As our Year 11 students begin preparations for their final year of schooling, the Senior School, in collaboration with the Alumni Team in Community Engagement, hosted its inaugural ‘Towards Leadership’ seminar series in Term 3 for Year 11 students.
Over 100 students signed up to be a part of this this three-week program led by alumni guest speakers with the aim to inspire and prepare the future leaders of the School with valuable leadership skills. The program not only equips our Senior School students with the tools to overcome challenges in their final year, but also provides them the confidence to take these learnings on to their next stage of life and in situations beyond of the classroom.
In week one, we welcomed Christopher Wishart (2011) and Josie Harris-Wetherbee (2011). Christopher presented on 'Leadership in Extremes', drawing on his experience as a Major in the Royal Australian Artillery. He discussed the willingness to strive for a common goal, looking after each other and sharing the principles of competence, ethics, empathy and vision. He reiterated that leadership is not something that should be aspired to for the sake of position, prestige or power; but should be learnt for a purpose. Josie presented on 'Resumes: how to stand out from the crowd and preparing for interviews', sharing her personal tips on how to prepare and win over potential leadership and employment opportunities. By providing real examples of good vs bad resumes, students were able to see why an employer may or may not select an application based on particular criteria.
In the second week, we heard from Carolyn Apostolou (1996, pictured below), whose presentation on 'Thriving as a School Leader: Prioritising Wellbeing and Strategies for Peak Performance' drew on her many years of experience empowering leaders and implementing wellness programs that foster a thriving culture of success. She engaged students with practical tools to cope through the stress of exams, taught them meditation techniques and implored the students to take a look at their current habits to see where there is room for positive change.
Genevieve Thompson (2015, feature images) and Simon Wood (1996, pictured above) capped off the program in the final week. Genevieve presented on 'Setting Priorities, Time Management and Stress Reduction', drawing on her experience as a PhD Candidate specialising in Neuroscience. She was able to provide tips and tricks that she has learnt along the way and the mistakes to avoid. Simon presented on 'Remaining Nimble in Volatile Environments' with real perspectives from financial markets, delving into real life scenarios within the financial sector and how companies have overcome this for success.
We have heard wonderful feedback from the students about the seminar series and we are certain they each benefitted in some way from the insightful presentations from our alumni who volunteered their time to speaking to our current students.
‘All the speakers had helpful tips and meaningful insight into what being a leader means to them. This gave me a fresh outlook on how different leadership may look from person to person and gave me ideas of what I can implement into my own style of leadership.’
– Year 11 Student
This alumni speaker series was a huge success, and we look forward to bringing this back in 2024! If you would like to share your knowledge as a guest speaker at Carey, please complete our expression of interest.
Kaushini Fernando
Alumni and Community Manager
