News
Friendship across the Seas
A true friend is the greatest of all blessings, and that which we take the least care of all to acquire - Francois de La Rochefoucauld
Late last year Claire Osborne (Class of 1999 and Collegian Committee member) caught up with a wonderful group of Radford women to talk about their wonderfully close friendship.
20 years on and the friendship between Melinda Hill (nee Urquhart), Bridget Dankiw (nee Ward), Amanda Robinson, Tash Khera, Philipa Davies and Sara Cornish (Class of 2000) is stronger then ever.
Sara Cornish currently resides in Tokyo with her husband, Anthony Farry (Class of 1991). Anthony is the Head Coach of the Japanese Women’s Hockey Team who are gearing up for the Japan Olympics in July 2020. Philippa is on a posting in Bangkok with the Australian Public Service, so it was a great opportunity for all the friends to head over to Asia and catch up on life!
Whilst some girls stayed in touch following the end of their school life, it was not until their 10 Year Reunion that the group started to organise regular dinners and frequent catch ups.
We all know all to well the challenges to schedule catch ups with friends in between balancing work, families and travel – but this group of friends have made the effort to stay well connected even when they have found themselves in different parts of the globe – London, Norway, Perth, Melbourne, Vancouver, Amsterdam (just to name a few).
When Claire asked why their bond was so strong, the response from the group was unified – “it is hands down the shared memories from our time at Radford and the years following, common interests, similar stages in life and the want to stay in touch with each other”.
Some of the standout memories shared with Claire by the group were Year 7 and 9 camps, Year 12 Revue, playing team sports (self proclaimed “sporty bunch” who met and played a number of team sports together), hanging out during free periods in the senior school quadrangle, trips away and sharing various milestones over the years together.
The Class of 2000 will have their 20 Year Reunion on Saturday 19th September between 4pm and 6pm at Radford College, followed by an event organised by Mark Whitby and Melinda Hill. Further details will follow.