Jessica reflected on her VCE journey and shared her own advice for Year 12 students both this year and beyond.

You can read her full speech here:

This moment where my family sits before me, my friends are in the crowd and I receive the certificate awarding my position as DUX is one we had dreamt of, it is a moment we strived for, it is a moment I often bugged my teachers late until 10 pm for. However, now we can finally say that ‘Yes we finally made it!’ Who’s we you ask? Well, this collective ‘we’ refers to all those to whom I am indebted. My mum and dad, my privately hired motivational speakers who had to go through each moment of year 12 with me. My who grandparents had a little too much faith in me. My who family in India had no clue what I was doing, but just that I was too busy to ever pick up the phone and talk to them. Lastly, how could I forget my little brother who diligently refilled my water bottles, without whom I would’ve truly been dehydrated? However, most importantly this includes God and the teachers whom I see him in. Your support, love, guidance, and genuine care was what got me through year 12. How thankful I am for each one of you cannot be expressed in the words I have, nor in the time I have available today.

So, instead, I am going to take this time to share with you the words that got me through some of my hardest days in year 12. When times got hard, I would close my eyes and imagine myself delivering this exact speech and repeating these lines. 

“Ki itni shidhat se maine tumhe paane ki koshish ki hai, ki har zarre ne mujhe tumse milaane ki saazish ki hai. Kehte hai agar kisi cheez ko sache man se chaho toh poori qayanaat use tumse milaane ki koshish mei lag jaati hai. Aaj aap sabh ne mujhe meri chahat se mila diya. Thank you. Thank you very much. Mai aap sabh ka shukar guzaar hoon. Ki aapne mere khabon ko yakeen mei badal diya. Itna ki I feel like the king of the world.”

This translates to:

“I have wanted you with all my heart, so much so that the entire universe has conspired to bring you to me. They say if you want something with all your heart, the entire universe will work to get it to you. Today you all have united me with my dream. Thank you, thank you so much. Thank you, Thank you very much. I am thankful to you for you have turned my dreams into reality.”

My dream, my goal at the start of year twelve was to get an ATAR of 98.65. Why I have no idea but a little voice in my head said that that was the number it desired. I had never known anyone who got such a high mark, nor did I know how I would get there. However, this little voice that told me I wanted to be school captain and later DUX told me that I would get there, I could get there, I just had to put my mind to it. So, I researched and studied the routine and habits of those who had reached there and emulated it in my life. I followed my parent’s advice; I gave it my all and did not expect anything in return. I walked up to my teachers and told them I wanted a 45-study score, giving them an equal shock. Yet despite the pain, despite the times, I felt like I could not go any forward, the results exceeded my expectation for I got a 98.75 ATAR. All throughout my year, I kept telling myself that ‘to get somewhere where no one else was, I needed to do that which no one was willing to”.

From day one I took excellent care of my health, regularly working out, eating fruits and taking a proper diet. I followed a strict sleeping schedule and only surrounded myself with my goals and those that supported them. There were times I wished I could stay up until 4 am watching movies like my friends but I decided to stay strong. In the end, I can say I do not regret it one bit. If there is one thing I could tell all the students, it is that dream as big as you like, but then make your steps, your staircase to get there, transforming your mere dream into a goal. Then unite these steps with a strong work ethic and convert the goal into reality.

Jessica Singh

DUX - Class of 2021