Fatemeh Abbasi is no stranger to long hours in front of her textbooks and hardcore revision before an exam.
It isn't easy being one of the top students in school, but the 16-year-old insists the hours she spends accumulating her stacks of flashcards is a small price to pay.
Fatemeh comes across as a calm and soft-spoken teenager, but when asked about education Fatemeh's voice rises slightly and her speech quickens as she explains the importance of opportunity; something many girls from her background are deprived of.
Her family moved to Iran from Afghanistan before she was born.
They're part of Afghanistan's Hazara community, which is an ethnic minority that has been facing persecution and discrimination for decades.
Hazaras weren't always the minority in Afghanistan but after years of targeted and systematic attacks against the group, it has now become the reality.
Earlier this year, a girl's high school in a predominantly Hazara neighbourhood was targeted in a bombing, killing 85 people and injuring countless others, mostly girls aged between 11 and 17.
"When I heard the news, I felt very very upset that most girls were the same age as me," Fatemeh said.
"I'm having the education here while they're really struggling to get a little education.
Fatemeh's mother Raziyeh Khademi says the situation back home still haunts her.
"It's very difficult there," she said.
"Almost 200 girl students were killed or injured or lost. They wouldn't have been able to study in Afghanistan.
"We're very happy here, thank God. We're happy with our children by our side, but families and relatives continue to be killed back home.
Ongoing attacks have forced many Hazaras to migrate to neighbouring countries like Iran.
Fatemeh said, while she was born in Iran, the fact that her family was from Afghanistan meant the discrimination did not end when they crossed the border to Iran.
"It was just much harder for a refugee to be a top student and, of course, there was jealousy of a refugee being a top student."
New life, new opportunities
After spending the first 12 years of her life in Iran, Fatemeh and her family sought refuge in Australia.
They were given humanitarian visas and settled in Wagga Wagga in regional New South Wales in 2017.
Fatemeh is currently in year nine at Mount Austin High School where she has managed to continuously excel in her studies.
"And when I see other girls in Afghanistan who don't have opportunity at all, it makes me sad and upset [but it also] makes me motivated to achieve more".
Fatemeh is one of only two students in Wagga Wagga to be awarded the Harding Miller Education Scholarship, which provides young Australian women from disadvantaged backgrounds with resources and support as they prepare for university.
She recalled when she told her sister and her mother about the news first and how difficult it was to get the words out.
"I went to my mum and I was so happy that I couldn't talk so I had to calm down and retell her how I won the scholarship," Fatemeh said.
"I knew this scholarship was going to impact my education positively and it's going to help me get to where I want to [go]."
A parent's dream
Fatemeh's mother Raziyeh Khademi watches her daughter with an unwavering smile.
"I was very happy that my daughter got this scholarship," Ms Khademi said.
She recalled her youth with a sad smile and explained how she never had access to schooling herself.
"During those times when I was young, girls didn't go to school," Ms Khademi said.
"But education is very important in our family and we encourage our children to study hard.
With a scholarship under her belt and all the support she could need, Fatemeh said she was looking forward to going to university and becoming a lawyer.
"When I was a kid, I always wanted superpowers to make a difference in the world," she said.
"But as I matured, I realised that I want to become a lawyer to fight for what I think is right.
