Top Graduate in Profile丨Enthusiasm and a Prepared Mind

Secondly, as Rose explained, the school has amazing teachers that are willing to support students both in and out of class, which she feels has a very significant effect on a student's development of interest. In Rose’s case, it was Mr Dentico, her biology teacher, who helped her enormously to nurture her love of and interest in biological sciences. It was he who suggested the independent research essay on COVID-19 and immune responses and helped her through every step of it. He always challenged her with new projects and new ideas to develop, which helped her understand the biological sciences in a deeper context.

Asked what opportunities she is looking forward to exploring, Rose said that of all the things she’s interested in, she is most looking forward to learning more about the human body, and about the immune system and cellular interactions. She’s also keen to try out areas of biological sciences that she’s not so familiar with, such as pharmacology.

 

 

Elaborating further on her own choices, Rose said that initially, she thought that studying physics might not be beneficial for her as she was planning to study biomedical sciences. However, she wanted to keep her options open, so she chose biology, chemistry, physics and mathematics for her A-levels in the hopes of building a solid grounding for her future studies.

In Rose’s view, her choices for A-level were good, because no matter how distant two concepts in science may seem initially, they can always be linked together. She explained that people usually think that science is divided into three different areas of study, namely, biology, chemistry, and physics. However, during her studies, Rose realised that there were a lot of terms and concepts that overlapped between the sciences. This led her to believe that although people separate the sciences, all sciences are interconnected and can be thought of as one. Therefore, by interconnecting the sciences, people can better understand the enigma they face in a scientific field.

Rose wants to become a biomedical researcher, because she wants to help people with their medical conditions, but not as a doctor. She feels that studying all three sciences will help her with this because then she will have a better understanding of what she is doing.

Asked about her views on the current pandemic, Rose said that she doesn’t yet know enough about COVID-19 to be able to offer a reliable opinion. However, one of the interesting perspectives she has come across was what Professor Jae Chan Choi, a Korean professor, mentioned on a radio programme in Korea. He related the increasing frequency of pandemics to the increase in the percentage of area that humans occupy on the earth. He suggested that the more people move into new areas, the more animals they come into contact with, so the more routes there are for viruses to be passed on to humans. His view is that if people let nature be and took less from it, there would be fewer ways for the viruses to reach humans, and this would therefore decrease the frequency of pandemics in general. Rose found this to be a very interesting hypothesis.

With regard to a presentation that she made on vaccines, Rose explained that she has heard that the development of vaccines for COVID-19 was much quicker than that of any previous disease, and she feels that the fast development and high efficacy of the vaccines show how quickly the scientific field is developing and evolving, as well as the potential of the field. She believes that the more flexible scientists become in reacting to new conditions and new medical challenges, the more patients they can treat, and she feels that new technologies and new studies lead to such flexibility.

As Head of College this year, Rose has had a lot of responsibilities. Describing the positive aspect and the challenges of her role, Rose said that throughout the year, the importance of teamwork and cooperation stood out for her. She had some amazing teammates and a very supportive teacher in the student council this year, and she believes that is one of the reasons the student council kept going despite the switch to online learning. Rose told us that although she has been in leadership positions before and was in the student council for five years before this year, she found it very different to be Head of College. She enjoys all her responsibilities, but finds this to be somewhat of a challenge in that one of her weaknesses is that she fails to balance her extracurricular activities with her academic tasks because she has so many things she wants to participate in.

Describing those extracurricular activities, Rose told us that she enjoys swimming and playing football, basketball and volleyball, but is also very interested in music and the performing arts. She loves dancing and acting, so she tries to get on stage as often as she can because she has never been able to let go of the performing aspect of her life. In addition, Rose relieves her stress these days by singing in Wellatonics, the school a cappella group, and also by enjoying karaoke sessions at home.

Regarding her advice to other young students, Rose mentioned that she found it very difficult to distribute her energy appropriately throughout her time in high school, and so she was very tired by the end of the year.  She emphasized that it is important to prioritize and plan out how to spend your time and energy. She also stressed the importance of asking questions, because whichever stage of learning students are at, it is important to understand rather than memorize, and they can understand only by asking about what they don't understand.

Rose’s main goal for the future in pursuing biomedical sciences is to help people suffering from immunological conditions. However, she is aware that life does not go as planned, and that chance favours only the prepared mind. For now, she is planning to “keep her head straight”, love what she learns, and prepare as well as she can for what's to come.

Speaking of the people who supported her, Rose said that without them, she couldn't have become who she is today.  She expressed her thanks to her teachers for the endless support they provided throughout her time in Wellington, emphasizing her respect and gratitude for all the teachers, especially those in the science and maths department. Rose also expressed her thanks to her friends for supporting her, because she feels she would have struggled with her school life if it weren’t for them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And most of all, Rose expressed deep gratitude to her parents, who cared for her, cheered her on, and were supportive of her, regardless of what she wanted to do, congratulating her on her efforts rather than her successes or her grades. And she also wanted to thank her brother, who was always a role model for her and encouraged her to do better. She feels very privileged to have grown up in such a family and to have studied in such a school.

A fitting comment from a student who is undoubtedly also an inspiration to others!

We certainly wish her well on the next stage of her journey. Good Luck!