Hey everyone! My name is Sakthivel, a UNSW Medicine student. I graduated from Normanhurst Boys High School with an Atar of 99.35, achieving 2nd internally in Physics, 2nd internally in Biology and 5th internally in Maths Extension 2. I also accelerated in Chemistry, writing the HSC one year earlier.

Throughout High School, I was a student who wanted to understand why things were the way there. For example, in chemistry we learn to balance equations, but I always wanted to know why we needed to do that. This helped me build a solid understanding of the concepts rather than superficial memorisation and practice. This will help me to teach at a slower place, making sure that the student understands the concept thoroughly.

Despite this I was never a perfect student. There were times when my marks disappointed me. At first, I only saw this as a disappointment but through experience I learnt it was an opportunity to make the better of yourself as cliche as it sounds. I'll be sharing my tips and strategies that help me overcome this so they can avoid the mistakes I made during my high school years.

Having done the HSC especially through COVID, I understand that it can be quite stressful at some points. To relieve the students off this, I believe extra-curricular activities can prove to be very effective. Outside of school, you can see me take part in weekly chess tournaments, playing badminton competitively and casually, but most importantly hanging out with my family and fellow lads.