High school dropout on path to success

When Nirrimi Hakanson dropped out of high school, everyone told her it was a big mistake.

On Wednesday night she got the last laugh.

The 17-year-old is on her way to being a famous and successful photographer after winning $5,000 cash and $5,000 in flights from the Qantas Spirit of Youth Awards (SOYA) to help her pursue her dreams.

"I'm a high school dropout, (but) yeah, it is working out, surprisingly," she laughed.

"Everyone told me it wouldn't. Look where I am."

Now in its sixth year, SOYA gives Australians under the age of 30 the chance to boost their careers with a $10,000 cash and flights package and a 12-month mentorship with an industry leader.

The awards cover seven creative fields, including fashion, film, visual arts, visual communications, music, photography and industrial and object design.

Hakanson, who grew up in Townsville but now calls Melbourne home, will be mentored by renowned photographer Tim Richardson, who is based in New York.

She likes to tell stories about youth in her work, and hopes to release a photo book soon.

"While all my friends were partying on the weekends I was studying photography and taking photos," she said.

"I think I've definitely put in the work for it."

Fashion duo Anna Plunkett and Luke Sales from Sydney label Romance Was Born will be mentored by Nicky and Simone Zimmermann, while budding filmmaker Kasimir Burgess, 28, will work with director Rachel Ward.

Melbourne band Oh Mercy took out the music category, scoring a mentorship with Stephen Pavlovic from Modular Records.

"We decided to enter because it was a great opportunity for our band to potentially fund a second record," singer Alexander Lam said.

"If we can fund it ourselves it means we can remain independent, which is how we released our first album, and which is something that's very important to us."

Tom Fereday from Sydney was named the winner in the object and industrial design section, while Tin Nguyen and Edward Cutting of tin&ed took out the visual communications category.

The awards were announced at a gala event at Sydney's Museum of Contemporary Art, hosted by ABC radio show host Adam Spencer.