Life beyond Radford

I am fortunate to have a busy, fulfilling life filled with many different things that I enjoy. I am still living in Canberra which suits me well, as my family are here. At the moment, I am balancing part-time work and part-time study. I am currently studying politics at UC and I started work part-time work at BMS this year. I absolutely love working there; the staff are excellent and I enjoy being part of such a strong team. I initially became involved with Black Mountain School in Year 10 when I volunteered once a week.

This is a difficult question to answer as I have many fond memories from my time at Radford. My highlights are probably my trips to South East Asia and the Tingha trip. I also thoroughly enjoyed my time playing in the various Radford bands and orchestras. Today, I continue to play the clarinet in an orchestra. The community service opportunities at Black Mountain and Cranleigh, etc. were also highly memorable, and provided me with incredible insight into the lives of people faced with a variety of challenges.

Philip Heath comes straight to mind when answering this question. He has an incredibly kind and caring nature and had a great personal connection with all the students at Radford (and there were so many! I never knew how he remembered so many names)
George Huitker also has great connections with so many of his students. His huge energy is contagious, and motivates students to become good people and help others in the community. The trip to Tingha with George, which involved working at a preschool in Armidale inspired not only me but many other Radford students to connect with children from less fortunate backgrounds.

I feel that I can connect well with students with various disabilities. I am patient and it is incredibly rewarding when I witness students succeed in various tasks. In terms of deciding what to do in life, it hasn’t been easy or particularly straight forward. I am incredibly happy with what I am doing now however, even though it is a different path to what I initially had planned.

When you are in school, you tend to be very narrowly focussed on what is happening there (exams, friendship groups, assignments etc.) Once I finished, I realised that it's big world out there with so much to offer. Although I didn't finish all that long ago, I can confidently say that the world has changed so much since I left Radford. Technology has changed significantly and there are careers that existed when I left Radford that don’t exist now because of technology.

Take advantage of as much as you can while you are at Radford. It is a great school that offers so much more than just academic outcomes. Take part in co curricular activities, volunteering etc. These things will provide you with skills that you will use throughout your life! Also, when you leave school make sure that you do what makes you happy. Don’t let anyone else’s opinion dictate where you should be or what you should be doing.

Final marks and ATARs aren't everything. These days, there are so many paths that can lead you to what you want to do. At the time, academic outcomes can seem like the most important thing in the world, but trust me, they aren't! By all means, do your very best, but just remember not to put too much pressure on yourself!