gavin is now gearing up to start University life at the Sydney University at the end of February. With marks like that, it is no surprise that he is aiming for a combined Law and Engineering degree. “It’s not the usual combination,” says Gavin. “Most people combine Law studies with Economics or Business studies. But I took Law and Engineering subjects in year 12 and I enjoyed both subjects. So I thought, I ‘d give it a go,” he humbly adds.
Aside from excelling academically, Gavin is also a talented pianist and his fingers glide rhythmically across the ivory board. He is currently completing his Associate of Music (AMAS) studies, and hopes to be a classical virtuoso one day.
And in his spare time, he enjoys hanging out with friends, swimming, and going to the gym to keep fit.
Gavin with proud parents, Gilly and Enialyn Carballo.
He’s every parents’ dream. His proud parents, Gilly and Eneialyn Carballo are absolutely ecstatic. “It’s the icing, on the icing, on the icing,” exclaimed his overjoyed Dad. With a consistent exceptional record, there’s really no stopping Gavin!
