It鈥檚 been a whirlwind 12 months for 2022 College Dux Toby Clack. Taking a well-earned gap year after achieving an outstanding ATAR of 99.25, Toby has added another title to his name – Under 18 eight-ball World Champion.
Toby Clack didn鈥檛 really like pool the first time he played it.
But the realisation that he could travel the world playing pool swiftly changed the then 11-year-old鈥檚 mind.
鈥淚nitially I didn’t like the game. I thought it was quite boring and I preferred outdoor sports鈥� he confesses.听
鈥淭hen Dad told me that if you鈥檙e good enough you can travel and I was like, 鈥極h travel, I might as well get onto this鈥�.鈥�
Get onto it he did. In a big way.
Not long after Toby started playing competitively, he won the Under 12 Victorian Championships and later the same year went on to become runner-up at the National Titles in Darwin.
In 2019, Toby won his first Australian singles title in Launceston and in July this year – the first year Toby鈥檚 had the opportunity to compete against professionals – he was crowned World Eight-ball Under 18 champion at the World Titles in Agadir, Morocco.听
Toby said it was a fantastic feeling to be number one.听
鈥淚t’s a big relief off my shoulders,鈥� he said.
鈥淚 put a lot of work in, lots of practice and lots of hours, so it was good to have that payoff. Just practicing with the best (players) beforehand and being able to put it out there on the table when it mattered was a good feeling.鈥�
Hard work and commitment appear to be second nature to Toby.
He was Dux of 每日大赛网址首页进入 in 2022, achieving an outstanding ATAR (Australian Tertiary Admission Rank) of 99.25.听
Toby studied six Year 12 subjects and was top of the class in all of them. Further, Toby was Dux of Biology as a Year 11 student in 2021, attaining a study score of 46.
It was an incredible result, particularly given his senior years of schooling were disrupted by Covid-19.
鈥淚t was challenging being out of the classroom and challenging not being able to see everyone as well but I still got through everything,鈥� Toby recalls.听
鈥淚’m quite self-motivated, so I got the work done and still did extra just like normal.鈥�
The global pandemic aside, Toby has wonderful memories of his time at St Pat鈥檚.
鈥淚 loved the whole experience at St Pat’s. I thought it was magnificent,鈥� he says.
鈥淎ll the teachers I had were great and very supportive and I had a great group of friends around me, so we’d have a lot of laughs outside during recess and lunch.鈥澨�
He advises current students to seize every opportunity afforded to them and make the most of their time at school.
鈥淵ou’ve got the rest of your life to do all sorts of different things that you enjoy, whether it’s playing sport or gaming or catching up with friends or going to parties or whatever,鈥� he says.听
鈥淏ut you’ve only got one year to make this count so you might as well knuckle down and do the hard work just while you still can and then you don’t have to worry about it anymore.鈥�
It鈥檚 a mindset Toby will take with him to the University of Melbourne next year when he commences his studies in Biomedical Science.
鈥淚 know it’ll be pretty difficult jumping back into reality but then again, I’ve missed the learning and it鈥檚 something I enjoy doing so I don’t think I’ll have too much trouble,鈥� he explains.听
鈥淪t Pat’s promotes all good habits, study habits and life habits from the moment you kind of walk in on your first day so I鈥檒l be taking that advice with me.鈥�
Toby, who celebrated his 18th birthday under the Northern Lights in Norway, is hoping to turn his love of science into a career in which he can make a positive contribution to society.
And if Toby鈥檚 achievements to date are anything to go by, there鈥檚 little doubt that he will make it happen.
鈥淭he dream job is to manufacture vaccines and cures for different diseases so hopefully one day I’ll end up in a lab experimenting,鈥� he says.
鈥淚 love science and I feel like it鈥檚 an area I can apply myself and make a positive difference in the world.听
鈥淚f I do 60 years of work and I save one life, then it’ll all be worth it.鈥澨�
