Melbourne Girls Grammar School recently caught up with graduate Palladia Szoeke to reflect on her journey from ELC through to Year 12 and beyond. Graduating with an exceptional ATAR of 98.65, Palladia shares her early memories in the ELC to leadership, co-curricular opportunities and preparing for life after school. Her story highlights the lasting impact of growing up within the MGGS community. We’ve included the full transcript below so you can hear directly from her, in her own words.

1. What’s your earliest memory at MGGS?

I have distinct memories of myself in kindergarten, particularly the teachers and friends who made my time there unforgettable, however short. I remember meeting my best friend in ELC, starting a friendship that has lasted through year 12 and beyond.

I also remember what I learnt back then – how to make friends, how to share the playground equipment (particularly the incredibly popular wooden blocks), the project we did on animals, and my disappointment when I had to do mine on a sponge (yes, technically an animal, but not to a 3-year-old).

2. When you think back across your whole time at the School, ELC through to Year 12, is there a moment that stands out as a turning point or a defining experience?

What first comes to mind is year 4 graduation, after the customary run under our teachers’ arms, and how I surprised myself by coming close to tears. This was the moment in which I truly realised that school shapes and defines you, yet sometimes you only see it once it’s over.

To my young mind, I think Morris Hall felt like a home I would never leave. Spending 5 years in one place (university) now feels inevitable and finite. However, to 9-year-old me, the 5 years in Morris Hall was over half my life, and once it was over it struck me how quickly it had gone by, in the end.

It led me to gain an appreciation for the school environment, despite all its challenges, as the knowledge that one day it would be over became a familiar bittersweet feeling.

3. Looking back, what’s the biggest impact MGGS had on who you are today, not just academically, but as a person?

MGGS has an incredibly strong community, not just within the school but broader, in its connection to family and alumnae. This instilled in me an expectation that even beyond graduation, I would still feel like I’m part of the school –now, every time my sister updates me on a House event or similar, I feel the same as I would if I were still at school. I think I’ll always consider myself part of Mungo, the class of ’25.

4. When did you start to realise you were capable of achieving at a high level academically? Was there a subject or year level where things clicked?

I can’t remember an exact point where I realised my academic capabilities, because that had always been an expectation people had of me from a very young age. Skipping a grade in ELC meant that I had to earn a place in a higher year level, but in Morris Hall the pressure never became uncomfortable.

I loved reading and devoured every book I could; I had a special hatred for the ‘6 books at a time’ rule that the library had. However, it was about year 9 when school started losing the novelty and fun of learning that I loved growing up. The focus had become more on preparing us for VCE that would take over the next 3 years of my life.

What helped me to temper that stress was always making sure I had at least 1 subject a semester that I really enjoyed and therefore was less of an academic burden. For a while that was music class (shout out Ms Meehan), then Classical Studies, and finally in year 12, literature.

5. How did the School support you in reaching your ATAR goal? Was it structured programs, individual teachers, the culture, or something else?

The VCE and ATAR system really solidified for me the incredibly personal and diverse nature of study and academics. There are people I know who studied incredibly hard in year 12 and didn’t reach their goals, and others who were less concerned with their results and ended up achieving higher than they expected.

What I appreciated from MGGS was that the teachers were aware that, for the most part, studying for unit 3/4 subjects looks different for everyone, and in my experience they did well in learning about their students and accommodating that.

So long as my teachers knew that I understood the content and was preparing in my own way, they were happy and always made themselves available to help in any way they could.

6. What was your approach to Year 12? Is there anything you did differently that you think made a real difference?

My approach to year 12 was vastly different to that of year 11, and it made my final year of school much more enjoyable. For me, year 11 was much more stressful than year 12; I was doing 6 subjects, 2 of which were 3/4 subjects, and I couldn’t prioritise them since my 1/2 subjects were important for my early entry university applications. All in all, combined with my extra-curriculars, I was spread too thin, which made enjoying my penultimate year harder than it should have been.

However, the much lighter 4-subject load in year 12 meant that I had more time to spend in the common room and Botanic gardens, both alone and with friends, sometimes studying, sometimes not. In year 11, the novelty of 3/4 subjects made it seem so terrifying and daunting, yet by the time I got to year 12, I was used to the idea of SACs, and when I didn’t achieve how I thought I would, I was much kinder to myself.

I also made sure to make time for my friends and the school, as I was keenly aware that the time would fly by and soon enough, I’d be leaving. I jumped at the opportunity to go for a walk with a friend, tried to take on more leadership roles in house events, and participated in activities that led to me making new friends even in my final year.

Now that I’ve left school and moved away, I can’t remember the times I stayed inside to do an extra hour of study – what I do remember are free periods and lunch times in which my friends and I would find a secluded spot in the gardens and talk and talk until we were all laughing.

7. What would you say to a parent who’s considering enrolling their daughter in ELC at MGGS right now?

I would tell prospective MGGS parents that allowing your daughter to grow up in one school environment her whole life might seem like a rare choice, but it allowed me a feeling of security and community that was unchanging for 13 years. I grew up with my best friend, and connected with other girls from ELC years later, having known each other so long.

It’s such a beautiful experience to grow up alongside people and see them almost every day for most of their lives. I’ve watched my friends from ELC grow and change, and, understandably, some days it’s hard to reconcile who I see now with who we were.

It allows us the safety of knowing that these girls have known us through our unruly childhoods, cringe preteen years, then the awkward and embarrassing teens, and therefore understand us now more completely going into our (hopefully less awkward) adult lives.

8. What’s something about the School that people might not know or appreciate from the outside?

There are so many extra-curricular activities for students to participate in that might not be as loudly advertised as others. For example, in year 9-10 I was part of a STEM club group where we designed and launched a payload into the atmosphere, hoping to collect weather data. It took us terms of experiments and construction to complete it, and then over the holidays we launched it. The mission wasn’t as successful as we’d hoped, but the results weren’t the fun part – what was fun was spending time with my friends and the older girls in the group as we met every week, and then, of course, the road trip on the day itself.

Another incredible opportunity was the service-learning trip to Laos in 2025. When I say it was unforgettable, I mean it, and I would highly recommend future trips to any student, no matter who they are or if they think they’re up for it. I had never experienced a culture, climate, or environment, like the one in Laos, and it was something I might never see in that way again. Not only did we get to do plenty of touristy activities, but also learnt about Laotian culture and history in an immersive way. The climax of the journey, though, was staying in a nearby village to help lay cement for a new play area for the local children. We slept in the houses of families who lived there and played with the children when we weren’t working – none of them spoke English, but it turns out internet memes transcend language barriers.

From the outside these incredible opportunities might not shine through (even at the school they weren’t incredibly popular), but making the decision to commit yourself to it will likely be the best choice you make in your time at MGGS.

9. What are you doing now (or what are your plans), and how do you feel MGGS prepared you for it?

Currently I’m studying a joint Bachelor of Law/Arts at the Australian National University (majoring in Classical Studies and minoring in Italian). I hope to intern with a law firm in a few years and begin my career in the legal system when I graduate in 5.

Starting to study law at 17 has been an adjustment, especially because I’m completely new to the content and the college environment in Canberra, but what I learnt at school has stuck with me and given me confidence through my classes, assignments and tests. I find myself more readily believing in my ability to understand and execute principles and topics because of how my teachers at school taught me to approach new ideas with conviction.

The university environment that I’m in right now, despite its obvious differences to MGGS, is, at the end of the day, still school. In the tutorials I’ve realised that a classroom is a classroom wherever you are, and essays don’t really change much, even at university. All in all, the skills I gained at school and the emphasis my teachers had on discussion and critical thinking have allowed me to become more self-assured here at university as I find the assertiveness to share my opinions and always ask questions.

If you’d like to explore our offering and see what students like Palladia experienced first-hand, book a tour with our admissions team via our Book a Tour Form