2023 VCE Results
PRINCIPAL ADELINA MELIA-DOUVOS WITH POLLY HARA, DUX OF 2023 AND HER MOTHER RACHAEL
Two thoughts consumed my mind on results day.
First, is this what it all boils down to? Does a number represent my whole year? I was worried all my hard work—six years of learning, endless study, extracurriculars, questioning and investigating—would be worth null compared to a few two-hour exams. But this fear is furthest from the truth.
"Now I have an ATAR, have enrolled in university, and am spending my first summer in a while not studying, I can properly look back on what was an amazing, joyous year.”
At the top of the school, at the precipice of so much change, Year 12 was about the fun of learning and the freedom to chart your own course.
I enjoyed learning, enjoyed writing, enjoyed spending lunches with my gorgeous Year 7 and 8s in Debate Club or with friends in the common room. I remember the in-between moments: lunches, email chains, postassessment wind-downs, weekends with friends, writing competitions, snacks before debating, coffee shop hideouts and too many Spotify hours.
My year did not culminate in just a number, or study scores; instead, I strengthened friendships, explored my opportunities beyond the gates, celebrated the end of high school and filled every day with gratitude. Gratitude for my parents, always at my shoulder. And gratitude for ever-patient teachers, happy to read a steady stream of practice essays and talk at length about English motifs / Chemistry equations / Latin verbs.
My second thought—what’s next? I’m ready to travel, ready to learn new things in new ways. I can safely leave high school knowing I’m ready for the world.
It probably helped that I learnt my ATAR while in Verona, surrounded by delicious Italian food, pretty streets and my loving family. I apologise to Ms Melia-Douvos and Ms Steedman for my 3am bewilderment (time zones were not in my favour) when they phoned to congratulate me on achieving Dux. I’m sure I said thank you; I’m not sure I mentioned how much Sacré Cœur means to me, how the VCE process was so much easier with the support of my teachers, and how whatever I do with my life will be driven by my time at this school.
I came to Sacré Cœur without knowing anyone, and I’ve left with lifetime friends, a wealth of knowledge, and a community I know I can turn to through adulthood. I’m thankful I embraced the school’s opportunities and adventures.
I participated in the 2019 Sacred Heart Exchange Program to Kincoppal-Rose Bay and the 2022 Red Earth Immersion, entered every debate and public speaking competition from DAV to UN Youth, tutored at Friday Night School, was successfully selected for some GSV teams including: netball / softball / cricket / soccer / swimming / basketball, and sang horribly in Year 7 choir and most of the Music and Drama productions.
My proudest moments at Sacré Cœur came from running Debate Club as 2023 Public Speaking Prefect. A highlight of every fortnight, I adjudicated wild and impromptu lunchtime debates by the Year 7s.
Our senior Debate team might have been Victorian semi-finalists but the Monday lunch debate on whether Everyone Should be Vegetarian filled with Year 7 laughter and random interjections—will be one for the ages.
I found a safe and happy space in writing, debating, discussing anything and everything in English and Literature, but also bungling Chemistry practicals and binding my Maths Methods notes. In retrospect, I know everyone’s journey is different. It’s what makes Sacré Cœur such an amazing school - that I could thrive in one space and watch everyone else thrive in their own spaces.
I might not have been in the GSV A and B teams, but I’m nevertheless proud of our school’s sporting achievements; I might sing off key and will never pick up an instrument, but I am enraptured by the choirs, ensembles and orchestras. Talent abounds, and Sacré Cœur offered me a front row seat.
Right now, I think a lot about the tribulations and celebrations of high school, but I’m also looking forward. I’m very fortunate “what comes next” has no bounds, which is handy when I don’t know what that entails.
I do know that I’m going to study Arts at The University of Melbourne, and that I want to write, join the uni Debate Club, maybe learn sign language, go on exchange; but in three/four years I’m not sure what my life—what the world— will be like. Dad has told me not to rule out running for Prime Minister…
Words by Polly Hara
STUDENTS WHO ACHIEVED AN ATAR OVER 95
