Laureate Address: The importance of motivation

Blackfriars’ 2024 Dux, Matthew Jones, has used his Laureate Address to urge students to discover their motivation.

Speaking at yesterday’s Laureate Assembly, Matthew said success came more easily when you had a clear goal.

“I think one of the most important things to consider during your time at Blackfriars is your motivation,” Matthew told the assembly.

“Having a clear goal, not necessarily for what you want to do after school, but just for what you want to get out of school, helps to clarify a lot of difficult decisions.

“Whether it be achieving a high ATAR, focusing on sports, or simply learning as much as you can and making it to graduation, if you know why you want to achieve your goals, the how becomes that much less of a problem.”

The importance of failure

Matthew – who achieved an ATAR of 98.85 with Merits in Integrated Learning, Japanese and Research Project – said it was also important for people to learn from their mistakes.

“You may think the fact that I am standing here today is a testament to the successes of the past year but, in many ways, it instead feels like I’m standing here upon a mountain of my failures and mistakes,” he said.

“Looking back over the last year, what stands out isn’t the questions I got right or the assignments that didn’t trouble me. What stands out are the challenges, the questions I got wrong, things I could have done differently.

“I say this because I believe that your failures, and your responses to them, are what will truly define your experiences at school and beyond.”

Manage the chaos

Matthew also shared some final advice for the Class of 2025 and Year 12 students to come.

“You may have heard horror stories. People say that the assignments made them lose sleep, the tests made them doubt their own intelligence and the stress of exams was overwhelming,” he said.

“I can’t in good conscience say you won’t also experience this, but if you can find your own way to manage the chaos, you might make it out the other side.”

Matthew will study a Bachelor of Science (Advanced) at the University of Adelaide in 2025.

The annual Laureate Assembly celebrates graduates who achieved ATARs of 90 or above, as well as Blackfriars scholarship recipients and other award winners.

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