Graduates crowned her a “queen,” and educators honored her with a lifetime achievement award

For many Croatian graduates, Marina Čubrić was the last stop before the Croatian language exam. Her Radiomatura lessons on literary works, essay writing and course material drew thousands of views and hundreds of grateful comments.

Students told her she had “personally raised my chances of passing the exam by 90 percent” and called her a “queen.” After the state-exam results were published, more messages followed, including: “You saved me today, the starting question was identical again to the one from your example” and “Aunt Marina for president.”

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Personally raised my chances of passing the exam by 90 percent.

Čubrić teaches Croatian at the Archdiocesan Classical Grammar School in Zagreb. While graduates turned her into a recognizable preparation star, the professional community recently gave her one of its highest honors, the Ivan Filipović Lifetime Achievement Award.

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You saved me today, the starting question was identical again to the one from your example.

In her interview with Večernji list, Čubrić says she sees the award primarily as recognition for all Croatian-language teachers who work devotedly, often away from public attention. Teaching, she says, should be judged not by the number of published papers or projects, but by the people teachers educate, encourage and inspire to believe in themselves.

She also highlights her long cooperation with the Institute for the Croatian Language and says the award nomination confirms the importance of links between research and schools. Artificial intelligence and social media now play a role in education, but Čubrić continues to argue that no technology can replace independent reading, thinking and a love of books. Her goal, she says, has been to connect modern linguistic knowledge with everyday classroom teaching.

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Aunt Marina for president.