Bulli High School student Grace Donovan's love of Cold War intrigue kept her motivated during gruelling study sessions for the Higher School Certificate.
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"I was really interested in the ideologies that shaped massive conflicts of the time like Cuba and Vietnam," she said.
The 17-year-old felt confident as she left the exam hall on Tuesday afternoon.
"The personality question on Leni Riefenstahl was really close to an assessment we did earlier in the year so I was very lucky," she said.
She advised other students to pick subjects based on their interests to avoid burning out in exam time.
"Be passionate, find something you care about studying and remember that when you have the pressure of exams," she said.
Grace chose three history subjects for the HSC including Modern History, Ancient History and History Extension.
She plans to pursue her passion into tertiary education after accepting an early entry offer into a double arts and communication degree at the University of Wollongong.
Next year she will take up an internship at Amnesty International's Sydney office.
"I originally flicked between doing nursing or psychology because I want to help as many people as I can but I'm really interested in something with an international focus," she said.
She attributed her love of the subject to her teacher, Mr Nousis.
"We have a very dedicated teacher who comes in to do study sessions in the holidays."