Extracurricular and/or sporting activities you were involved in while at school; how did you benefit from your involvement in these?

I was involved in SRC, as well as sport, being chosen as house captain as I was astoundingly bossy. I benefitted from these socially, as organisational roles are a good way to be involved in all aspects of school life without needing to be sporty.

Favourite subject/s at school; why?

English, history and biology were my favourite classes because they made you look at the world in different and interesting ways. 

Favourite memories from your school days.

My favourite memories from school - any given day with my year-group. I was very lucky to be in a year that was quite mature and respected and supported each other. You can really make a difference to each other’s everyday lives; be kind.

What you are doing now and what is the path you took to get to where you are today?

I have been in the hospitality industry, enjoy painting, and have done some modelling work. I am now building a career as a graphic designer - but never planned to do so!

I left school with entry into UTS to study interior spatial design, and lasted one day! If you make a plan just to say you have a plan, your heart won’t be in it - and it’s because I’m back in Grenfell that I can save up and travel all over the world.

Advice for the young?

Looking back, as adults we forget that as a teenager you’re only just starting to understand the concept of hindsight and can’t be expected to have any sort of grand perspective of life out of school.

Everything going on in your life right now is your whole world - and the bad times can feel as though they’ll never end. We can’t gloss over the fact that some kids have a harder time in school than others, in all sorts of ways.

To those kids - I promise your life can and will get better - as long as you never give up. “Just keep swimming”! 

And talk to someone if you need help.

Hindsight is magic, if you had to start again, is there anything you would do differently?

Weirdly, I can honestly say I wouldn’t change anything. That’s not to say I think I never did wrong - I could be mean, misbehaved, gossipy, lazy, dramatic etc. – but you grow and evolve as a person so rapidly as you move through school and beyond.

There’s no point dwelling on the past – you can only work harder to be a better person and make a positive impact on others in the future.