A UKRAINIAN student has overcome the most testing of circumstances to come out with amazing grades in his A-Levels.
Mykhailo Tolstikhin was among the first families given a safe place to live in the UK after his home city of Mariupol was the initial target of Russia’s invasion.
Thousands of people in the area were killed. His house was bombed, enemy soldiers ravaged the area he knew, chaos ensued – a two-hour road journey was taking 18.
Now after settling in Ashton-under-Lyne, he has showed hard work and dedication can conquer many things after earning three A grades, in maths, further maths and physics.
What makes his results at Oldham Sixth Form College even more remarkable is the fact he studied in his third language – Ukrainian and Russian being his first two.
“We were one of the first sponsored families to move from Ukraine to the UK in April 2022,” revealed Mykhailo.
“Since then, we’ve been helped a lot and we’re really thankful for that.
“I moved after the Russian invaded and it’s not all right to be at home. That’s why I came here.
“And one person I have to thank is Stephen Gooderson. He’s helped a lot of Ukrainian families and we were one of them.
“English is actually my third language, I’m a native speaker of both Ukrainian and Russian.
“So there were a few problems, but the main language of maths is international. I may not have understood some things, but I could understand the question.
“Then it was like, ‘Oh, it’s easy. I can get it.’ The college has been fantastic for me.”
Results day normally means nerves among students about what grades they have and whether it means they can go to their desired university.
For Mykhailo, though, there are other things to worry about – are his family and friends safe as Russian soldiers can literally seize phones, laptops and even property?
If they are, will any messages he has sent to those at home be picked up and used as a reason to throw people in prison?
What state is his home city in? Will he ever go back there, which he would love to one day?
Little wonder then that falling just short of the A* in physics he needed to secure a place at Cambridge is not completely occupying his mind.
He received an offer from Churchill College to study Engineering, after taking his GCSE English in his first year at Oldham Sixth Form College.
Mykhailo – who does not consider himself a refugee, more someone who had to move home – added: “My plan is to go to Cambridge, but I didn’t get an A* in physics – I missed out by just three marks.
“But I hope everything goes right, I’m praying for that.
“It’s all right, though. I have another plan. If I go to Manchester, I’ll be all right.”
You must be logged in to post a comment.