Alumni EMag 1 - The Kilmore International School

The Kilmore
International School
Australia
Alumni Magazine
“Excellentia Academica Persequenda”
Edition 1, December 2013
All the news on past students, find out where they are
now and what tkis meant to them
1
welcome
Dear Alumni,
Firstly, welcome to the very first edition of The Kilmore International School Alumni Magazine.
Welcome to a place that brings together news from former students, and keeps a link between you and TKIS.
This is an e-magazine that we would like to (hopefully) produce twice a year, and we need your help to do so!
We hope to be able to include stories of what you’ve been up to, what you studied, where has your career taken you, your
travels and tales of your life after leaving the IB far behind.
In this, our very first edition, we have stories from graduates ranging from 1995 all the way up to several years ago in
2011.
Most importantly for these alumni magazine’s is we need your input. Drop us email, give us a call, post on our Facebook
wall or even come back and visit us in sunny (for once!) Kilmore for a cuppa. We would be delighted to see you.
All the details to write to us are included on the back page of the magazine.
Got suggestions for improvement? Let us know.
We would like to form a bond with our Alumni, with all of you that passed through these hallowed halls. Alumni can
become involved in the TKIS community in a number of ways. Perhaps you’d like to come and speak to our Year 12s? Show
them that there is light at the end of the dark IB tunnel? Perhaps, like several of our alumni, you may end up here in a
professional capacity.
There is a short survey on the back page of this e-magazine, to help you be featured in our very next edition.
We’ll even attach one alongside, just for your convenience.
An alumni magazine is a great way to stay in touch and reconnect with people you have lost touch with. Whatever your
interest in the school might be, let us know.
We’re looking forward to hearing your stories, and sharing our own.
If you change your email addresses at all, be sure to update your details with us to be kept in the loop:
webmaster@kilmore.vic.edu.au
Sincerely,
TKIS Media & Communications, International Programs
2
1995
Highlights of 1995

The Principal’s Award for Overall
Excellence was awarded to Kathryne
Trewick

President of the Student Representative
Council (SRC) in ‘95 was also Kathryne
Trewick

The Dux Prize was jointly awarded to
Thomas Neal and Rohan Murray

1995 was also the 5th birthday of TKIS

The No.1 Box Office Film was Toy Story

Number 1 on the 1995 ARIA charts was
Coolio with Gangsta’s Paradise

Windows ‘95 was released by Microsoft

The DVD was invented

After a six year break, the highest grossing
James Bond 007 movie premieres Golden
Eye starring Pierce Brosnan.

Aussie film Babe was released in cinemas
grossing $36,776,544 at the Australian Box
Office

Wimbledon Singles’ champions were Pete
Sampras and Steffi Graf

Dolly the cloned sheep was born on July 5th

Starbucks released their
Frappuccino

The No. 1 album was Alannis
Morissette’s Jagged Little
Pill with hits like You
Oughta Know, Hand in
my Pocket and Ironic.
No school picture
Name: Denny Setiawn
Homeland: Bandung, Indonesia
Current location: Switzerland
Where is he now: Denny is currently undertaking a
Post-Graduate Diploma at Les Roches School of
International Hotel Management. Even after leaving
school, he still believes his BEST time in Australia was at
TKIS. He too has some inspiring words for our current
students: “Just have fun and relax ‘bout the IB... U guys
can do ur best...i just know it!!!” Unfortunately, we were
unable to find a photo of Denny from his school days but hopefully in our next edition we may have
unearthed some of the older pictures from the archives!
3
1997
Highlights of 1997

The Principal’s award for overall excellence, and
the Dux award went to Hui-Chin Hsu (Regine)

The graduation was held at The Kilmore
Memorial Hall and was decorated with blue and
silver horse shoes to wish graduands good luck!

During the Night of the Stars talent night all staff
dressed up and performed Riverdance

The number one song on the 1997 ARIA charts
was Candle in the Wind ’97 by Elton John
followed by Aqua’s Barbie Girl.

In 1997, students were from Australia, Taiwan,
China, Indonesia, Korea, Japan, Hong Kong,
Thailand, India, Sri Lanka and Britain.

Year 12’s went to camp on Kangaroo
Island, where the photo above was
taken. Can you identify the
students pictured with
Ms Tripp? Let us know!
Send us an email or contact
us on Facebook.
Name: Bacharudin Effendi Sutrasno (Hari)
Homeland: Jakarta, Indonesia
Current city: Jakarta, Indonesia
Where is he now: In 2002 Hari graduated from Civil
Engineering at RMIT University Melbourne, before gaining
his Masters of Project Management also from RMIT in
2004. From 2005-2010 Hari worked in Project
Management and as a Financing Specialist in several
Multilateral Development Banks including IDB and IFC World Bank Group. Since 2010 he has been Director of
Property Development Firm BGM Holding Limited in
Jakarta, where he lives with his wife and three children
(all pictured). The best thing Hari remembers about life in
Kilmore was “I felt as part of big
family of teachers and friends
from different countries.” To
students studying at TKIS today
Hari has four simple words of
advice: No Pain No Gain.
Hari even met up with our
General Manager of International
Programs, Ms Wendy Khoo in
October . They met for dinner in
Jakarta, where Wendy was
travelling on business (pictured).
4
Ms Tripp!
2001
Name: Billy Hanafi
Name: Colin Bower
Homeland: Indonesia
Homeland: Australia
Current city: Melbourne
Current city: Saskatchewan, Canada
Where is he now: Life after TKIS has been busy for
Billy! After completing tertiary studies at the University
of Melbourne before eventually moving on to working
for the Commonwealth Bank as a graduate financial
Planner. Billy has been working in his current role in
financial planning for the past eight years. He is very
happily married to wife Fransiska (above) and father to
beautiful
daughter
Elise who is
almost two
(below).
5
Where is he now: After finishing his IB Diploma,
Colin gained a Bachelor’s degree at the University of
Melbourne in 2004 and went on to teach at the
University for a year. He joined BHP Billiton in 2006,
transferring to Western Australia and obtaining his
Chartered Account Designation (2009). He returned
to Melbourne for a year before transferring to
London, England. Today he is based out of
Saskatchewan Canada and has recently completed his
Masters in Mineral Economics. Like many of our
alumni, Colin’s best memories from TKIS come from
school friends. He too has some words of wisdom for
our current students: “Take every opportunity its
fullest. If an opportunity doesn't exist, make one.”
Colin is pictured glacier hiking in the Rockies in
August.
2005
Highlights of 2005
Name: Angharad “Hari” Lodwick
Homeland: Australia

School captains were Luke Neill and Tsay
Xiu Hui (Selena)

Principal’s Award for Overall Excellence
was awarded to Luke Neill

Dux Prize was awarded to Wang Yuansha
(Jasa)

18% of students achieved an IB score of
over 40

75% achieved an enter score over 90

The school production was The Three and a
Half Muskateers

No. 1 on the ARIA charts was Anthony
Callea’s The Prayer

A version of Cinderella performed by year
12’s at Ace High Study Camp won the talent
show.

Yearbook quote of the year went to
ANONYMOUS for their quote “Mr Bertotto’s
wife had a baby - I don’t remember giving
birth!”

2005 graduates had offers from across the
globe including: The University of
Melbourne, RMIT, Monash, University of
Edinburgh, Otago University NZ, Michigan
State University, California State University,
King’s College London, and the University of
Bath
Current city: Canberra, ACT
Where is she now: Hari is currently studying a
Master of Asia and the Pacific (Honours) at ANU in
Canberra. Prior to this she completed a Bachelor of
Law, Bachelor of Asia-Pacific Studies and a Graduate Diploma of Asian Studies. Her fondest memories of her TKIS time is Year 12 homeroom, playing
soccer at recess, all the bake sales and of course
parties at Jess’ House!
For our current students, Harry has chosen this
piece of advice: “Dream big, try hard, take every
opportunity that comes your way and don't be
afraid to fail; only be afraid to give up.”
6
2006
Highlights of 2006

Students enjoyed performing in musical The
Dastardly Doctor Devereaux

School captains were Lachlan Richards and Hsu
Yi Ting (Stella)

Principal’s Award for Overall Excellence was
awarded to Pongpon Sanongkulvarakull (Ping)

Dux Prize was awarded to Ma Wan Li (Amanda)

The Sam De Gabrielle Service Award went to
Dav Ahmad Ali
Name: Lachlan Richards
Student Awards for 2006
Homeland: Kilmore, Victoria
Current city: Melbourne
Where is he now: After leaving TKIS, Lachie took up a
double degree at the University of Melbourne. In 2011, he
graduated from his Bachelor of Engineering (Chemical) and
Bachelor of Science (Probability in Statistics). Currently, Lachie
is working as a Project Manager at Diamond Energy, a
Melbourne-based renewable energy retailer and generator
(www.diamondenergy.com.au/). He is living in Melbourne and
has a long-term girlfriend who is currently completing a
Masters of Architecture. His schools days are best
remembered by the people and the school culture. For
students battling the IB today, Lachie has this piece of sage
advice: “enjoy the unique experience that is TKIS”. He is
pictured above with his girlfriend Sarah.
7

Most Attractive Student: Xiyue Zhang (Cherry)

Most Rebellious Student: Ruoke Zhou
(Seventeen)

Most Diligent Student: Tong Zhao (Aaron) and
Xinyi Li (Summer)

Most Memorable Student: Joseph Wong

Student with best hair: Andy Trisna

Student with worst hair: Michael Daly

Most Artistic student: Pongpon
Sanongkulvarakull (Ping)

Most Athletic Student: Luke McKennie and
Jiangjia Ruan (Jane)

Most Popular Student: Lachlan Richards

Most likely to succeed:
Ma Wan Li (Amanda)

Best Couple:
Thawatchai
Luengvoraphan
(Porche) and Hitomi
Fukuoka
2006
In March this year, Jason also wrote a letter to Principal
Andrew Taylor on the benefits of studying history at TKIS. We
have included an extract of his letter here:
“Dear Mr. Andrew Taylor,
Name: Jason Andrews
Homeland: Melbourne,
Victoria
Current city: Canberra, ACT
Where is he now: After graduation, Jason was accepted into the
Australian National University, graduating in 2012 with a
Bachelor of Arts, with Double First Class Honours in both
Philosophy and International Relations. He was also awarded the
L.F. Crisp Memorial Prize for International Relations. Jason is now
a Masters Research Student with the University of New South
Wales, Canberra at the Australian Defence Force Academy.
He remembers TKIS for “The High Level History and Art
programs; the discipline of the former and the creativity liberty of
the latter were second-to-none and both stood me in great study
for my tertiary studies.”
When asked to give advice to our current TKIS students, Jason
had this to say: “I’ve been asked to give you some advice.
However, there is no shortage of people in your life who are
telling you what to do and what to think: your teachers, your
parents, your books, your newspapers and your government. So,
instead of advice, I will give you a question: ‘Why is this the
Truth?’
Ask this question frequently and repeatedly..”
Jason also made a special trip to TKIS this month to speak to Mrs
Ailsa Larin’s history class about his time at TKIS and his recent
time at university. He has even inspired a few of our students
into pursuing IB history.
My name is Jason Andrews and I am a former student of The Kilmore
International School who recently graduated from the Australian National
University in December last year…(sic)... I have been prompted to write this
letter by account of this historical research and a fair dose of post-graduation
reminiscing. As such, and with the benefit of hindsight, I am writing to
commend and impress the importance of my studies in High Level History at
TKIS under the tutelage of Mrs. Ailsa Larin between 2005 and 2006.
Over the course of my tertiary studies in Philosophy, International Relations
and, initially, Law, the conceptual and political significance of History has been
one of the most crucial facets of my work: as a tangle of interminable questions
for reflection; as means of understanding the history of ideas and society; as a
civic duty; and, vitally, as a font for nurturing my passion for knowledge. It is
this last attribute for which I am most thankful for, and that my studies of
History under Mrs. Larin were vital to nurturing. Prior to entering the final two
years of study at TKIS, I was not a remarkable student by any quantitative
measurement. I was, however, interested in ideas and avenues of investigation
that had, prior to my commencement of the International Baccalaureate,
largely remained latent and untapped.
It was the study of History, though, that brought much of this forth and enabled
me to excel, eventually graduating from TKIS with a final score of 40/45. The
role of my historical studies cannot be understated in this. History is a fickle
subject, but when conducted in a manner tailored and appropriate to the
student, can unleash a mind in ways that sciences and mathematics may lack
until later university studies. By this, I mean that History enables a willing
mind to come to terms with the why and how of society, not merely the what –
although, of course, by means of History study the latter is inevitably
illuminated in a new light. In this, History extends the social and personal
conscience of the student. By means of historical study – even if only at IB level
– a student comes to appreciate – even if only intangibly – the social, economic,
political and cultural forces that structure and shape the time and space in
which they act and are acted upon…(sic)...As I am fond of quoting:
“The struggle of man against power is the struggle of memory against
forgetting.” – Milan Kundera.
My studies at TKIS in History, provided me with the passion and means of
coming to grips with such complex ideas and philosophies: from French
Revolutionary thought and the ideas that formed the basis of Western
Enlightenment to the works of Karl
Marx and the legacies of Communism in
Russia and China. In reflection, the two
years spent in study of these subjects
proved invaluable to me during my
time at university. ..(sic)...Indeed, for
any IB students seeking to pursue a
Bachelor of Arts, I would deem the
study of History to be one of the most
useful courses on
offer….”
Yours Truly,
8
Jason Andrews
2007
Highlights of 2007
Name: Shangyuan (Yuan) Chen

School captains for 2007 were LI Ruizhu
(Candise) and James Sheeran

The School Production was The Pirates of
Penzance -which was also our 2013 school
production!

The TKIS community raised more than $20,000
for primary schools Shule Ya Mbinsi Nanga in
Tanzania and SD 3 Sinabun in Singaraja, Bali

House captains were:
Red Echidna: Jacob Walton & Rebecca Jones
Sean McKennie & Bonnie Lodwick
Blue Koala: Abhi Kalia & Kirsten Audehm
Rami Shenouda & Prudence Chamberlain
Yellow Platypus: Koji Akasaki & Amelia Hanvey
Rufus Pamungkas & Lenore Dyson
Green Kookaburra: Gary Zhou & Ebony Anglin
Gavin Gunawan & Anna Holdaway

House Carnival placing's were: 1st Blue, 2nd
Red, 3rd Green and 4th Yellow

The 2007 Dux Prize was awarded to Ding Hong
(Eric)

The First Transformers movie was released

The Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to Albert
Gore Jr and the UN Intergovernmental Panel on
Climate Change

The number 1 K-Pop song for 2007 was Lies by
Bing Bang, followed
closely by the Wonder
Girls’ Tell Me.

Number 1 on the ARIA
chart was Fergie’s Big
Girls Don’t Cry
Homeland: China
Current city: China
Where is he now: In 2011, Yuan completed a Bachelor
of Business Administration at the University of New
Mexico, and in May this year graduated from a Masters of
Accounting at the University of North Carolina at Chapel
Hill (pictured below) .
He recommends that students enjoy and appreciate their
time at TKIS because “it will be a great memory in the
future”. His best time at TKIS was his time in boarding
where he lived “Upstairs” with his five best friends.
What advice would Yuan give to current or potential
students of TKIS? “Enjoy and appreciate the time at TKIS,
it will be a great memory in the future.”
9
2008
10
Name: Winnie Jie Lee (Winnie)
Name: Weiyin Hu (Wayne)
Homeland: Penang, Malaysia
Homeland: China
Current city: London
Current city: China
Where is she now: After graduating from TKIS, Winnie
has gone on to complete Honours Degree in Accounting
and Financial Management at Loughborough University,
United Kingdom. She graduated in July this year, and is
now undertaking a Masters in Education at the Institute
of Education, London. Winnie is pictured below with
incredibly proud family!
Where is he now: Since completing his IB diploma at
TKIS, Weiyin has gone on to complete a Bachelor of
Commerce at the University of Melbourne, followed by
a Masters of Business Law at Monash University. He is
currently working as an Associate at an Investment
Banking Division in Minsheng securities co, Itd. Weiyin
is also engaged to be married. His best memory from
school is playing cards with his school mates in the
boarding house. For future students, his words of wisdom are simple: “Study Hard, Play Hard.”
2008
Highlights of 2008

School Captains in ‘08 were Alexander Grimes and
Hu Xinting (Candy)

The School Production for that year was Calamity
Jane - which saw many cowboys and cowgirls act,
sing, and speak in American western accents.

Student awards:
Artistic Award: Matthew Caruso & Ding Ting
Cutest Couple: Aaron Caratelli & Xin Juan
Best Hair: Ding Siqi (Rachel)
The Bogan Award: David Heather
Loudest Student: Peter Larin & Stephanie Poon
Most Athletic: Bonnie Lodwick
Athletically Challenged: Thomas Murchinson
Most likely to win a Nobel Prize: Shen Hao
Quietest student: Zheng Xiaofei (Sandy)
Princess Africa Award: Michelle Mrema

In 2008, TKIS had students from: Australia, China
PR, Korea, Japan, Tanzania, Hong Kong, India,
Malaysia, Phillipines, Indonesia, Singapore,
Thailand, and the United Kingdom.

Shen Hao was the highest ranking Year 12
mathematics student in Victoria.

The Principal’s Award for Overall Excellence was
awarded to Cai Yihan (Cecilia).

Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps won eight gold
medals at the Beijing Olympics

Barack Obama was elected the 44th President of
the United States of
America

The top-grossing movie
for 2008 was The Dark
Knight
Name: Amelia Hanvey
Homeland: Kew, Victoria
Current city: Malvern East, Victoria
Where is she now: Since leaving TKIS, Amelia has
become a Police Constable attached to the Boroondara
Police Station. Her best memories from school include
the 2004 trip to China (when Amelia was in Year 8) and
of course all the house carnivals where Amelia
represented the Yellow Platypus house. To our students
of today, Amelia offers this piece of advice “Stress less
and take time to ensure you actually enjoy what you are
studying!” and perhaps most importantly she adds “Try
not to let external pressures influence what you choose to
study or your future career choices.”
11
2009
Name: Sili Xie (Steven)
Name: Madieson Hall
Homeland: China
Homeland: Seymour, VIC
Current city: Melbourne, VIC
Current city: Invergordon, VIC
Where is he now: Steven is undertaking his final year
at RMIT University in Manufactory and Mechatronics
Engineering. He has been excited to see many of his
high school mates have already graduated and
returned home or gone travelling, but mostly it makes
him think of his time at school. “I always miss so much
about the time in Kilmore. Every time when I spent a
whole hour to cook myself a lunch or a dinner I miss
the food in Kilmore and also the Chinese cook that all
of us called her “Old Aunty” who always felt happy to
sit on our side and ask us “how’s the food?” or “what
you boys and girls would like to eat tomorrow?”.
Steven also remembers how caring boarding staff and
friends were, taking care of students when they were
sick, and being able to share games with fellow
boarders.
He had many memories of his school days: “So many
things happened in my past six years Australian’s life
and I consider the time in Kilmore was my best time in
Australia and I’m glad that I was a student who was
studying at this school.”
Steven would also like to tell our current students to
value their time in high school because “believe it or
not that will become the nostalgia time that preserved
in your memory.”
Where is she now: After graduating from TKIS,
Madieson went on to pursue nursing at The Australian
Catholic College. She is currently working as a registered
Division 1 Nurse at Goulburn Valley Health in
Shepparton. Madieson lives 20 minutes north of
Shepparton on a beef farm and is in a relationship with
her partner Dillon (pictured). Her advice for current or
future IB students is: “Stay organised and focused and
remember it is ok to cry.”
12
2009
Name: Myung Woo (Matthew) Lee
Homeland: Seoul, South Korea
Current city: Seoul, South Korea
Where is he now: Matthew is currently undertaking his
two years of compulsory military service as an English
Interpreter at the Korean Air Force headquarters. He will
finish next year and return for his third year of university
at the Seoul National University College of Liberal
Studies, where he majors in Business. Thinking back to
his time in Kilmore, Matthew’s best times were ordering
Pinky’s Pizza and having a group party in the blue room.
Matthew is reminding students to always be prepared:
“You never know what chances are going to open up for
you in the future, so the best you can do at the moment is
to prepare yourself for every possibility. Even luck is
for those who are prepared to grasp it!”. Unfortunately,
due to the limited internet
access at the military base,
Matthew was unable to send a
current photo of himself.
However, we have managed to
pull this photo from the
archive of 2011, when Mathew
(top right) visited Manager of
International programs,
Georgia Wittmer, and teacher
Jeong Mee Cho Kauye, at an
Education Exhibition in Korea.
Alumni from 2006 LEE Choi
Sun (Jason) and CHOI Bum
Suk (Brian) also attended the
exhibition.
13
2010
Name: Yanfei (Sally) Cong
Homeland: China
Current city: Melbourne
Where is she now: Sally is currently in her third year of
her undergraduate degree. She is studying a Bachelor of
Environments (Property) with a Diploma of Language in
Japanese. He best times at school were International Day,
Graduation and Japanese Class with Mr Nomura! She
believes that TKIS was a great place to study and advises
our current students to enjoy school life.
Visiting Alumni
T
his year has seen a number of Alumni revisit the TKIS school grounds. Sili (Steven) Xie from 2009 dropped in
one day to see his teacher Mr Wright, and numerous 2012 graduates have stopped in to pick up their IB
Diploma’s and share stories of the first part of the next phase in their lives. Here we share a few of the familiar
faces we’ve seen back this year...
APRIL
29th, 2009 alumni Sili
Xie (Steven) payed a visit to Mr Ross Wright and
shared his life in recent times. Steven is featured in
our Alumni Magazine already (p.12), but also sent in a
wonderful open letter to our students. Here is an
extract from his letter:
Hi I’m Steven.Xie from China. I graduated from The
Kilmore International School on 2009 and now I’m taking
the Manufactory & Mechatronics Engineering course in
RMIT University. This is my last of the engineering course,
and those of my high school mates who take three years
courses has already got their diplomas and many of them
choose to go back overseas or visit other countries around
the world. The end of my university life reminds me those
days that I just came to this city. I still remember the
picture that the first time I walk into the door of Kilmore
and all of those good times I spent in the following three
years here...Every time when I stuck on some problems that
may not been clarified the professor I miss the time in
Kilmore that you can “kidnap” the teachers till he or she
explained every single questions that you have instead of
book a time with the professor first and only got a few
minutes to finish your questions. Every time when I
travelling on the train to university I miss the time that we
walked to school in the morning and walked back in the
afternoon. And so many other things that I missed, like the
trees that we planted by ourselves on the back of the
playground, the basketball games after the school the
camping every semester, the pizza shop on the town or
even those complains that we had in Kilmore. Hegel said
that: “the important is not what you eat but who you eat
with” and that’s also I felt in Kilmore.
Sili (Steven) Xie
29 APR 2013
14
JULY
This year graduate from 2006,
Wang Kaiquen (Daniel) stopped by to say hello. Daniel
was originally from Shijiazhuang, China. He enjoyed
visiting the school during the mid-semester break
although it was a little odd to have the school so very
quiet with all students on holidays.
Like many visiting alumni, Daniel was able to tour the
school and see all of the changes over the past few years,
including the New Des Gregory Language Centre .
Visiting Alumni
OCTOBER
on a sunny, windy Friday in Kilmore, 2011 graduate Villy
Julita visited to see some of her teachers, friends from
the International Office and check out what’s changed
since she left TKIS. Born in Makassar, Indonesia, Villy
came to Kilmore mid-2010 to embark on her IB Diploma.
She is now living in Huntingdale and is completing her
second year of Biomedicine at Monash University. Just
two years from graduating, and Villy is already missing
the support from teachers and boarding staff compared
to the more independent learning environment at
University. She is happily dating Kim, a Bachelor of
Science student. Villy frequently overloads her academic
schedule and works as a technical assistant on campus.
She is hoping to embark on a Summer Research
Scholarship in biochemistry. Villy enjoys playing the
organ, her fitness regimes and admits she is “a bit of a
workaholic”. She is focused on the future and is also
planning to complete her Honours in Biochemistry,
followed by a PhD with the hope of working as a
Research Assistant before becoming a Post Doctorate in
a biochem laboratory. We wish you the best of luck Villy
and look forward to hearing more from you in the
coming years. Villy even managed to get a 2011
yearbook to remind her of her school days.
15
JULY
this year alumni Munesh
Kumar dropped in to TKIS with his wife and three kids.
Munesh completed his IB Diploma at TKIS starting Year
11 in April 1993, and graduating in 1994. Munesh now
runs J4ya Dewi a curtain company based in Yogyakarta,
Indonesia. His company bears the slogan “untuk
keindahan ruangan Anda…” which translates to the “for
the beauty of your room…”. It was great to have a
surprise visit from an Alumni, and we enjoyed letting
Munesh show his wife and children where he went to
school. The Kumar family were even happy enough to
pose for a photo - although the youngest was a little shy
to be photographed!
Visiting Alumni
NOVEMBER
Alumni of ‘08, Hua TAN (Tiana) stopped in to Kilmore to
catch up with school staff. After moving from China to
Kilmore to undertake the IB, Diploma Tiana has since stayed
in Melbourne to complete her tertiary studies. She has
recently graduated from a Bachelor of Dental Science at the
University of Melbourne. We look forward to hearing more
of her success in future editions!
2013 Graduation
On Thursday, 21 November, our 2013 year 12’s celebrated their two
year IB journey and end of exams with a graduation ceremony at
The Park Hyatt, for the first time in full regalia. Alumni from ‘04
Jacob (Jake) Breen was kind enough to step in at the last minute as
the alumni speaker. We have included his speech here:
Good evening.
It doesn’t seem that long ago that I was standing up here at my own graduation.
My name is Jake and I was part of the graduating class of 2004. It makes me feel
old saying that out loud, but I find solace in the fact that it will have probably
made a number of teachers in the room feel even older.
When Trish called me up to ask if I was available to speak tonight, I immediately said yes. Not just for the free
dinner, but also because it is such an honour to have the opportunity to share tonight with all of you. You will
hear this from every one tonight, but each and every one of you should be proud of being here today.
Completing the International Baccalaureate is a challenge, and nobody can take away the sense of achievement
you feel tonight. Hold onto that for the rest of your life.
Graduating tonight, you now have nothing but tremendous opportunity ahead of you. Albert Camus said that life
is the sum off all your choices, and to me, it is whether you choose to seize the opportunities before you that will
define you as a person.
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2013 Graduation
Whether you get your first preference for uni, or your second or don’t go at all, it is
how you face down your next challenge that will take you forward. When I was at high
school, I was singularly focused on finishing the IB with the highest score I could
achieve.
When I graduated, I could not wait to go to uni. Facing down a 6 year course was
daunting, but I think taking my first steps out into the real world was the hardest.
There was no Ms Tripp asking if I had redrafted my essays, no Mr Szczur grilling me on
Newton’s third law. Safe to say that I hated it. It was like I had to organise my own life,
and be responsible for my own levels of motivation and define my own achievements.
There is no national announcement of your score at the end of the year, just a computer screen with numbers and letters next to it. I
pontificated over my course, could I really be a lawyer? I mean, John Grisham books are great, but they somehow skipped the part where you
have to spend hours upon hours reading to learn the trade. And mechanical engineering? I still cant figure out how a triple integral makes any
sense in reality.
It took me years, but it finally clicked. What you have in front of you is a series of opportunities. And no one is going to tell you which ones to
take, or how to take them. You need to decide which ones you want to pursue, and you alone need to do your best to equip yourselves to reach
them. Take a moment and think about everything that you want from life, and reassess this regularly. Time will slip by quickly, especially
when you are working full time. Never for a moment think that you don’t have the opportunity to do ‘something you have always wanted to
do’, there are so many ways that you can go about achieving your goals. I always dreamed of going on exchange and learning a new language
at uni, but after a couple of years of underperformance at Uni, this option was off the table. But my education and my experiences were in my
hands, and I taught myself Spanish and travelled the world of my own accord.
And finally, try to remember your experiences and learnings from the IB. CAS may have been a chore at high school, but try your best to
continue these activities through your time at uni. Join a sports team or a music or drama club, whatever takes your fancy. University can feel
like another world, but joining university clubs is a great way to get to know new people, some of whom will join your high school classmates
as lifelong friends. And if you can, try to remember your good study habits from high school, and if you didn’t have good study habits, try to
find them. University is your next opportunity to excel, and, as lame as it sounds, good grades can open many doors. That being said, your IB
will already begin opening many doors for you, and bizarrely, when I interviewed for my current job, it was the IB I discussed with the
interviewer. Makes me wonder why I spent so long at uni!
We are gen-y, and we probably get bored of our lives 20 times a day. Just remember to look out at the landscape
of opportunities available to you; every person in this room can reach any single one of them, but each of you
will tread your own path, with your own challenges, mistakes and changes of direction. Try not to be anxious,
try to be patient, try to be focused, and most of all, enjoy all of your achievements along the way.
Congratulations to all and enjoy your night of celebrations. Thank you.
Kind thanks to Jake Breen for allowing his speech to be printed
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ALUMNI QUESTIONNAIRE
Interested in featuring in the very next edition of the TKIS Alumni Magazine? GREAT! Simply answer the questions
below and email your answers, along with a recent photo of you, or you with family/partner/pet to us for inclusion!
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What is your current academic/career situation? Please list all universities and year(s) of graduation.
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What are your fondest memories of your time at TKIS?
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The Kilmore International School
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18
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