Women of Impact

Sr Sylvia Williams RSM

I commenced at St Aloysius College in Year 9 in 1959 and left 3 years later. After arriving in Australia, aged six, I had attended Our Lady’s Primary School, Sunshine and then St Anne’s Central School, West Melbourne. During my time at St Aloysius College I travelled from Sunshine for two years and then from Fawkner. My happy memories of school days include the travel. Looking back, the travel time and difficulty for us – buses, trains, walking in heat & rain - was more than what most students endure these days, however we enjoyed the time meeting friends and chatting.

My years at St Aloysius College provided many and varied opportunities. I particularly remember Miss Wallace – she may have been the only lay teacher at the time – and Maths classes, however all teachers were approachable and dedicated. Another favourite was Mrs Hooper in the tuckshop who was interested in everyone and never missed a day as far as I can remember. I also fondly remember the many ‘extracurricular’ activities such as sport (I was in Padua House), elocution classes, dancing, drama, singing, YCS and school retreats. These activities led to occasions such as school balls (girls only!) but also with the boys from St Joseph’s College and Assumption College, singing in the choir for the annual St Patrick’s Day concert in Melbourne Town Hall and marching in the Parade in the city on St Patrick’s Day. There was also a monthly prayer gathering at St Francis Church on a Sunday afternoon that we were encouraged to attend and this provided another opportunity for friends to meet. In the 50’s and 60’s as teenagers we enjoyed freedom and independence, and within family guidelines were able to safely go anywhere and do almost anything we wanted.

Christmas jobs were also popular and stores such as Myer employed many girls from St Aloysius from early December. I sold handkerchiefs one Christmas and Helena Rubenstein make-up another year. We were the ‘Ladies in Black’!

After leaving school I worked in the State Savings Bank, Merlynston Branch for a year then decided to enter the Sisters of Mercy. After the Novitiate and further study I commenced teaching and was involved in schools until the end of 2008. I taught in Camperdown, Kangaroo Flat, Seymour and Terang before commencing many years as Principal at Catholic Regional College St Albans, St Mary’s College Seymour, Catholic College Bendigo and St Joseph’s College Mildura.

In 2009 I was appointed Assistant Director responsible for Administration & Finance at Mercy International Centre, Lower Baggot Street, Dublin. I returned to Australia at the end of 2015 after six wonderful years at the heart of Mercy, the original convent that Catherine McAuley had built and commenced her work. Since returning I have been a Director on the Board of Mercy Education Limited and therefore am enjoying contact with schools again. As a student at St Aloysuis College

Women of Impact

Maria Ruberto

This year I celebrate 23 years in my vocation as a psychologist, and as an alumni of St. Aloysius College, the Mercy Cross has always been at the centre of my work.

During my university studies I began working part-time at RMIT Student Services, with students who sought to find solace in someone who would listen. It was from those very early years that I could see young people had a lot to say about who they were, what they believed and how they would like to be treated.

I was then fortunate enough to enter the Catholic Education system working under the Brothers of the Sacred Heart where Brother Bouchard and Brother Mark led the school through strong Christian values as I continued to learn through their compassion toward disenfranchised families. We unloaded food trucks, ran early morning breakfast clubs, loaded up the washing machines and hung uniforms on the lines to dry. We drove families to court, to mediation, to hospital appointments and to alternative homes when their own was unsafe.

My work was briefly interrupted by marriage and children, and I found myself curious about broader perspectives and began working under a Programs Initiative with the state government schools. An initial contract of one year, lasted ten. My love of developing and implementing group training was born of my drive to help make people’s lives better, by influencing more than one person at a time. I then realised that training young people was not enough and that if education was to improve, we needed to train the educators in the very same concepts. I was then offered a state-wide position to lead a departmental initiative called It’s Not OK to Be Away. Under this banner I was able to investigate anxiety in schools deeply, unpack its elements and create training to educate teachers on how to manage these symptoms in the classroom. The joy was immense but the connection to people was profound.

I then followed my clinical work to the Royal Children’s Hospital Mental Health Unit. I spent four years in their program development and training unit, as a reachout service to schools who were supporting young people with mental illness.

My passion drove my work into private practice. I have been so blessed to share the lives of clients in my clinical work. They all come in exasperated and hurt, but have the courage to create the hope required to lead a life of wellness. I believe that information enables people to make better decisions, so I kept talking. I was then asked to join the creative writing project for Beyond Blue within their schools initiative SenseAbility program that is continues to be offered free to every school in Australia. I also had the privilege of working with reachout.com creating online webcasts and curriculum for Classroom Wellbeing which again remains free and accessible to all schools across Australia.

My pathway, however, would not have been possible if not for the networking of colleagues and professionals I have had in my life. To those people who shared my values, were compassionate and held integrity in making a difference to the lives of others. These people were my change agents and taught me that collectively great things can happen. They were right.

Today my work is strongly aligned to the development of mental fitness and emotional health where my organisation delivers training through many forms of education including Mental Health First Aid, Neural Resilience, GENOS Emotional Intelligence, Eating Disorders and as a certified member of the International Association of Applied Neuroscience.

My current purpose is to lift women’s voices, help protect their rights and allow their strengths to be acknowledged rightfully and without prejudice. To have women know that they are vital to fabric of our society.

Class of 2017 Alumni Event

On 13th September the College hosted a reunion for the Class of 2017. Mary Farah, Theresa Daunt, Michael Chesser and Jodie McLeod all welcomed quite a large group of girls who had lots of stories to share about the last 12 months since their graduation.

They all happily chatted about the courses they are currently studying and how much they are enjoying the difference of University life. It is wonderful to see students from the College pursing courses in a variety of subjects such as Nursing, Commerce, Design, Media & Communications, Osteopathy, Primary Education, Arts, Bio Medicine & Film & Television. It is a reminder that the College helps prepare the students to select a course that fulfils their desire and utilises their potential.

They agreed to come back again to the next gathering and revisit the College, a place that still held so many wonderful memories for them.

Rose Parente

Alumni Co Ordinator