2023 Dux: 

Jai Jun (John) Poon

The 2023 Dux was Jai Jun (John) Poon who scored an ATAR of 97, taking English, Maths Methods, Specialist Maths, Biology and Chemistry. John was unable to attend Presentation Night as he was travelling while on summer break from studying commerce at the University of Melbourne. 

Presentation Night Speech

I am truly honoured to be named the 2023 Dux of Aitken College.

This great achievement cannot be done without the 12 years of support from the teachers of Aitken College. Since grade 1, I have encountered numerous teaching staff which shaped who I am today. First of all, my year 2 teacher, Mr Rees has had a long lasting impact on the way I think. It may be strange to think a teacher from such a young age would impact me greatly, but his love for maths and science has really laid the foundations of my enjoyment in these subjects. Furthermore, I still remember what my year 6 teacher Mr Keegan said to me after I guessed all the answers to the maths Olympiad questions, “next year you have to try, show others what you are capable of, I believe you”. This really stuck with me and made me realise that I had potential.

I believe that hard work is more important than intelligence, which is evident in the result I was able to achieve. 

I had always known that I wanted to achieve a high ATAR, and this drove me to work hard in VCE, often studying content weeks or even months in advance so that I was able to absorb content taught in class more efficiently. Furthermore, this allowed me to get a head start in practice exams, averaging 40 papers for each subject before the final exam. This prevented me from memorising content or studying last minutes as VCE exams are very adaptable and often contain questions known as ‘separation questions’ which only a few students are able to attempt as they require skills of application rather than memorisation.

So you may be wondering, what have I been doing after year 12? I just finished a 19 day trip to South Korea, travelling to all major cities such as Seoul, Busan and Jeju Island just to name a few with a few friends from Aitken College who are studying the same course with me in University. I have currently arrived home in Hong Kong for my summer break, hence unable to be in person for this speech. After year 12, I started Uni at the University of Melbourne, studying bachelors of commerce majoring in actuarial studies. This course is highly involved in mathematics and statistics, often solving difficult models required by top banks and insurance companies across the globe. This course leads me to work as an actuary or quantitative trader which are both jobs I will enjoy. 

I have realised that life after year 12 is much more free, due to the long lengths of breaks in university, of which I take advantage of with trips overseas. Time has also gone by much more quickly as for my course, the content of a semester is equivalent to a years work of year 12, and exams come up extremely fast. So during the semester I have been seeing friends from school and also studying hard for exams. 

Aitken has profoundly impacted me personal both now in university and my social life. I had many great memories and I wish all staff, students a great break.