Karin Gunathilake of University of Melbourne through Edlocate praises CIS for her Secondary Education
Karin joined the prestigious University of Melbourne at semester one of 2013 to follow a Bachelor degree in Bio- Medicine. She has settled down to life in Australia and Melbourne very well already and is quite happy about her selection of the university for her tertiary studies.
She had her secondary education at the Colombo International School – CIS from September 2010. And had her lower secondary education in Qatar at the Al Khor International School since 1998 as her parents were employed in Qatar. She selected CIS to sit her London A/ L examination. Her choice of subjects for “As Level” at CIS was Biology, Chemistry, Mathematics and Physics. Having secured four “A” grades at As level she sat the Advanced Level exam in June 2012 and obtained exceptionally good results at this exam as well passing with flying colours.
Her favourite subjects at CIS for the A/ L exam were Biology and Chemistry. She attributes her liking for Chemistry to the excellent teaching by her Chemistry teacher at CIS. In her own words “this teacher has a wonderful way of teaching with a brilliant sense of humour”. She says that the highlight of each of her school days was the Chemistry teaching period. She has so many good words for her time at CIS.
The ability to grow up and prepare to face the world with good academic and professional qualifications and a good career is laid on the good foundation laid during the secondary school years. CIS helps students to get a broad outlook to life without purely concentrating on studies. Karin loved drama and the school encouraged her to take part in school plays. There were many months of preparation
She had her secondary edu
cation at the Colombo International School – CIS from September 2010. And
had her lower secondary education in Qatar at the Al Khor International School since 1998 as her parents were employed in Qatar. She
selected CIS to sit her London A/L examination. Her choice of subjects for “As
Level” at CIS was Biology, Chemistry, Mathematics and Physics. Having secured four “A” grades at As level she sat the Advanced Level exam in
June 2012 and obtained exceptionally good results at this exam as well passing
with flying colours.
required to take part in a stage play. These long hours and days had to be balanced with the studies too. She says that the experience to coordinate well with your castmates in taking part in stage plays gave her much needed exposure to success through team effort. She also played Netball, Football and did swimming at CIS.
Her overall assessment of CIS as a school providing secondary education – “CIS has a strong academic history and a wonderful set of teachers that will guide you every step of the way. What makes CIS great is that they also encourage you to pursue other activities as well, whether it be music, sport or art, not to mention that the student body consists of an incredible set of people”.
From CIS in Colombo to University of Melbourne in the State of Victoria at a relatively young age of 19 is a big move. She selected University of Melbourne as against other Australian universities represented by Edlocate because she thinks that UOM has it’s own unique approach to giving the most enriching university experience possible. A student would spend a majority of time on the main course and there is the option of taking various breadth subjects which allows a student to pursue other interests as well. She always wanted to do her tertiary studies at the University of Melbourne and when the time came to decide it felt like the most logical thing to do.
My future plan Karin says is to continue on to the Doctor of Medicine program, also at the University of Melbourne, and hopefully if all goes according to plan to train to be a surgeon. As a word of advice to prospective students who wish to study in Australia she says ,to be guided properly before making selections of courses, pathways or institutions. School authorities and counselors can give general advice but it is always best to seek the good counseling by university appointed representatives with a credible record, like Edlocate, from the very beginning and apply through them. I had to seek the assistance of Edlocate counselors who made life easy for me with no hassles till I came over to Australia. Karin also says that the way to deal with any new experience is to be in that moment. Forget about what mistakes you›ve done in the past or your dreads about the future, that way you can focus all your attention on what matters to you now.