As thousands of students across Sydney, NSW return to school today, 18-year-old Catie Bako is embarking on the next chapter of her life after achieving a perfect score of 45 out of 45 in the International Baccalaureate (IB).
The IB is an international school-leaving credential. It has fewer in-class assessments and about 80 percent of a student’s result is based on the final exam.
Catie, a former Kambala School student, tells The Greek Herald exclusively she chose to do the IB because it allowed her to take courses in History, English and Music that had “a more global focus.”
“What really drew me to the IB was the fact that, for example, a big part of it is studying texts in translation or in music, rather than focusing on Western and Australian music, there was a focus on talking about experimental modern music and a lot of world cultures music as well,” Catie explains.
“I was a bit hesitant at first because I didn’t have a language which meant that I had to pick up Spanish Ab Initio, which is beginners, but I ended up really getting a passion for Spanish so I’m going to continue that into university as well.”
With such a heavy academic workload, we just had to ask Catie how she juggled it all. She says she was lucky to have a supportive Greek family and tried to balance study with passions such as debating and playing the flute.
“My Year 12 experience was actually very, very good… My family has always been very supportive of me in terms of education,” she says.
“I spent five weeks of the year participating in debating competitions – for example, the Australian National Debating Competition and the international competition that was held online.
“I also loved playing the flute… I think what’s great about doing something like music or a creative subject is that you can spend time relaxing but you’re developing a skill at the same time.”
Does she plan on utilising these skills at university this year?
Yes, the 18-year-old answers, while also stressing that she plans on studying law at the University of Sydney in Camperdown.
“My sister’s a year older than me and she’s done her first year of university and she seems to have thrived and picked up a lot of extra-curriculars,” Catie says with a laugh.
“So I’m really excited to move into the university circuit and spend more of my time doing the same.”
READ MORE: Sydney students George and John Dedousis get ‘perfect’ International Baccalaureate score.
