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AFTER 3 1/2 years teaching at a ``rough and confronting'' school in London's Docklands, Holly Barnewall was delighted to return to her native Flinders Island.
But she nearly missed the opportunity.
``(Then) Flinders principal Gary Sykes was talking to my mum one day and said that there was a vacancy at the school, but my mum said I was overseas and wouldn't be interested,'' Ms Barnewall said.
``She mentioned the conversation to me in passing in a phone call and I stayed up to the middle of the night in London, because of the time difference, to apply for the job by phone - that was 3 1/2 years ago.''
Ms Barnewall said that she loved being back on Flinders and had rewritten the English, SOSE and arts programs to be more relevant and exciting for her students and had developed a transition subject to help young people live alone.
She also has an active extracurricular schedule, providing after-school and weekend activities, connecting students to support services and organising an international exchange program with the school.
Her dedication and drive has seen Ms Barnewall, 27, named as Tasmania's finalist for Young Australian of the Year.
Ms Barnewall said she found her nomination, by Flinders Island District High School principal Janice Schibrowski, ``quite strange, but lovely''.
``I'd always missed Flinders and wanted to come home, so when a job came up here, I didn't think twice about it - I felt really lost over there (London),'' Ms Barnewall said.
National winners will be announced at a ceremony on the lawns outside Parliament House in Canberra on January 25.