And here’s the twist: In 2022, she was invited to write a question for the that had set the 2008 paper. She wrote a question on... chiral drug safety, and at the bottom of the examiner’s notes, she wrote:
Elena didn’t just memorize the answer about chiral centers and stereochemistry. She became obsessed. She spent hours researching the history: how thalidomide was never tested as a mixture of left- and right-handed molecules; how one isomer soothed morning sickness, while the other (in the body) converted into a teratogenic form. chem past papers
A significant portion of lost marks is attributed to misunderstanding what the question is asking. And here’s the twist: In 2022, she was