College Dux 2021

Robert Collier once said, “Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day in and day out”.

Good morning everyone, it is an honour to finally be able to address the Mazenod Community as Dux. Over the last 8 months since I left Mazenod I have had time to reflect on my years at the college. When I look back, many core memories jump out at me. There are too many to count, but a few notable mentions include running MAD Day in Year 12, the Central Australia camp I went on when I was in Year 10, ACC Hockey grand finals in Year 9 and 10, Year 9 mountain bike riding camp and of course nothing is more of a core memory than being in Mr McCabe’s Year 7 VCD class. None of these memories involve studying. I thought it was important to start my speech with this pre-curser. Reminding you all that school is so much more than just academics. Yes, I worked hard in Year 11 and 12, especially in the months leading up to exams, but Mazenod teaches so much more than just subjects, it teaches you how to act in the real world, how to be resilient and how to live with purpose. By far my greatest takeaway from Mazenod is the mates I formed here, who continue to be an important part of my life.

Now, there are a whole bunch of people I should thank for helping me to reach my potential last year. First of all, I want to thank my family for being the rock who allowed me to excel last year. Thank you to my parents for always supporting me throughout my life, especially during VCE and lockdowns, which was a tough time for everyone. Thank you to my siblings for doing my turn of the dishes when I had a SAC or exam the next day even if they weren’t too happy about it. I also want to say thank you to every teacher who taught me during my time at Mazenod. I want to thank you all for answering my endless questions and for providing me with the feedback that allowed me to constantly improve. Some of the advice, strategies, suggestions and lessons taught to me as early as year 7 sticks with me until this day. To those teachers who went above their job descriptions to make my time at Mazenod meaningful, I thank you. I do want to make a special mention to my 6 VCE 3&4 teachers, I feel that the collaborative working relationship you enabled me to form with you was a pivotal part of the process that allowed me to do the best I could. I also want to thank my friends and classmates who provided a much-needed outlet to the challenges of completing VCE in a pandemic. 

I want to congratulate all of the inspiring people sitting to my right. Every single one of these individuals deserves just as much recognition as I do, for their efforts and perseverance last year, as do many others who did not achieve a 90+, but did work hard and achieve their best.

I especially want to give a shout out to the four others who got an ATAR above 99. Any one of them could be standing up here talking to you. Although I’d wager that Cameron spent more time in the gym last year than studying, that Ethan spent more time buying shoes than doing practice exams and Daniel and Ben probably spent more time sliding in DMs than working on their academics. But in all seriousness, I think these people are a great example that you can do extremely well in VCE without dedicating your entire life to it. I personally tried to live a balanced life throughout VCE. I worked a part-time job and, when COVID restrictions allowed, I played plenty of sport, went out with friends and really tried to embrace the social side of year 12. Everyone needs an outlet from the academic side of school. Whether that’s rocking up to Pearson’s Friday morning cross country trainings, being involved in school leadership, or playing ACC sport. I participated in a wide variety of what Mazenod had to offer and believe these opportunities helped shape me into the person I am today. Academics is not the be-all and end-all of school, if fact I truly believe your academics will improve if you live a balanced lifestyle.

Nevertheless, there is still a large amount of time that you must spend learning and studying, especially in Year 11 and 12 and I think it would be wrong of me to get to the end of this speech without providing any advice. To the younger students, I want to remind you that performing well in the later years really starts with the work you put in in the younger year levels. This comes back to the quote I started with. Small efforts repeated bread success. Learning how to study is a journey and finding out what works for you involves trial and error throughout your schooling. There is no point in me standing up here and telling you what I did and how this and that works well because I know that every single person over there studied in a different way, and they were all extremely successful. There is no right and wrong when it comes to studying, you have to figure out what works for you. Unfortunately, the only way to work that out is by finding the time to study. No one likes it, but it if means having a bit less free time on the weekend then that’s a sacrifice that you have to make. I went to great efforts to not sacrifice the things that were important to me, but that meant that I did have to sacrifice free time, which can be challenging.

To all students, I cannot stress the importance of asking questions enough. Sometimes I felt like the slowest learner in the room because I would ask so many questions. But it’s better to feel unsure in the classroom than in an exam. You should all be annoying your teachers with questions until you understand everything, that’s what they are there for. I also want to highlight that you do not have to be the best or the smartest to succeed in VCE. I was in no way the best at maths, I don’t have the biggest vocab, others have better memories than me or more elegant writing styles, but I think I was able to succeed because I consistently worked hard in all of my subjects, regardless of whether I thought they were my best or worst classes.

To the Year 11 and 12’s, you are getting towards the pointy end of the year. High school is a marathon and this stage of Year 12 is really the final sprint, keep going and take one day at a time so that you can get to the other side of it and be proud of the effort you put in. At the end of the day, the score doesn’t matter that much, you just have to be happy with the result you get.

Finally, I want to wish all of the members of the graduating class of 2021 that are present the very best on wherever life takes you. I hope you find happiness in your journey, and I look forward to catching up with many of you in the years to come. 

Thank you.

James Russell