Acceptance Speech – Indiana Jackson
Winner of the Fred Stubenrauch Award for Academic Achievement and Excellence – Indiana Jackson
Congratulations to Indiana Jackson for winning the Fred Stubenrauch Award for Academic Achievement and Excellence. Indiana’s acceptance speech is a wonderful message for all students.
Good morning Mr. Miller, distinguished guests, parents, teachers, students of Chevalier College, and in particular, the class of 2024. It is with great honour that I am able to accept the Fred Stubenrauch Award for Academic Achievement and Excellence in 2024.
I am truly humbled to be able to share a few words on behalf of the graduating class of 2024. I would like to take this opportunity to share some of my Chevalier story and to offer a few words of advice as someone now at the end of their high school journey.
My earliest high school memories are similar to most of the students before me today. It was my very first day of Year 7, and all of the students were heading into the brand-new John Fahey Centre. I remember almost trembling with excitement in my baggy dress and oversized backpack. As a quiet and mature twelve-year-old, I had never really found my footing at primary school, and I had long been promised by my primary teachers that I would “shine at Chev.” At the end of the assembly, as we stood up to leave before the rest of the school, I turned around to look at the stands crowded with students – just as you are now – a sea of blue dresses and maroon ties, and my first thought was, how am I ever going to find my place here?
And the truth is, it took me a very long time to find my place at Chev. Four years in fact. I have always been a quiet student, and throughout junior school, I seemed to drift from group to group, unable to find a place where I felt like I belonged. I have always done well academically, but it was the social side of school that I found frustratingly hard. In fact, I reached a point in Year 10, where I considered leaving Chev – to get a fresh start and try and rid myself of the loneliness that I felt deep in my heart. In the end, it was Mr. Byrne who talked me out of leaving. His kind words reminded me of my goals, and the network of people that I had around me who loved me and cared for me. For the first time in my high school experience, I felt truly seen and valued by a member of the Chev community. I’ve come to understand that this is the MSC school difference – it may take time to present itself, but there are people who care about us when we most need it. After that emotionally charged conversation in F3, things changed for me, and I started Year 11 and slowly began to rekindle my love for school. I joined a new friendship group, met my best friend, Leah and became a part of the legendary Mock Trial Team. Suddenly, I was surrounded by a community of people that I had realised had loved and cared about me for a very long time, even when I couldn’t quite see it.
The moral of the story is: maybe you have found your place at Chev, or perhaps you are still looking for it. But no matter where you are on your Chev journey – if you hang in there, and give it a chance, this school slowly blossom into the home you have been waiting for, a place where you feel cared for, valued and understood. When Chev has become that place for you, is when you finally get the chance to shine.
No high school experience is without its challenges, and in facing these many obstacles, I have learned to appreciate the value of perseverance and resilience. I am someone who has always had big goals and big aspirations, and since I was twelve years old, I have known that I belonged in the courtroom wearing a barrister’s wig. I knew that with such ambitions, I had to perform well in school, which in turn ignited a competitive academic spirit inside of me. But with big goals to succeed, inevitably came bigger challenges that had to be overcome.
The biggest challenge of all came in January of this year. A tragedy that none of us could have foreseen – when everything I knew and thought I understood about the mechanics of human life was thrust out of orbit. To be able to pick myself up and keep up with demands of the uncompromising HSC, while also trying to grieve and support my peers, proved an enduring struggle. But the suffocating nature of grief, I saw a clear purpose begin to blossom inside my mind. I had to keep going. I had to work hard and succeed for Chkye and Violet, who never got to achieve their own dreams and aspirations. Chkye and I’s long conversations as desk partners in Legal Studies, had led me to develop a fierce sense of admiration for his refusal to settle for anything less than a career in aviation. In the many challenges and hardships’ that have confronted me this year, I have tried to channel his fierce determination to persevere with achieving my own aspirations, and it has been a desire to make him and Violet proud that has led to all of my success today.
Life is going to throw many obstacles at you. The trick is to remember what you are striving for no matter how much you feel like giving up and to never let anyone pull you away from that path.
For five years now, I have sat in your shoes and listened to countless students deliver a similar speech, and each and every one of them has presented a different method for their own success. For me, it has been tenacity. It has been unwavering persistence, grit and determination that has given me the chance to stand before you today. Instead of looking for excuses or giving up when I didn’t get the results I had hoped for, I worked even harder to attain them. From my perspective, the student, who is willing to work the hardest and put the most hours into study will always trump those who are ‘naturally gifted.’
That’s not to say that being successful is a journey that you must embark on by yourself. And at this point, there are a number of people I need to thank for their continual support and kindness. There is no way that I could have walked across this stage today, much less have stood here before you today as College Dux without my Chev family. My peers, my teachers, my academic mentor Mr. McGinnity and most of all my parents, have guided me through the wild and chaotic journey that was Year 12, and I am eternally grateful for the support and kindness you have shown to me.
Finally, to my peers, the class of 2024, the way we have excelled and supported each other throughout this year is truly inspirational. 2024 has been a year like no other. It has been filled with heartbreak and stress and sadness, yet moments of it have been occupied by an undeniable sense of joy and beauty. It is certain that each and every one of you is going to go on to do extraordinary things – and when we cross paths again, I am sure it won’t be inside of the courtroom.
To everyone else here today, please believe me when I tell you that there is no magical formula for academic success, but there is resilience and hard work. Chevalier really does provide everyone with the opportunity to shine, and it is truly a place where anyone can feel welcomed and loved.
