Stephen Hawking said half the battle was simply showing up – and 13 years ago, one five-year-old kindergarten student walking through the gates of Bligh Park Public appeared to take that advice very literally.
That student, Michael Kondratenko, 18, has now graduated from Richmond High without having missed a single day of school. He sat through about 864,000 minutes of class time – a feat believed to be unmatched by any other student in recent history.
Michael Kondratenko on graduation day at Richmond High School, completing a perfect record of school attendance.Credit: Kate Geraghty
“I never saw a real reason to stay at home,” says Michael. “My parents just really wanted me to be in an environment to learn and improve myself and they knew the only way I was going to do that was if I showed up in the first place.”
Going to primary school was not hard: he loved seeing his friends and the teachers, and then, sometime, in year 1, it dawned on him that he had an attendance streak he did not want to break.
“In high school, it was about learning more. I just found it really fun,” he said.
Luck played a part, too: he only ever fell ill in the school holidays. But even when the offer of skipping school for a week for an overseas holiday was put on the table, he just said no, his mother Marissa Kondratenko said.
Michael pictured in kindergarten.
“I am not a strict mother … I wanted to go for a holiday. But no, I lost. He did not want to take single day off,” she said.
During pandemic lockdowns, Michael went to class for minimal supervision but conceded there were times when his determination wavered.
“Some days I felt like I just wanted to stay in bed, but I just had to keep going,” he said.
Two years ago, he did become unwell.
Michael, who regularly played sports and often rode on his bike for five kilometres, felt bereft of energy. But he still made it to school.
“Over six weeks, he lost a lot of weight … he just came home from school every day and slept,” his mother said.
“As he got more sick, he started having pain in his stomach, and it gradually got worse and worse. Until the last day of the term he went home and his body just said no. He was lying on the lounge not doing anything.”
He was taken to hospital where he was diagnosed with late onset type one diabetes. It is now self-managed.
Michael’s HSC subjects include physics and extension maths, and he hopes to become an engineer.
His father Nick said: “I have always told him, ‘I don’t care if you get top marks or 100 per cent but as long as you try your best. But also give the number one student a run for his money every day.’ ”
So what does a student who went to school every day for 13 years do when he finally gets a day off?
Study.
“He went to his study and went to study,” his mother said. “He has his head down on the table. But he knows when to stop, have a break and play games with his friends.”
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