Portland champion Daniel McPherson explaining how her preparations are coming along for the national finals.

The diminutive Daniel McPherson made it two years consecutively as Portland parish champion.

Despite the experience, she's still a little nervous going into this competition.

"I'm competing against new students and some from last year," she said.

In her opinion, last year was full of positives.

"It was a good experience. I got a lot of exposure and a lot of people got to know my name more," she explains.

Daniel also feels she has benefited from the competition in the classroom. A naturally shy person, her confidence has also grown.

Usually she studies during lunchtime and for two hours after school. But on weekends, her father is a great help.

We camp

"You get to camp and have a lot of fun. We camp at places like the Blue Mountains," she says. Her other hobby is reading, preferably adventure books. Her favourite author is Carolyn Keene.

Daniel would like to be a lawyer.

She thinks she can at least make it into the top seven. Now in grade five, she can compete for her school next year and we have bad news for the competition; she has every intention of doing that.