Two-timing Darcey dux

By Shaun Inguanzo
DARCEY Johnstone wasn’t satisfied with one Victorian Certificate of Education – so he did it again – and this time walked away the dux of his Cranbourne school and with a scholarship to pay for his entire university tuition.
Mr Johnstone, 19, finished the 2005 school year at Cranbourne Secondary College with an ENTER score of 78.
But the score was not enough to allow the Blind Bight resident the chance to study engineering at Monash University.
So just days into a double degree at Berwick’s Monash University early this year, he returned to the college to ask Head of Senior School Ross Huggard whether he could repeat his Year 12 studies.
“I thought I would rather do that than a different university course and transfer into engineering after one year, racking up a HECS debt like some people do,” he said.
“The first person I spoke to was Mr Huggard because I didn’t know if could do it.
“I had hatched up a hair-brain scheme and didn’t know if it was possible.
“Year 12 had already begun two weeks before I spoke to him about it, but he said I could do it and that there were no penalties.
“He did want to go through (the idea) with me to see what my motives were, and to see if I was switched on.”
The result was beyond belief for Mr Johnstone who this Monday awoke to his mobile phone and an SMS from the VCE results service, which revealed he had scored an ENTER of 97.3, making him the dux of Cranbourne Secondary College.
“I didn’t start screaming or jumping out of bed,” he said nonchalantly.
“I just took a step back and was a bit surprised.
“I didn’t go crazy, I just told mum and she was over the moon.”
And as a result of a partnership between Cranbourne Secondary College and Monash University, Mr Johnstone’s title of Dux earns him a scholarship that will pay for the course of his choice – in this case, engineering.
“It’s the Schools Access Monash Scholarship,” he said.
“I’m planning to do engineering, and now that I’ve got a higher score than I had expected, I am thinking of doing a double degree of engineering and arts.”
Mr Johnstone said the differences between his 2005 and 2006 results were improved commitment and focus.
“I didn’t change my extra-curricular activities,” he said.
“I worked my job, played footy (for Tooradin), and still managed to play the odd game of poker.
“But when I was not doing something else, I was studying.
“There was no down or wasted time, it was just study, and that was it.”
Mr Johnstone thanked Mr Huggard for his help throughout the year, and described him as a pillar of support.