Sarah Abdulamir always knew she would one day pursue a career in helping people. .
“I’ve always enjoyed studying biology and I like learning how things work and medicine is basically a com-bination of those two things,” she says. “My older sister is currently studying to be a doctor, my mum is a GP and my dad works at our family practice, so I’ve had an idea of what a career in medicine would look like my whole life. My sister wants to be a GP, but I think I want to pursue surgery. Eventually I’d like to specialise in neurosurgery, but I’m open to seeing what my options are in the future.”
Sarah’s passion for learning and discipline led her to securing an ATAR score of 98.55 and being award-ed Dux of the School.
“My main goal was to get a final score that would secure me a spot studying medicine through a five year course, so it was either Monash University or the University of Tasmania,” she says. “I was doing a lot of difficult subjects in my final year, chemistry, physics and specialist maths, but the main subject I strug-gled with was English. I would get so frustrated because my writing was something I found really difficult to perfect, no matter how hard I tried. So throughout Year 12 I worked closely with my teacher and spent a lot of time writing and eventually I saw a big change in my work. Not everything comes naturally to everyone, so some things need a bit of extra time and focus to do well in. My teacher was willing to be open and honest with me about the improvements I needed to make with my work and that relationship made all the difference.”
In February 2025, Sarah will relocate from her family home in Shepparton to Hobart, Tasmania and begin her tertiary studies..
“I’ve never been to Tasmania before, so I’m a bit nervous about such a big change,” she says. “It’ll be a new experience for me and I’m excited to see both what it’s like and how I handle it.”
For the GVGS Class of 2025, Sarah has some sage advice: “Focus on yourself – this year is about you, so go to all the events and get involved at every opportunity,” she says. “Even though it’s all about getting down to business, Year 12 is a year to have fun and you need to make sure to enjoy every moment so you don’t burn out before exam time.”