Weekend warrior – The top achiever who did “minimal” work on week nights

Weekend warrior – The top achiever who did “minimal” work on week nights

A dux who did comparatively little academic work on any given school night? 

It may sound improbable but Benjamin Chau, who topped Year 11 and Year 12, made it work for him. 

It was his way of elbowing room in his life for the vast breadth of co-curricular activities Trinity offers, something many old boys say is just as important as achieving good marks. 

But if that gives the impression he scarcely had to lift a finger, nothing could be further from the truth. 

“On weekends and in the holidays, I worked really hard to get ahead of everyone so that my time in the term was a little easier,” he explained. 

“As I had co-curricular activities most afternoons, I did minimal work on school nights. I would only complete homework and assignments that were due the next day. 

“My challenge was to manage everything from my music to my hobbies and school work. I overcame this by having good habits and routine – every night after dinner I would practise my instruments (mainly piano), and then after that do the school work I needed to do.” 

He took part in the maths, science, and debating clubs at various times but the one constant was music. He completed violin grades up to his AmusA, is preparing for a similar level in piano, and taught himself bass guitar and acoustic guitar. 

A Trinitarian from Year 2, he played in the Serenata in years 7-9, Sinfonietta in 10-12, and Symphony orchestra throughout high school. 

His favourite was Sinfonietta: “We were a small, tight group with good communication and I had a lot of good times in that space.” 

He has plenty of advice for other students, based on his experience. 

“Listen, really listen, in class – you’ll save so much time not re-learning everything on your own. 

“Read a lot. For English and subjects alike, read essays and responses better than your own. 

“Do lots of past papers and questions.” 

He said his teachers were passionate and inspirational, generating his engagement in topics “that I had seemingly no interest in, like History and English”. 

He said they were “the best at their craft, providing amazing teaching and support”, but nevertheless advocated outside tutoring, as he had in each subject, because “you gain the most valuable resource – time – and any advantage goes a long way”. 

His inspirations were the American singer and social media influencer, Trisha Paytas, for her “unique personality and humour”, and his friend and fellow student, Daniel Doueihi, for his “persistence, positivity and hard work”. 

His stand-out memory of his time at Trinity was the Field Studies camp in Year 9. 

He hopes to do actuarial studies at UNSW. 

 

Share this post