Celebrating Howquarians

Setting the foundations for a career in STEM

Current role: Intern/Junior Doctor, MD Industry: Medicine

Career to date

Medicine is a career with boundless opportunities. You can make a tangible difference to people’s lives, build meaningful relationships, and learn something new every day. At this stage of my career, I am enjoying rotating through diverse specialities and having the opportunity to learn from my patients and colleagues. I am also undertaking two research projects whereby one is focused on medical education and the other is looking at oral immunotherapy as a treatment for food allergy.

Favourite Howqua memory

I will never forget the joy of receiving a letter from home. Being able to rip open the envelope and relish over those handwritten words of love and support was truly special. I would spend hours (no really… hours) writing pages and pages for my own letters home. I think this is what sparked my ongoing love for journaling and handwriting. I have kept and treasure all my letters from Howqua as they truly hold the memories of my year there.

Howqua taught me…

I reflect on how Howqua positively shaped me to become who I am today, and one key thing Howqua taught me was gratitude. I learned to cherish relationships through being surrounded by friends, I learned to appreciate nature through the outdoor activities, I learned the importance of helping others through volunteer work and I learned the value of health through our runs, hikes and more. Furthermore, living away from home made me grateful for home. This is why I am grateful for Howqua.

Current role: Manager, PwC Industry: Professional Services

Career to date

I’ve been working at PwC in Management Consulting for the last five years. After a degree in Biomedical Science, I’ve found a passion specialising in people-based productivity and operational excellence for large-scale workforces. A highlight was supporting the design and implementation of the Police Assistance Line, to divert non urgent calls away from the Emergency Services Telecommunications Authority (Triple Zero).

Favourite Howqua memory

Howqua taught me that it’s okay to go out on a limb, and to succeed or fail! I remember laughing so much at Houses’ abilities to take any obscure prompt and concoct a performance that leveraged sleeping bags, our teachers’ traits (to their ‘good natured’ dismay), and stellar dance moves.

Howqua taught me…

Still today I have a love for the outdoors. I thank Howqua for my ability to know when we’re almost at the top of a hill by reading the tree line and how to efficiently pack (very helpful for work travel!). Being part of a hike group with stressed, worried or tired team members also taught me how to handle difficult conversations, manage and motivate teams and build a culture so everyone has a positive experience!

MELANIE DAVEY (OL 2004, CRAMOND 2001)

Current role: Senior Project Manager, RP Infrastructure Industry: Property and Construction

Career to date

I currently work at a Project Management Consultancy business called RP Infrastructure. We assist our clients, including schools, universities, councils, government agencies and private developers, to run their building and infrastructure projects from start to finish. I first studied a B. Engineering / B. Science at the University of Melbourne and got my first job with Lendlease working on large construction sites. This was a fantastic, and demanding, experience but gave me a wealth of construction experience that has aided me in the rest of my career in the property industry.

Favourite Howqua memory

My fondest memories of Howqua include all the wonderful outdoor activities we did. Two standouts were:

• There was a inter-house competition that involved a round-robin of physical events. It was a great opportunity to bring all our house members together working on a common goal. We showed great teamwork that day and won! I learnt that day that I was pretty good at problem solving and planning ahead by having one eye on the team in frontcertainly skills that have helped me in my career!

• My all-time favourite memory was completing the six-day hike at the end of the year. It was the result of a year’s worth of learning about hiking, navigating and building independence. It was a wonderful experience being able to hike with my friends, without teachers, and trek through beautiful scenery from King River hut, along the ridge lines, back into Howqua. I can still remember the beautiful sunrises, scenery, funny moments and smiling faces as we completed the trek, to this day. This trip definitely cemented skills in decision making, planning, and independence.

Howqua taught me…

Howqua helped me, being an only child, to deep dive into sharing space and other things with others, a lot better! Throughout the year I learned a lot about compromise, negotiation, and how not every opinion is black or white, but can be many shades of grey. This certainly helped me as I navigated through high school and beyond.

While some can describe its immediate transformational impact, many focus on the opportunities and challenges it afforded. Others including Caitlin, Emily and Melanie, will be able to look back as adults and speak about how the program enriched their lives and offered the foundation for many skills and attributes further developed in the senior years of school, tertiary studies and careers.

When living in a House, participating in outdoor activities or undertaking campus responsibilities, each individual must develop and use their communication skills and problem-solving skills. How might a girl tackle the problem of one or more other girls not doing their household chores properly? How might a group of students find a solution when a member of their hike group has an injury which slows the pace of her walking with a pack? How might girls in a House come to understand that different cultural backgrounds can become opportunities to learn not only about the culture and language, but also about different world views? These are all likely issues to arise when living at the Howqua campus, and with the support of adults, they become learning opportunities.

Knowing yourself and what you are capable of achieving is a significant attribute for a young person and these insights can be further enhanced through the senior years of school and tertiary studies. This type of self-knowledge is also helpful as one navigates the different career paths available and provides some insights into the type of career and workplace that will enable the individual to showcase their skills and attributes, and enable them to have satisfaction in their work.

In an environment which promotes independence and acceptance of challenging activities, the Howqua program provides opportunities for our girls to reflect on their own personal identities and how they can set goals for their senior years of school and positively enhance their skills and attributes. As such, these students have the chance to gain a head start in preparing for their future careers.

Susan Just Principal

Read the full article on our blog: lauriston.vic.edu.au/under-the-fig-tree