2 May 2016

The 2016 Premier's VCE Awards were presented on Thursday 28 April at the Palladium at Crown. Among the 38 students from Victorian Catholic schools who received an award was Dylan Jape, recipient of a Study Award for Mathematical Methods.

Dylan is a graduate of Caroline Chisholm Catholic College, Braybrook, who recently shared his experience with 2016 students. ‘If you had told me just a few years ago that I’d be the dux of 2015, I would have laughed in your face. In Year 10, I was struggling in English, just getting by in Science and nearly failing in Mathematics,’ he said.

In a stunning turnaround, Dylan scored an ATAR of 99.6 and three perfect 50 study scores in Chemistry, Physics and Maths Methods, after he achieved another perfect score in Biology while in Year 11. He is currently studying medicine at Monash University.

Dylan thanked his teachers for helping him find his ‘purpose’, and supporting him strongly, particularly during VCE.

‘I thank my Year 10 maths teacher who sat me down and said I was ‘one of the laziest people she’s ever met’ but had the potential to achieve so much more. She drove me to become someone better… I realised I wanted to succeed, I wanted to prove wrong any doubts anyone ever had in me.’

Nathan Cheng, who together with his twin brother Nicholas, was named joint dux for 2015 at Marcellin College, Bulleen, has been awarded a Top All-Round VCE High Achiever Award (awarded to students who have achieved study scores of 46 or higher in at least five VCE studies).