Old Boys' Share Their Journeys, Memories & Learnings with Current Year 13's

On Friday nine such Old Collegians came to the College auditorium to share their journeys since leaving the College and their memories and learnings from their own time a decade earlier.

The 2012 group are all into the stride of their careers in many different directions. Tuanui Tipene, having completed a degree in Psychology, is helping Sir John Kirwan in designing an app for men's mental health. Scott Freebairn completed a degree in engineering and is now about to be sent by Fisher & Paykel to Manila in the Phillipines where he will be helping clients utilise respiratory machines.

Every one of the nine shared the highs and lows of their paths before the discussion turned to how they felt Year 13 might best be approached. The key messages were around relaxing and enjoying the camaraderie that abounds at this time, being open to new experiences and getting to know everyone in your year well.

Some of the Year 13 boys gave us their impressions of the discussion:

“It was cool to hear their stories. They all seemed to say that we must make the most of our last year at school before real life kicks in” - Oliver Taylor

"It was interesting that many of them changed their courses once they got to uni. This made me think I should consider my options more carefully before I select my course but it also shows that it is pretty easy to change your course, things don’t have to be set in stone” - Llewellyn Ward-Leikis

“Everyone was doing very diverse things but they all started from the same subject choices and experience at the College which made me realise that what we do here can equip us for virtually any career” - Dylan Barker