Three Things Worth Remembering

It’s always a privilege to hear from former students, especially when their journey speaks so clearly to the heart of our community. Caleb, our 2025 DUX, recently addressed our students, sharing thoughtful reflections and timely encouragement for the year ahead.

Hey, I’m Caleb, and last December, 14 of us Year 12s found out our VCE results in a bit of a different location. Instead of waking up early and frantically pressing the refresh button, we were in the city that never sleeps, at the gates of Central Park, partway through the US Jazz Tour. Now, the trip was incredibly special, and the combined 40-ish hours of flights gave me plenty of time to reflect and realise that what made school and Year 12 bearable had surrounded me on that trip.

Now, I’m not creative or funny enough to come up with a great acronym, so instead you’ll just have to remember three words of advice I have for all of you: opportunity, community, and dependability.

o start off, I just want to say that no one’s schooling journey, and especially VCE, looks the same. Everyone has different goals and ways to reach them. I think going through school and entering VCE, I had the assumption that I would eventually have to give up all other commitments I had, to lessen my already minuscule social life just to focus on school. But if you can manage your time, you really don’t have to.

I got a job when I was in Year 10, have kept it, and worked consistent shifts all through VCE. I’d played basketball since about Year 1. I didn’t play great, but I was still there. Even though I didn’t take music, I still played in every band I could—you’ve probably gotten tired of me by now. I tried leading the House bands. Emphasis on tried. Played too many games. You get the gist. 

The point I’m trying to make is you can still have hobbies or work a job, even if you’re trying to do well, in whatever form that takes for you. And school is the perfect opportunity for that. The key is time management. I realised not too long ago that I really didn’t want to look back at the opportunities that school offered in leadership or music and regret not taking them. Now, I’m biased, so I’d just say that everyone should learn an instrument while you can, but get involved at swim carnival. Join the dance group at CAW. My friend and last year’s STEM captain, Toby, would tell you to do the engineering challenge. You could even take the opportunities that different subjects offer, like food or design tech. You can and should balance your time between proper school and fun school, because I can tell you, after going through Year 12, it’s a great stress reliever.

Now, community is a word that anyone who has gone through Year 9 here has heard plenty of. But it’s for a reason. As you progress through school, work gets harder, tests get longer, and the studying required to achieve your goals can honestly be isolating. During the school holidays before exams, the hours spent in my room, headphones on, were honestly hard to get through. But as soon as school went back, I made the conscious decision to stay and study at school and surround myself with people who could motivate me.

As you start your Secondary years, enter VCE, start Year 12 subjects, or enter your final year, if you let it happen, your cohort will come a lot closer. Friendships can be hard sometimes—I feel especially in your mid-teens—but rest assured, the angst that comes with being hormonal teenagers seems to dissipate in later years, and when it does, the community that Donvale develops in that time will be one I miss. As a nerdy introvert who’s been here since Prep, never have I felt my year level be closer than last year. That being said, my Prep class was great—the top three, Grace, Toby, and I, were from Mrs Jefferys’ class—so I think the other teachers should step up their game.

That tangent also segues to my final point: teachers. No matter how much praise we give them, it will never be enough. I chose the word dependability in the beginning partly because it rhymed, but mostly because teachers are a cornerstone in your education. Will they sometimes reply to messages late? Sure. But they are all of huge value to you. You’ll learn through the hours of conversations you’ll end up having that they do genuinely have a passion for education and want to see everyone reach their potential.

This manifests differently in different years. Through Year 7 and 8, teachers will try and show you what is possible as you get older—show you classes or subjects you have never taken. Year 9 is kind of weird and crazy. I still remember the hour-long lessons Mrs Delaney gave us about CrossFit, or Mr Reed somehow teaching us the game of darts while learning about triangles, or Mr Price letting me in Research Science probably kind of, maybe—well, not poison—but letting me and Takudzwa drink dam water that I “purified.” We were fine. And Years 10, 11, and 12, they offer many ways to push you to work more independently to set you up for life after school. If you have the drive, teachers will be able to support you however high you aim, or even higher. If you ask Mrs Finger, I definitely did not do enough extra work. There is always more you can do, and your teachers will support you the entire way.

I know for a fact that most of you Gen Alphas will not remember this speech by the time you get to VCE, but I hope for then and now, you can remember those three words: opportunity, community, and dependability. And for you in the tiered seating, school can and will be hard at times, whether you are aiming high or not, but you can still enjoy the experience. It might sound weird, but try and make it something you will be sad to leave behind.

To you, good luck this year. To the teachers, one final thank you. And go Burrows!