Carola Molinari and the teamwork behind her perfect score

A conversation with Carola Molinari, a Year 12 student at Mount Waverley Secondary College and the only student to receive a perfect 50 in the VCE Italian exam, makes that clear.

Carola explains that although she spent much of her life overseas, in the Middle East and Asia before moving to Australia at 14, Italian was always spoken at home—and her Roman accent is proof of that.

In daily conversations with her parents, and as a kind of secret code with her sister when out in public, Italian and a sense of Italianness have been carefully nurtured in the Molinari household through cinema and long family conversations around the table—an irreplaceable ritual.

“It’s one of the Italian traditions we’ve kept,” she explains.

Formal grammar study and preparation for the Year 12 exam, however, only began after her arrival in Melbourne, when she enrolled in the Saturday morning course at the Victorian School of Languages (VSL) at Brunswick Secondary College.

Three and a half hours of lessons, plus the commute on public transport were part of a sacrifice that, she says, was worth it.

“I’m glad I did it, even though there were many mornings, especially in winter, when I would have preferred to stay under the covers,” she admits, adding that the friendships she built and the discipline of a steady routine made it easier.

The support of her family and teachers, along with her own curiosity and perseverance, enabled Carola to achieve a result she had hardly dared to hope for.

With a touch of emotion, she recalls the moment she found out her score: “I woke up at 7 a.m., went into the kitchen, sat at the computer with Mum and Dad behind me, and we checked the results. I could hardly believe it.”

Her Year 12 teacher, Barbara Vincenzi, had always believed in her potential. “I told you from the second week that you could get a 50, but you didn’t believe me!” she laughs.

A shared sense of pride and satisfaction united student and teacher. “I also woke up at 7 a.m. that morning because I wanted to see the results,” Vincenzi recalls. “At 7:02, I received an email from Carola saying, ‘Miss, we did it!’”

Not only did Vincenzi recognise Carola’s potential, she also helped her and the entire class become comfortable with the structure of the exam by frequently working through past papers.

“Those practice exams really helped us understand what we needed to do,” Carola explains.

Lessons were not only about study but also consisted of discussion and debate. “We talked through concepts instead of just writing—and when you talk about them, you understand them better,” she says.

The VSL has a long tradition of students achieving top results across the state, and 2025 was no exception. Barbara Vincenzi, together with Rosa Vitelli, teaches Year 12 and has built extensive experience over time in preparing students effectively for the VCE exam.

“I’ve worked as a language assistant in different schools in the past, and that allowed me to engage with a range of teaching techniques,” she explains.

But as in sport, technique alone is not enough in academic life. It requires heart, determination and passion—qualities both Carola Molinari and Barbara Vincenzi have demonstrated.

Carola chose to focus on Dante Alighieri and the Divine Comedy for her oral exam, a topic that expanded her vocabulary and refined her use of language.

“I listened to Alessandro Barbero’s podcast, which helped me understand the historical context of the Middle Ages in Dante’s time and to use more complex vocabulary—something important in an exam setting to stand out,” she says.

Vincenzi’s role, as that of any good teacher should be, was crucial in guiding Carola towards excellence, recognising not only how far she could go, but how to get her there.

“I wouldn’t have taken the same approach with every student. You have to understand who is in front of you and give tailored advice to each one,” Vincenzi says.

And just as Virgil guided Dante in the Divine Comedy, Vincenzi guided Carola, offering the wisdom and direction only a sharp and receptive mind could truly absorb and apply, resulting in a remarkable score.