But Saad Al-Kaab wasn't always the best student.
"I was actually, before the war, that boy who would say 'I wish I could never go to school again'," he tells Newsbeat. "My wish came true and it was shocking. I actually felt guilty."
Saad was 14 years old when the civil war started in his country in 2011.
He later fled Syria with his family to live in Melbourne, sponsored by his uncle.
But for two years, he didn't go to school as public buildings were turned into refugee camps or army bases.