Greek Australian student, Tina Papamanuel, scored a perfect 45 out of 45 in the International Baccalaureate (IB) when official marks were released last week where she attended MLC School in the inner western Sydney suburb of Burwood, NSW.
Tina, who was School Vice-Captain (Year 6 to Year 9), was also awarded the OGU Prize for Scholarship, Sportsmanship and Leadership at Speech Night 2022 for showing outstanding leadership and sportsmanship in her years at MLC School.
In an exclusive interview with The Greek Herald, Tina shared the key to her success was keeping a balance between study, sport and being involved in co-curriculars and school activities.
Instead of cutting out extra activities or spending less time with friends and family, Tina developed a studying system that included everything she wanted to do, which eventually aided in a perfect IB score.
Throughout her final year, Tina continued playing hockey for MLC and soccer for a club outside of school on Saturday’s and Sunday’s.
The Greek Australian student noted that while exercise is great for physical health, it was mostly beneficial for clearing her head and relaxing.
“I found when I came back from all those games, I was more motivated to get into work and study,” Tina told The Greek Herald. “It was also a great outlet because of the team environment.”
When asked about how she came to create a successful balance that worked for her, Tina responded, “I was always a bit nervous about how I would end up doing because I lived far away and I also did things after school, like my co-curriculars, so I was worried those extra few hours [after school] would be detrimental.”
“But I found the best thing was quality over quantity when it came to studying.”
The high school student shared her nuggets of wisdom for other students entering Year 12. Tina highlighted the importance of focusing on quality study by “having a plan, being efficient with the work you do in the time you have and scheduling papers so you can practice before exams.”
“Over the years I learned this balance due to wanting to have both” a good study ethic and being able to do extra activities, Tina further added.
“And my dad has always encouraged me to have this balance too.”
“Dad would say, ‘Do your sports, see your friends, do your debating—enjoy your high school experience as much as you can’,” Tina said proudly to The Greek Herald.
In the near future, Tina hopes to pursue a path in health and occupational therapy working with children.
*Please Note: The above student is one The Greek Herald could identify by their Greek name. If you believe you should be on this list, please send an email to info@foreignlanguage.com.au.
