2016 College Dux, Matthew Walker

A speech delivered by Matthew Walker at the school assembly on Friday 3rd February 2017

When I found out I was Dux I told myself I wouldn't say anything cliché in my speech, but now that Uni is looming, something sentimental seems necessary. High school years might not be the best of your life - like every middle aged person seems to think - but looking back on all these memories that I made here, I'd say they're probably pretty damn close. I've made so many lifelong friends here at Greensborough, and a few more that were just passing through, but all of them have impacted on my life immensely and I'm so thankful for every single one of them. And ultimately, it all does fly by really quickly, so make the most of the time you have with your squad all together in one place.

I want to take some time to thank a few teachers that made my time at Greensborough the best it could've been. First off, Miss Simmons, my year 7 home group teacher, for making the transition to high school a pretty chilled one and not making a big deal about that one time I accidentally called her mum, and then later, for letting me invade her bio class when I had spares. Miss Osborne, for being objectively, the loveliest human being on planet earth, and at least partially identifying with my love of maths. Mr Ting, for introducing me to cool science stuff throughout year 9 and 10, which honestly put me on the path that I ended up following through VCE, and for his inspirational quote 'just find the number of mole guys' which is honestly the only reason I passed chem.  

Mrs Daley Potter, made a bigger impact on me than she might think.  In year 9 Maths, she was the first to recognise that there was something special about me.  She gave me the belief that I could actually do something great. And yeah she was a pretty cool Chem teacher too, and almost made me love it as much as Physics.  Mr Tadros, without whom I would never be the mathematician I am today. He pushed me beyond what I thought I could ever accomplish; after I flunked my first methods sac back in year 11, there was no sympathetic “it's okay you'll do better next time”, he gave me the cold hard truth that I should be doing better, and he expected me to beat all the year 12s. And at the end of the day, that was exactly what I needed. A lot of hard work and silly mistakes later, I attribute a lot of what I accomplished to the mentorship he gave me early into my VCE journey. Last but not least, Miss Gazsik. It's hard to find the words for how much she means to me, but everything stems from the belief she had in me, to convince me to take a leap of faith and join literature at the end of year 11, continuing into the countless lunchtimes she spent with me getting me up to speed and discussing interpretations and just talking about life in general, and ultimately imparting upon me the aforementioned love of literature that has become a major component of who I am now. I hope one day everyone in this room meets a friend, let alone a friend in a teacher, like I did in Miss Gazsik.

All things considered, this school's soul far outweighs its old, crumbling exterior, and at the end of the day, some parents pay 50 grand a year to private schools in pursuit of an ATAR like mine, and I'm proud to say that it came from Greensborough College!

Matthew Walker

2016 Dux

Greensborough College