Dickson College student Michael Thow has the world at his feet. Photos: Ian Bushnell.
The little boy who couldn’t sit still is now off to the ANU to pursue his dream of being a doctor.
Dickson College student Michael Thow joined other Year 12 high achievers this week at the ACT Board of Secondary School Studies Recognition of Excellence Ceremony.
Michael topped his year with an ATAR of 99.2, something his mother Megan would not have thought imaginable in his early years of schooling at Emmaus Christian School in Dickson.
He always had an excess of energy but an inability to focus and disruptive behaviour prompted his parents to seek professional help.
The diagnosis was Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder but the upside was that Michael was also highly intelligent.
“The psychologist came out and literally said to me, this kid is going be able to do anything he wants,” Megan said.
Once his parents and teachers understood the way Michael’s brain worked it became much easier for them and Michael, assisted by medication which he takes only at school.
“They helped turn it from a deficit into a superpower and Michael soon rocketed into becoming an A-grade student – a level he maintained throughout the rest of his schooling,” Megan said.
Megan said his amazing teachers were very adaptive, focused on his needs and understood him as a person.
“His intent was always good, even though his behavior sometimes came out looking kind of poor,” she said.
In Year 3, Michael couldn’t write because his brain was going faster than his hand so his teacher told him to choose whatever he wanted to write about.
“That got him writing because he got to write about what he loved and what he wanted to do and that was amazing teaching really and then slowly, once he learned how to write, she integrated him back into the class,” Megan said.
At college, the kid who couldn’t write took literature. But his passion has always been mathematics and the sciences.
Michael with proud mother Megan: “He blows me away all the time.”
Michael credits his high school years at Emmaus for providing a platform for college.
“By Year 11, I already felt prepared for the more challenging coursework and sometimes college teachers would even ask, ‘What high school did you go to?’,” he said.
He was also ready for the independence of college, which can see some students flounder. But Michael found that it allowed him the freedom to manage his own learning.
“I would learn in different ways to other people so I could manage that myself,” he said. “It was very good for me because I am quite driven to do well.”
In college, he was able to focus on his areas of interest – his passion mathematics, literature, chemistry and biology, as well as music (he plays guitar) in Year 11, and the now discontinued maths extension program at ANU.
The ANU classes proved invaluable experience, challenging him and preparing him for tertiary study and familiarising him with the campus.
Why medicine?
His beloved grandmother dying of cancer and visiting the hospital and hospice when he was just seven proved a formative experience. And he likes to help people.
“Even at that age I knew I wanted to help heal people and make them better,” Michael said.
For Megan it seemed an impossible dream. “There’s no way when he was seven I thought he would be able to [be a doctor], to be honest.”
But when Michael began topping his high school science classes he started to believe he could.
Supporting this ambition has been a part-time job at a pharmacy in the city for the past two years.
Michael admits to being bored easily but he sets himself goals and rewards to avoid not completing tasks.
His tips for academic success include making wise use of down time at school, constant revision and always asking questions.
“People think that, oh, I’ll just cram it all at the end, but especially when you’re in college and you’ve got five different classes, five exams, you can’t memorise all of that unless you’re working over it for a long period of time,” Michael said.
But it’s also important to work out what best suits you and your brain.
“You’ve got to adapt your study schedule to fit how your brain works, because people’s brains work differently, especially someone like myself,” Michael said.
“Don’t try and change how your brain works.”
He also finds it useful to change gears by playing music and practising White Dragon Kung Fu.
Michael is grateful for the support he has had from his family, teachers and his school and church communities.
Megan says he is constantly surprising her. “He blows me away all the time,” she said.
His teachers are very proud and talk about his character, not just his academic achievements.
“That is super meaningful to a parent,” Megan said. “That’s really what you want. Academics are great, but you want them to be a good person.”
Michael has received an early offer to study Health Science (Pre-Medicine) at ANU.
The other top ACT college students are: Selwyn Giddy, Brindabella Christian College; Vineth Hewamadduma, Burgmann Anglican School; Samuel Xholi, Canberra College; Jaya Pitchford, Canberra Girls Grammar School; Taidaishe Muchenagumbo, Canberra Institute of Technology; Lachlan Hynd, Daramalan College; Stefan Mitrev, Erindale College; Perry Harkness, Gungahlin College; Aimee Ehlers, Hawker College; Anastasia Perkovic, Lake Tuggeranong College; Andre Vincent, Marist College; Peregrine Guiver, Melba Copland Secondary School; Ishita Gupta, Merici College; Sunmin Hwang, Narrabundah College; Katherine Stewardson, Orana Steiner School; Brynten Au, Radford College; Louise Hill, St Clare’s College; Evan Richards, St Edmund’s College; Kate Piper, St Francis Xavier College; Zachary Cook, St John Paul II College; Alexander Kwiatkowski, St Mary MacKillop College; Joshua Mansell Trinity, Christian School; Anton Steinhauser, UC Senior Secondary College, Lake Ginninderra.
