Both Colten Chipak, 17, and John Malyk, 17, from St. Martin de Porres High School said they are thrilled to have received 100 per cent on their Chemistry 30 diploma exam in January.
“I still don’t really believe it to be honest,” Chipak said.
“It feels really good,” Malyk said.
“We are so proud of them,” said the school’s Principal Monique Baker.
The students said they credit the diploma prep course and a lot of studying for their success.
“For the final it’s more so when diploma prep started that we really got into it,” Chipak said.
Though Chipak said he felt prepared going into the test, he was still nervous.
“I’m always nervous for tests but I felt like I’d do well. I just didn’t expect to do that well,” he said.
Malyk said he wasn’t nervous per se but was worried he would misread a question or do a calculation wrong.
However, both boys said they both felt confident after walking out from that particular diploma exam.
“I thought it was a possibility (to get 100 per cent),” Malyk said. “I didn’t want to say it prematurely but I thought it was possible.”
Meanwhile, Chipak said he thought he did well but didn’t think he’d get a perfect score.
He said the most stressful part was waiting to get his mark back from the exam.
“I hate that wait,” he said.
The students said preparing for the exam is not so much about memorizing the formulas, because that part gets ingrained into students during the semester, but more about taking opportunities for yourself to succeed.
“I would say take the diploma prep course,” Malyk said.
“Do as many practice questions as you can get your hands on because they are really helpful,” Chipak said, adding the practice questions make a student comfortable with the type of questions asked on the exam because there are only so many types of questions included in the exam.
Both Chipak and Malyk are planning to head to the University of Calgary next year where they will both be pursuing sciences.
“What I think I want to do right now is be a doctor,” Malyk said, though he said it was too soon to decide which area of medicine he’s most interested in.
“I like my math and sciences so I want to do something with that,” Chipak said. “I’ve been accepted for neuroscience at the U of C.”
