'I’m so glad that I kept going': Recently-orphaned Cork schoolgirl celebrates her Junior Cert

Julia Pawlowska defied all odds to sit the State exams just weeks after she came home from a birthday party to find her mother deceased. Her father had passed away a few years ago

Julia Pawlowska received a mix of merits and distinctions in the Junior Cert. Picture: Larry Cummins

Adjusting to life with a new family after becoming orphaned and losing her home was a heartbreak Julia Pawlowska never expected to face before the Junior Cert exams.

However, just weeks later the teenager, who attends Coláiste Éamann Rís in Cork City, defied all odds to sit the State exams. On Wednesday, she celebrated a full circle moment after collecting her Junior Cert results.