Ravenswood’s 2021 Vice-Captain Michelle Bulin is heading to Harvard University to study regenerative biology after gaining a perfect score of 45 out of 45 (99.95 ATAR) in the International Baccalaureate Diploma.

‘Attending Harvard has been a dream since I was a small girl,’ Michelle said. ‘I have come a really long way since I started at Ravenswood. If you had told me on my first day in Year 7 that this would happen, I would never have believed it. It is really out of this world.’

For her Harvard application essay, Michelle focused on her years of participation in Ravenswood dance. A member of the Secondary School Blue Company, she competed at the 2021 Australian Dance Life Unite national finals. ‘I wasn’t successful at my dance audition in Year 7, but I tried again in Year 8 and from that time, it became a major passion, giving me the opportunity to change, grow and step out of my comfort zone,’ she said.

For her Harvard interview, Michelle referenced her 2021 win at the international Chicago University Social Innovation Challenge and her participation in the Junior Academy of the New York Academy of Sciences program throughout Years 11 and 12.

Michelle also participated in cocurricular Speech at Ravenswood and was a competitive debater and public speaker. ‘That is another thing I wouldn’t have imagined I would have the courage to do when I was younger. Speech is a symbol of the ways I have grown and realised my potential through the encouragement of the staff at Ravenswood. I am also sure it helped me succeed in the Harvard interview and will be a skill that will be of use throughout my future career.’

Michelle would like to one day ‘lead my own lab, working in inherited diseases and genetics, which caught my interest as an IB biology student. Longer-term, I would like to work as a professor and pass down my knowledge to the next generation,’ she said.

‘Ravenswood’s Positive Education and wellbeing programs in the senior years equipped me to draw on challenges as a source of strength and use them to inform the way I respond to future difficulties. They also taught me to view my goals and my path in life as a journey rather than linear, which I think is really valuable,’ she said.