VCE high achiever Vincent Chang (OM 2024) compares the study of literature to the child-like impulse of wanting to sneak into a room you know you’re not supposed to.
“It’s like uncovering secrets,” he says.
“And I think that’s really at my heart – I am just still a kid, and I just love digging up stuff like finding a meaning between words.”
Vincent is the recipient of a 2024 VCE Premier’s Award for Classical Studies. His exceptional VCE results and passion for literature made possible an “almost spontaneous” decision to study at one of the world’s great universities.
“My journey to Oxford is a bit unorthodox,” says Vincent.
“I only started seriously considering it around the end of Year 11, when I discovered their focus on English literature.
“I’ve always had an obsession with the subject, but I only really started to home in on it during my later years at Melbourne Grammar.”
A change of trajectory
A self-described “science person”, Vincent says his original goal was to become a geneticist, until his
time in the English classroom shifted his perspective.
“I remember taking an English elective and being given the ability to articulate how I viewed certain characters, scenes and the work of particular authors,” Vincent says.
“Literature became a huge part of my life, and I started to see that there was a way forward in this area that I truly loved.”
Play, music! (As You Like It, 5.4.174, Shakespeare)
Alongside developing a love of Shakespeare through the Quad Play, Vincent says another favourite Melbourne Grammar memory is his time with the Chapel Choir – a practice he hopes to continue at Oxford University.
“In Chapel Choir, we went through thick and thin together,” Vincent says.
“It really became a community of spirituality. Especially during those months leading up to exams, I found that spending two hours on a Thursday evening singing helped clarify my mind.
“It gave me the opportunity to think about who I was, and what I wanted.”
Vincent is aware that when his first Oxford trimester begins later this year, he will be entering not just a new school, but an entirely new world.
“Oxford is a union of around 30 different colleges scattered across the town, all of which have their own traditions and practices,” Vincent says.
“It reminds me of the feeling I had when I walked across the worn-down bluestone steps at the entrance to the Quad at Melbourne Grammar – I understand that I’m part of a history that stretches back many years.”
VCE Premier’s Awards
At the Premier’s VCE Awards ceremony in July, four Melbourne Grammar School students were recognised for their exceptional results in their 2024 VCE studies.
- Hugo Chang for Mathematical Methods
- Vincent Chang for Classical Studies
- Alexander Kuroda for Japanese Second Language
- Nicholas Wang for Mathematical Methods
More than 1,000 guests attended the ceremony at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre, where the extraordinary dedication of 315 high-achieving Victorian students was celebrated.
