From the Principal

On Tuesday 14 May we hosted the annual Careers Market at the Senior School. It was a wonderfully vibrant evening that afforded our students access to useful information, and presenters with a variety of experience and wisdom, in a range of different industries and career pathways.

Trying to choose a future career can often be a cause of great concern for students progressing through their final years of schooling, traversing this time with uncertainty about the path ahead. I shared with students at the Careers Market my own experience facing this level of uncertainty when I was a Senior School student too. I changed my mind many times in the final years of school - uncertain if I wanted to move towards medicine, dietetics, education, or perhaps just to travel the world and figure it out as I went along! After some encouragement from my parents, I attended a meeting with the Careers Counsellor at school. A little apprehensive, I went along to the appointment and we spent time unpacking different options, pathways, discussing testing and ATAR scores, and other fairly standard elements required to consider a way forward.

I left the meeting feeling a little deflated, still without the kind of clarity I was hoping to feel at this time of my Senior School journey.

However, just as I was heading out the door, the Careers Counsellor reminded me of one last thing to keep in mind. She said that in the end it doesn't really matter what you do, but what matters is that what you choose to do makes you happy, and mostly, what matters is who you are.

I have remembered it ever since and have been reminded of it again and again here at Saint Ignatius’ College - with our focus on cultivating people that go out to make the world a better place.

When considering this from a recruitment perspective, in many ways it is becoming so much less important what specific course someone has studied or what technical skills they may have. It is so much more about one’s character, attitude, the ability to work well with others, an ability to support a strong culture, kindness, and sense of service.

It was humbling to read a recent interview between tennis champions Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer. In coming to the end of their tennis careers, they reflected on what they hoped they would be remembered for.

“I hope I’m remembered not only as a tennis player but also as the person behind what I gave to the game and what I represented to the game, and it was less about my Wimbledon victories or whatever it was, that would mean a lot to me,” said Federer.

"At the end, what really will make me feel really proud and happy when I leave this world, is the tournament directors, the people who work on the tournaments, staff, ATP, talks good about who I was on the tour or who I am as a person more than a tennis player," Nadal.

And that’s what we aim to cultivate here. It’s about considering how we can use what we do, in whichever career or industry we land ourselves in, and using that as a platform along with our gifts and talents, to make the world a better place, a brighter place.

Lauren Brooks
Principal