Many of the panellists admitted that they had no idea of their future career path when they were a Year 10 student, and so stressed the importance of choosing VCE subjects that you like. Some acknowledged that their work experience placement helped determine their future career, whilst others spoke of changing careers. David Weickhardt, who began his working life as an Engineer, experienced frustration when projects were not acted upon, which ultimately led him to change direction and pursue a business career. David Wagner acknowledged that patience was essential in architecture, as some jobs have taken him 10 years and that he can be working on as many as 25 different projects at any given time.

When asked what they enjoy about their jobs, Andrew Weickhardt, a medical oncologist, said it’s because he keeps learning, and he illustrated this with a story of one of his patients who made a surprisingly quick recovery from cancer through the use of immunotherapy drugs. Physiotherapist Kevin Chai said he enjoys making a difference to someone else’s quality of life, be it helping an athlete return to their sport or an older person bend to pick up their grandchild.

Damien Jones emphasized the importance of emotional intelligence above academic intelligence to those wishing to pursue dentistry. Louis Huang admitted somewhat regretfully that he put study above everything else whilst at school, and whilst his exceptional grades allowed him to pursue a medical career, he wished he had taken advantage of the extracurricular opportunities made available at CGS.

Feedback from students, and a few parents, was most positive. Thank you to all who attended the evening. I am once again indebted to all the Old Boys who gave up their time to talk to our current students, the OCGA who liaised with the Old Boys, and to our dedicated teachers who chaired the panels.

Lynette Reiger, Careers Counsellor