Ukrainian refugee to study at prestigious US university after top A-level grades

A Newcastle-based teenager who had to flee her home in Ukraine when Russia invaded the country is set to study at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) after achieving top A-level grades.

Olha Volianyk, 18, found out she had received A*s in Mathematics, Further Mathematics and Physics as well as an A in Computer Science after opening her results at Royal Grammar School (RGS) Newcastle on Thursday.

She told the PA news agency: “The results are overall what I expected, but I did not expect to get an A* in Physics, so I’m very happy with that.

“I went to school (to get my results) because I thought it would be nice to see my friends, talk to them and support them if it’s needed.”

Her mother Olena Volianyk, 42, accompanied her, with the 18-year-old adding: “My mum is happy, but sad that I’m leaving for university.”

Miss Volianyk is to study at MIT, in Massachusetts, in September, and is expected to fly over this weekend to embark on the next chapter of her academic life.

She does not have a specialty as of yet, but said she plans to delve into a range of subjects while at the US university.

“At MIT, they have general institute requirements – there’s a list of classes everyone has to take,” she explained.

“There was an option to just do that in the first year, which gives me the opportunity to decide what I might want to specialise in later.

“I’m going to do a mix of Chemistry, Biology, Physics and Maths, and I’m going to do a bit of Computer Science too.”

The teenager’s success takes place amid the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine.

Miss Volianyk reflected on the “hard” situation which faced her when Russia invaded her country in February 2022, which led to her, her younger sister – Liubov, 13 – and their mother leaving their home in Khmelnytskyi, in western Ukraine.

They then spent a short time in Germany before reaching the UK in late March 2022, where they resided with a host family until July 2022 before renting their own place.

“Leaving Ukraine was hard – that decision was not up to me,” she said.

“Being in a different country was hard because firstly, people are very different and there is a different mentality.

“I also miss my family and friends very much and I just felt it was unfair that I was safe and other people had to experience horrible things.

“Most of my family live in a region called Starokostiantyniv, which gets a lot of shelling and missiles.”

Miss Volianyk said adjusting to life in the UK, although “challenging,” was made somewhat easier due to the support of several people in the UK.

It was a social media post from a member of her host family in 2022 which led to the teenager’s time at RGS Newcastle, with the school giving her a bursary to study her A-levels there.

I think there is no place like home - that's one of the main reasons why I would love to come back to Ukraine at some point and raise my children there, if I ever have children

“(The host family) posted a LinkedIn post about me and then I think people from different schools in the Newcastle region commented, and then I came in for an interview at RGS and it was much later than this process usually happens, so they also made this exception, which I’m really grateful for,” she said.

“I found A-levels very interesting because I could spend a lot of time doing just the things that I liked and I feel like the teachers at RGS supported me a lot with the language transition and meeting my wishes.”

She added a “huge moment” for the family took the form of them being to able to rent their own place to gain some more independence.

“We got a lot of help with that and other things from British people and I feel like, overall, the UK people have been very welcoming,” she said.

“We received a lot of support, and emotional support as well.”

She is yet to decide which career she would like to pursue, but hopes to live in Ukraine again in the future.

“I think there is no place like home – that’s one of the main reasons why I would love to come back to Ukraine at some point and raise my children there, if I ever have children,” she said.

“I think life in Ukraine after the war will not be much easier than it is right now, so it would be good to give that example of coming back to Ukrainians who left and to show this resilience and work hard to try and make things better.”

Geoffrey Stanford, headmaster at RGS Newcastle, added: “Olha deserves special recognition for the circumstances under which she has been studying for the last two years.

“She is a truly remarkable young woman who has inspired her peers as well as the whole school community, through her passion for her subjects, her determination and dream to help support her home country.”

Over three quarters of this year’s leavers from the school are headed to Russell Group Universities, with 20 students achieving straight A* grades and 79 earning all A* or A grades.

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