After completing a grueling six years of high-school and achieving a band six on his Higher School Certificate, you'd think Benjamin Jones had earned himself a break.
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The Kinross Wolaroi student will be doing no such thing however as he plots the next stage of his life, one that pursues academic and sporting dreams side by side.
Speaking to the Central Western Daily at the annual HSC high achievers photo on December 16, Jones revealed he'd be taking a different route to that of his former classmates.
"I'll be going over to the United States and I hope to commit to Stanford In Palo Alto, California," he said when asked how he planned to spend 2023.
"I'm hoping to land an academic and athletic scholarship for four years. It's a pretty amazing institution."
The 18-year old is a track runner, specialising in the 400 and 800 metre category.
He won the 2021 NSW Under-18 400m with a time 48.41 seconds, more than a second in front of second place, before following up with a third in the under-18 400m and fourth in the 800m.
This year he added open categories to his bow, performing admirably while continuing to place high at the state and national championships.
Combine those stats with an ATAR of 91.9 and Jones has put himself in a strong position to receive a letter, all he has to do now is wait patiently.
"I've sat my SAT which is the American entrance exam and I have an alright ATAR so hopefully I can use that to get some academic money," he said.
"Then I just have to keep running here. I've got a world ranking already so basically if I've run fast enough I'll be in line for a scholarship.
"I have to say nothing is set. I haven't gotten anything locked in at the moment but I am am hopeful of being able to commit to Stanford."
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