FEATURE
Reflections of a time spent at Marcus Twenty-four years is a significant period to work for an organisation. Marcus Oldham’s longest serving Principal, Dr Simon Livingstone, reflects on those years as well as his time as a farm management student studying at the college in the mid-1980s.
How did you first hear about Marcus Oldham?
however, make contact with Marcus, and lecturer Alan Blackburn sent me a pre-entry test in the mail. I had to answer questions and return the assessment as a requirement to be accepted into the college. I remember there were questions relating to sheep which I had no idea how to answer. I knew nothing about sheep. Luckily a jackeroo I was working with was from a sheep property in NSW and he told me the answers. I was accepted into Marcus the following year.
I was in Grade 11 when I first heard about Marcus. I was on a family holiday in Tasmania when my father got talking to a farmer. Dad who was a doctor from Brisbane said his young fella (me) was interested in a career in agriculture. The farmer said the best place to study agriculture was at Marcus Oldham. When we left Tasmania on our way back to Queensland we flew into Melbourne, drove to the college, and met Principal Graham McConnell who showed us around the campus. That was 1980.
What was your first experience at College?
What did you do before attending Marcus?
I drove from Queensland to Geelong in January 1985. I remember driving my HQ ute to the entrance of the college thinking is this really where I wanted to be and what I wanted to do. I had planned to become a head stockman then manager on a large cattle property in Queensland. Being a student in Victoria hadn’t been on my radar. It was Sunday afternoon, and the main carpark was full of utes - mostly WBs. I couldn’t see anyone and wondered where I was to go. I heard noise coming from near the library so headed in that
I was working as a jackeroo on a cattle station near Normanton in the Queensland Gulf of Carpentaria when my father flew up to visit me. He said he thought working for three years after school was enough and he believed I needed an education. He reminded me of the college we had visited in Geelong when I was at school, and suggested I apply for entry. I wasn’t keen to go to college as I didn’t like school and I was enjoying working on cattle stations. I did,
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