A Caroline Chisholm Catholic College graduate, who went from a D-grade student to dux, has thanked a former teacher for calling him “one of the laziest people” she’d ever met.
Dylan Jape is studying medicine at Monash University this year after returning an ATAR score of 99.6, with three perfect 50 study scores in chemistry, physics and maths methods last year.
He said if he’d been told a few years ago he’d be the dux of 2015, “I would have laughed in your face”.
In a recent speech to the college’s students, he said he was at rock bottom in year 10, struggling in English, “getting by” in science and almost flunking maths.
Things began to pick up after he got some tough love from a teacher.
“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,” he said.
“She drove me to become someone better. I realised I wanted to succeed, I wanted to prove wrong any doubts anyone ever had about me.”
Through personalised learning, Dylan turned a corner, working in small groups and solving problems with his peers.
Year 12 physics teacher Bill McKenzie said he wasn’t surprised by Dylan’s perfect score.
“Whenever Dylan got a question wrong, he didn’t panic, he saw it as a learning experience,” Mr McKenzie said.
“He never made the same mistake twice.”
