Greek-Australian student achieves top score of 99.95

Education is of particular importance for Greek diaspora communities, including the Greek-Australian one.

When Australian High School Certificate results were announced yesterday in a year that compromised the education of all students courtesy of the COVID-19 pandemic, many Greek-Australian students would have certainly been anxious.

For some, 2020 brought joy and for others it brought despair.

Among those celebrating were many Greek-Australian students, such as Brisbane Girls Grammar School student Matina Samios, 18, who was among Queensland’s top 30 students after achieving the highest Australian Tertiary Admission Rank of 99.95.

“Pretty much the first thing I did was open my laptop and head to the website because I really wanted to know, and I was very very surprised, I started screaming, and I was crying, and my mum rushed in, it was a great moment,” Samios told The Courier-Mail.

“At about 7.30 this morning I thought maybe they would release them for 9am and I thought I couldn’t wait another hour-and-a-half.

“Such a great end to such a not-so-great year, it’s a great early Christmas present.”

Ms Samios was dux of the prestigious girls school and had hoped to achieve the highest ranking to study medicine at Griffith University.

“It’s such a relief, it’s a weight lifted off my shoulders,” she said.

GCT congratulates Matina for her success and also wishes the best for all those students who didn’t do as well as they wished.

Admittedly, this was an unusual year that impacted their families and disrupted their lives.

Even bad marks can be a lesson in themselves: to never give up and keep on fighting for their dreams!