I congratulate our 2018 Dux, Anthony Sirait who achieved a perfect study score of 50 in Legal Studies, Dux of three additional subjects and an ATAR of 99.6; putting him in the top 0.4% of all Year 12 students in the state. As a Year 11 student in 2017, Anthony achieved a perfect score of 50 in Business Management. Anthony is set to follow his passion of Commerce/Law at Monash University in 2019.
I spoke to Anthony about how he remained focused in the face of challenges throughout Year 12, and the key people in his life that provided him with support and guidance. With an ATAR of 99.6 comes many opportunities; and Anthony shares his plans for the future.
Rob Brennan
Principal
Anthony, your avid commitment to learning and ability to focus is outstanding. Explain how you managed this throughout your final year.
Achieving a score of 50 in Business Management in Year 11 inspired me to do well again this year. I envisioned succeeding in Year 12, so achieving this success was simply a matter of setting clear goals throughout the year and working towards these goals.
Now that results are out, what are your immediate plans?
To catch up with friends, enjoy life and simply be happy. Over the last one to two years I haven’t had much of a social life, so I’d like to get back to where everything was prior to VCE.
With exceptional results come a variety of options. Take me through the process of how you made decisions about your future.
I was always committed to studying Commerce and Law at Melbourne University. I believed that if I worked hard, I would achieve a high ATAR. I wasn’t too confident about how I would go in Mathematics, so I made sure I worked through that and put in a lot of effort during the year to ensure I achieved the ATAR required to study Commerce and Law. I also considered other pathways too, as I believe it is important to have a plan B and C.
What has been your biggest learning through your final year?
I have learnt the value of persistence, of staying true to my goals. Sometimes I have a tendency to give up easily, but remaining persistent through the year definitely paid off. All my results were higher than what I thought I’d get, and that has been a result of working hard the whole year.
What comes to mind when you think about how your life will look like in 5 – 10 years from now?
By then I hope to have finished my University Course, have a stable job, and simply be happy. I don’t really buy into the material side of life. I just want to be happy.
How has faith in yourself inspired you to push forward with your dreams and aspirations?
It’s helped a lot. I achieved pretty good results in Year 11, and this inspired me to push forward through Year 12, to emulate my Year 11 success. Achieving my ATAR was just a matter of consistent effort.
Tell me about the key relationships in your life that hold meaning and how these have guided you.
My parents have played an imperative role in my life, providing unconditional love and support, and making sacrifices that allowed me to pursue my ATAR. My godmother has also played a significant role in supporting me and being there for me. There’s no way I would have achieved my ATAR without the teachers I had, who I leaned on quite a lot. Their guidance helped me incredibly.
What are your parting words/suggestions for students at Salesian College Chadstone?
Put your best foot forward. The ATAR score reflects your level of effort. It’s not so much about your intellect, like people think. It’s about how much effort you put in, relative to the rest of the state. If you put in the work, there’s no reason why you can’t get a high ATAR score. I know everyone at this school is capable of doing well if they tried hard and put the effort in. Your success in VCE is determined by how hard you work, how organized you are, how well you can balance your time and your priorities, and how committed you are.
On behalf of Salesian College Chadstone, I congratulate Anthony on the commitment and perseverance he has demonstrated over the course of his time at Salesian College Chadstone. We look forward to hearing about all he achieves in the future.