S ER C C OO SN S DCAARMY P U S
Alumni Profile:
Shari Nementzik, Class of 2006 Congratulations to alum Shari Nementzik who was recently appointed the Features Director for Cosmopolitan magazine in Australia.
Nationality: South African Current Location: Sydney, Australia Years at Bangkok Patana: Year 8 to Year 13 (August 2001 – July 2006) Favourite Memories of Bangkok Patana School: Wow, where do I even begin! Bangkok Patana is a place that will always be so special to me. I made some of my best friends at the school and even though we are spread all over the world now, we still stay in touch. I have to admit I really loved my IB years the most and getting involved in all the activities on offer, like putting together the Graduation Book and the charity fundraisers we threw. How can I ever forget every time The ‘Eye of the Tiger’ played at school events? Whenever I hear it I think of Bangkok Patana. Go Tigers! And, of course, the noodle lady – oh how I miss those lunches! Where did you go after leaving Bangkok Patana School? When I left Bangkok Patana, I went to study Broadcast Journalism at the University of Leeds. I had never been to England before, but the course was perfect for me and Emily Preston, one of my closest friends at Bangkok Patana, also got into Leeds, so it was meant to be! I spent three years at Leeds and I loved it. After graduating, I went home to South Africa where I worked in radio for a year before deciding I’d like to do a Masters degree. I had some cousins here in Sydney, so it seemed like a good place to be for a year (or so I thought just a year…). I did my masters in Media Practice and while I was there I got an internship with Woman’s Day, Australia’s number one weekly magazine. And as the saying goes, the rest is history! 28
• Bangkok Patana School
Are there any experiences/lessons at Bangkok Patana that have helped you through university and your career so far? Bangkok Patana not only taught me how to tackle my university work, but it taught me life lessons which are invaluable. It taught me how important it is to give back to your community and to celebrate our differences and
backgrounds and never judge anyone. I am so lucky that at Patana I never experienced any form of bullying because there was zero tolerance. Speaking to friends abroad, they weren’t always so lucky. It was during Theatre Arts classes in my IB years where I became more confident with public speaking and decided I wanted to be a journalist and, be prepared