BOOMAL ACK A | 21
Charles (2003), Eva (2010), James (Eva’s partner), Dash (Charles’ wife), Shantini, David and Peter (2005) taken at Icebergs at Bondi, NSW, January 2019.
CHAIR OF THE BOARD DR SHANTINI DEUTSCHER “Mum, I think I know why sea water levels are rising,” Peter stated one day as a preschooler. I was intrigued as to what his answer might be. “It’s because of all the shipwrecks over the years,” he stated nonchalantly as he stepped into his bath, displacing water as Archimedes might have done in the third century BC. He didn’t then cry “Eureka!” but to us as parents it illustrated what we instinctively know about children, that they are born with intense curiosity in the world around them, and given the opportunity, they start joining dots in interconnected ways to make sense of that world. As a family, we experienced the joy of belonging to and partnering with Ballarat and Queen’s Anglican Grammar School to provide a solid foundation for our three children to explore their very different yet similar paths, true to the values and faith we share. I asked each of them what their thoughts were on this subject. Charles works as a policy adviser for the International Committee of the Red Cross in Geneva, where a global perspective and fluency in French are indispensable. Looking back on his training as a commercial lawyer,
his Masters from Oxford and Red Cross service in Uganda, Afghanistan and Myanmar, he can see the inspiration of Round Square IDEALS in his career trajectory. Even though his Round Square exchange experience did not work out, the support he received at Grammar to attend a Round Square conference and a service project in Kenya, as well as all-important mentoring by significant teachers and his language studies, were pivotal in his development and subsequent career choice. Peter, with his insatiable curiosity, always asking why, was riveted by one of his teacher’s humorous use of “cats in motion” to illustrate physics’ principles. Many teachers fostered his love of learning, proposing and supporting his applications to summer schools in mathematics and science. He left Grammar with the academic confidence to persist with hard questions. This solid foundation informed his varied career paths in science and engineering, Teach for Australia in disadvantaged schools and Masters at Harvard, preparing him to serve in the infrastructure team at the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet.
Bina Day totally captivated Eva in the joy of service using her creativity. Mandarin studies, as well as cultural and language school trips to China have been invaluable in communicating with patients as a resident at the Royal Melbourne Hospital, providing practical experience to the idea of multicultural Australia. The engaging science teaching at Grammar along with her Round Square Kenya project cemented in Eva a desire to help people through medicine. She credits the teachers who went the extra mile to nurture her at lunchtime and after school as models of what it is to serve, inspiring her to do likewise with her patients. There is no doubt that many parents will have their own stories relating to their children’s journeys after Grammar. Whilst each of our children’s paths are varied and despite experiencing ups and downs, it has been Grammar’s values of faith, service and hard work, combined with their teachers’ dedication during their crucial developmental years that has inspired their understanding of our place in the world, our interconnectedness and the pursuit of lives with meaning and purpose.
