During the exam celebrations in Summer, Oyenmwen and Owen highlighted their appreciation of the wider support network at Robert Gordon’s and spoke of their aspirations to follow careers in medicine and engineering respectively.

Looking forward to higher education studies in medicine at the University of Aberdeen, Oyenmwen (Class of '23) highlighted: "Advanced Highers was a huge step up from Highers for me academically. With free periods and other commitments within and outside school, such as choir, I had to manage my time effectively whilst also figuring out an efficient way to study more advanced courses.

“My teachers were also extremely supportive. Mrs Pirie helped me a lot with my interview skills, enabling me to grow in confidence. I also had extra personal lessons with Dr Kennedy where she would explain concepts of the Advanced Higher Chemistry course in more detail to me. Miss Reid also guided me during the stages of my application process for medicine and my personal challenges outside of academics.

“In general, all my subject teachers' words of encouragement and advice pushed me to do the best I could and I am very thankful for that."

Owen (now S5) credited the additional support sessions for keeping him focused throughout. He added: "I can feel confident going into Highers and pursuing my goals to get into a good engineering university, knowing lots of paths are open for me. 

“Staying focused was hard for me, but due to the number of support sessions the school had to offer, I was able to attend those and be in an environment where this was no longer an issue. I was able to get a great understanding of where I was lacking and they gave me confidence in the areas where I needed improvement.”

During S4, Owen developed a keen interest in playing chess and joined the co-curricular club at school. Stepping out of his comfort zone, he participated in the North East Junior Chess Association Easter Open Championships in March, his first ever competitive chess tournament and won second place. He added: “I am really proud of what I was able to achieve in chess within a short time, it has encouraged me to continue pushing my boundaries and pursuing excellence in both my academic and extracurricular pursuits.”