Eden Marine High students celebrate Year 12 formal at Seahorse Inn

Held at Seahorse Inn along the pristine shores of Twofold Bay, the 38 students posed for family and friend portraits, while catching up among themselves.

Despite the strong winds that evening, the students' spirits remained high as they celebrated the end of their exams and for several - their early entry acceptance into universities.

Year 12 student and 2023 school captain Indigo Keaney said it was amazing to finish 13 years of school with all her classmates reunited for one last hurrah.

"It's going to be amazing to see where everyone goes to from here as they continue on their different paths," she said.

Indigo said she was feeling optimistic about continuing her studies next year, after receiving early entry offers from six different universities across the country and in Tasmania.

"I'm really excited because I know there's just so many possibilities and it was quite a relief to get those offers," she said.

Indigo said news of the early offers had helped her perform better in her final exams.

"I had a rocky trial exam period because I got really anxious and the early entrance helped me a lot because I knew I had gotten into uni and I didn't have to worry about it," she said.

READ MORE: Sapphire Coast Anglican College Year 12 formal held at Bega Civic Centre

Year 12 student Josh Gordon said meeting up with his classmates that evening had been quite a "surreal" experience.

"You're leaving school and you're just kind of thrown out into the big world and it's a pretty big turning point in our lives," he said.

Josh said he was looking forward to "getting out there and trying a few careers", to which he added that he was also keen to join the army at some point.

2023 school captain Morgan Thornton said he was appreciative to the school for throwing such a luxurious farewell for them at the Seahorse Inn.

"A lot of the time you leave school and that's it, so it's good to have everyone here one last time with teachers and students mingling," he said.

READ MORE: Bega High School students celebrate Year 12 Formal at Oaklands in Pambula

Once the speeches were complete and the laughter that echoed across the room had died down, Year 12 advisor Nikki Challman took a moment to look back at her students with pride and nostalgia.

"It's hard not to be emotional in this moment after spending six years with them," she said.

Ms Challman said she had teared up during her speech when she referred to the students as her ducklings, recounting the nursery rhyme about a mother duck taking her little ducklings over the hill.

"Forty little ducks went over the hill one day and travelled far away, Mama duck said quack quack but none of the little ducks are coming back," she said.

"I just thought the nursery rhyme was so relevant with 40 of our students graduating this year and while not all of them could be here today, it pretty much sums up how I'm feeling at the moment."

Ms Challman said she was so proud to see how far her students had come, with many having received early entry offers to universities or employment opportunities.

"They've come in leaps and bounds and it hasn't been a smooth journey for them, they had the fires and COVID-19, but they're such a good group of kids," she said.

Ms Challman said by sheer irony that particular year group had been nicknamed KELP an acronym given to the cohort in Year 7.

"They're a very cruisy bunch of kids much like their acronym KELP, they were just always going with the flow, back and forth with the ebbs and flows of high school and everything that's happened," she said.

Ms Challman said she was excited to see her students preparing for their lives out of school, with many having made plans already.

"It just shows you the maturity and initiative that they have, they've all got direction in their lives which is really nice to see" she said.

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