Victoria Polites woke up to ecstatic news as she celebrated with her parents her tremendous ATAR result of 98.95, a perfect reward for her efforts during the VCE which has put her in good stead of achieving her target of studying medicine at university.
Victoria, a student and the school captain of McKinnon Secondary College this year, was among the tens of thousands of young Victorians to receive their ATAR mark this morning in what was an extremely proud moment for herself and her family.
Such was her excitement and nervousness that she actually woke up earlier than her scheduled 6.30 a.m. alarm to see what ATAR she earned.
“I was checking my results on my phone with my family and then I saw the ATAR result and honestly, I was so happy. A massive smile went on my face, it was the best thing. Parents were super proud and there were lots of hugs,” Victoria told Neos Kosmos.
The now finished high school student studied English, Chemistry, Biology, Geography and two sets of Mathematics which were Mathematical Methods and her personal favourite subject, Further Maths.
“I did Biology last year in Year 11 and I got 45, which scaled to a 46. I got a 42 in Geography, 41 in English, 42 in Chemistry which was scaled to a 45, 41 in Maths Methods that scaled up to a 46-47 and 50 in Further Maths,” Victoria said.
She admitted there were difficulties presented by her school captain duties, mostly interfering with her study time, though she stressed that it ultimately had more positives than negatives.
“At times, it definitely was challenging, especially when we would have to organise events for our Year Level and had to juggle that with organising the speeches for Assembly and other responsibilities like that.”
“There were a lot of hours after school where we had to meet up and spend a lot of extra time on other things, time which I could have spent on studying. It was challenging but it was definitely rewarding. I have no regrets there. It was one of the best experiences.”
She credited her successful results down to staying on top of all her work and ensuring she never fell behind.
“I got studying done nice and early as well as doing a lot of practice exams and getting feedback from teachers,” Victoria told Neos Kosmos.
When asked what advice she would offer students going into their VCE, she suggested to ensure they know how to use their preferred study techniques, suggesting they work out their system during Year 11.
“Get it down pat in Year 11 so it is nice and easy and you have it figured out by Year 12,” Victoria said.
“Also, I recommend having an outlet because that helped me a lot. I played basketball on the weekends and that was a good release from school.”
Victoria revealed she hopes to study medicine at either the Monash University or the University of Melbourne.
“Right now, I am looking to maybe one day become a paediatrician. I am not 100% sure yet but we will see where the degree can take me,” she said.
