Good morning staff, students, and the wider Brigidine community,
Perhaps, well not perhaps, in fact I know, having sat through the last six dux speeches, that many of you, when not evaluating my dress sense, will be listening to me with preconceived notions of what it takes to achieve dux, or more generally your wider goals. Hours upon hours of study, a million past papers, literally tied to your desk. And now I could stand here, and tell you about the necessity of not procrastinating, not finishing that last Friends episode, the need to maintain a healthy work-life balance, of revising notes, getting work done early, but to be honest I think, well I hope, that most individuals sitting in this room already know this. This is drilled into you from day one, and so I don’t see the point of me standing up here and reiterating what you already know.
However, it would be hypocritical of me to act as if I didn’t find doing all those things a challenge, as if I were some perfect model student, because really I wasn’t. I mean I finished the entirety of Friends during the HSC period. And so, as I was reflecting on the task of writing this speech a couple of months ago—or, if we’re being honest, when I actually wrote it just a couple of days ago, this challenge is what I thought about. The challenge of finding that thing that can make a difference in helping us to do all the things we already know we need to do in order to do our best. And to be honest, the answer came to me pretty quickly, and that was the necessity of finding the right motivation to do your best. For me, the motivation that made a difference was to completely change the way I viewed education and schooling.
And so, I wanted to share a little anecdote about my mum. My mum before any exam I had, whether it be prelims or the HSC, and through all the years before, she would turn to me, look me in the eyes, and she would say, ‘Maya, you are so lucky and privileged to be taking this exam’. Now I know that is not exactly what you want to hear when you’re crying in your car right before your modern history HSC exam, but she would continue, and say that ‘there are so many women and girls around the world who couldn’t even begin to perceive the education you are receiving at Brigidine, so don’t waste it’, she’d say to me ‘don’t squander it, don’t brush it aside as if it is unimportant’. And so that was my motivation, I started viewing school as an opportunity and a privilege rather than a chore.
And you know, this doesn’t just apply to academic subjects. There are opportunities in the music department, or the sports department, or in drama, I mean I wish I had applied myself more in these areas. I wish I had joined debating, or mock trial. And so, what I really wanted to emphasise today is the importance of grasping onto these opportunities presented, not only here at Brigidine but in broader life really, because they are such a privilege.
However, having said all this, I will emphasis two very crucial and probably obvious things I alluded to at the beginning of this speech. Number one is the importance of completing work and study throughout the year as to alleviate stress when it comes to major exam periods such as the HSC. I primarily did humanities subjects and so this is obviously tailored towards essay writing exams, but through ensuring for example that I had all my 25 essay plans for modern history and my discursives written for English completed before the week prior to the exam, the stress of the HSC period really didn’t hit me as hard as I had heard it would. So far, I have had no nightmares of the exam period. I imagine the same would apply to STEM subjects—after all, I did biology, so I’m practically a STEM student. The key is to build your understanding of each module as you go through the syllabus, rather than cramming just before the exam. This way, you can get a good night’s sleep before the test. And if there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that you don’t want to experience the stress of falling asleep during the first question of your modern history trial exam, it is not very fun. And the second obvious thing is to of course ask for help when it is needed and take advantage of the fantastic teachers here at Brigidine to get past any obstacles.
So ultimately, if there is one thing I would like you to take away from this speech today, it is to understand the immense opportunity education presents and to allow that to motivate any future endeavours. School really isn’t that long, so you know…make the most of it.
Thank you so much.
Maya Flattery
College Dux 2024
