Andrew Fisher (FB’80)
Administration, Senior & Middle School 50 Biddlecombe Avenue Corio Victoria Australia 3214 Tel: +61 3 5273 9200 Fax: +61 3 5274 1695 Timbertop Campus Timbertop Private Bag Mansfield Victoria Australia 3722 Tel: +61 3 5733 6777 Fax: +61 3 5777 5772 Toorak Campus 14 Douglas Street Toorak Victoria Australia 3142 Tel: +61 3 9829 1444 Fax: +61 3 9826 2829 Bostock House Campus 139 Noble Street Newtown Victoria Australia 3220 Tel: +61 3 5221 7760 Fax: +61 3 5221 7602 Website: www.ggs.vic.edu.au Email: lightblue@ggs.vic.edu.au Editor: Elizabeth Pont Photography: Darren Apps Michael Collins Persse Gavin Dowling Richard Kumnick (M’68) Tony Inkster Tanya Lazzaro James McEwan Elizabeth Pont Katie Rafferty Quentin Robertson Rowan Swaney Jennifer Wraight Layout & Page Design: Creative Force Printing: Adams Print CRICOS No. 00143G
I left GGS in 1980, so if one looks past the usual years of University and then training, the main interest begins with: I started teaching at The Scots College, Sydney and during seven years there also spent two of those at their outdoor education centre ‘Glengarry’ which is modelled very much on Timbertop. The years in Sydney were fantastic, it is a great city and I thoroughly enjoyed life there, but was ready for a change. Quite what a change it became I did not imagine at the time. I left Sydney for a ‘late GAP year’ travelling to England with my fiancée Catherine in 1993. I began work at Wrekin College in Shropshire in 1994 and over ten years worked my way from teacher of English to Housemaster and then deputy Headmaster. It was a lovely school and due to my connection to Geelong some students did complete a successful exchange, which I hope continues today. I then became Headmaster of Frensham Heights School in Surrey, as my boss at the time said “and they might give the job to an Aussie”! Frensham is a “liberal school”, coming out of the progressive movement, so no uniform, first-name basis and a big emphasis on creative/performing arts, no religious basis and a love of outdoor education. I have been here five years now and time has flown past. It is a truly unique school in a very English setting. It also means that those of you who remember my father Charles (Head of GGS) will have to imagine me in a similar role; some will smile and others will perhaps believe it possible, I am not sure I do… In the end I am now the fourth generation of Headmaster in our family (along with my brother Geoff), I would welcome hearing from friends and colleagues and would be proud to show you round Frensham if you ever found yourselves in our locality. Sam Smith (Cu’89) Having discovered that I had a passion for media and advertising, I quickly directed my energy towards the internet - an industry growing 40% year on year. With that kind of growth, opportunities came thick and fast. My experience in commerce and media sales, plus the passion in statistics/mathematics led me to developing unique monetisation solutions for websites. A career highlight was the 2008 Beijing Olympics where we generated more advertising revenue for Yahoo!7 than NBC in the US. My interest in building brands finally led me to video production and this is where I now work with media/creative agencies and advertisers to
execute strategic content that is applicable to any communication channel (TV, mobile, web etc..). I am enjoying the challenges of running a medium-sized business in these restricting economic times and look forward to making TCO an incredible experience for the individuals here and the clients that engage with us. Laura Smith (Je’93) After completing my Bachelor of Arts course majoring in Psychology and Sociology at Monash University, I spent the next four years living and working in London, Edinburgh and Ireland. It was in Ireland, whilst volunteering for Oxfam that I became interested in community work, and when I returned to Australia I began my Masters of Social Science (International Development) course. I am now living in Darwin with my partner Simon Berger (Fr’93) and our beautiful 2year-old daughter. I work for Australian Red Cross as a project officer working with remote Indigenous communities, implementing programmes and services for youth. Part of my role is to visit communities and liaise with them in order to determine their needs and requirements. I feel privileged to be able to visit these amazing places and see a part of Australia that not many people get to see. I am so encouraged to see Geelong Grammar becoming more involved in Indigenous issues and I look forward to seeing how that develops. Marvin Khoo (FB’01) The idea that music could be my career and not just a hobby developed over my two years at Geelong Grammar. Mr Paul Rettke was very influential and it was his idea that I head to Boston, USA, to study at Berklee College of Music. Before I knew it, I was enrolled to start classes there in September 2004 (after serving National Service from ‘02 - ‘04). While I was at Berklee, I was surrounded by 4000 music students every day, all of them bringing their own taste and blend of rock, pop, jazz, hip hop and so on. I majored in Jazz Composition and learnt to write everything from simple leadsheet tunes to elaborate big-band charts. While in Boston, I also played drums in a local rock band and got to play shows at various rock clubs and universities in the city. In 2008, I graduated and returned to Singapore to start my life in music. I was soon conducting / teaching secondary school concert bands here.
Every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the information printed in this edition of Light Blue. If an error has occurred, please accept our apologies and contact the Community Relations Office on tel: +61 3 5273 9349