Jamie Henry is bilingual and can play the saxophone but the year 12 student insists she is just like her friends.
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Born and raised in Japan her parents moved to Australia to give Jamie and her brother a chance at a better life and Jamie said things are great.
"I moved to Australia when I was 12 and I had to repeat my last year of primary school so that my English could improve," Jamie said.
"When we first moved we actually travelled around a quite a bit to find the place we liked the most and we picked Port Macquaire.
"Through everything music has been the one thing I have loved doing to keep me grounded and as a way to de-stress when things are busy."
Currently in the midst of her final year of school at Hastings Secondary College Port Macquarie campus, Jamie said music is one of her biggest passions and now in year 12 it keeps her focused on her studies.
"I have been in lots of musical bands including the school band and I just love everything about music," she said.
"It is something I talk about with my friends and it is also a way for me to relax after a stressful day. I really thought about not doing music for my HSC but in the end I was convinced and honestly it was such a good decision.
"Playing and learning to play a musical instrument uses a different part of the brain and it also brings me so much joy."
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Jamie is fluent in Japanese and said being able to speak both languages has also been a real asset for her.
"I think it is actually a great thing I can speak two languages because it helps me in so many different subjects," she said.
"From sentence structure to understanding concepts it can be much easier knowing two languages.
"I had to learn French at school for a little while as well and I picked that up pretty quickly compared to my classmates."
If you know a young person doing great things or who has an interesting life story please get in touch with our youth affairs journalist Laura Telford via email laura.telford@fairfaxmedia.com.au.
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