NOW & THEN
skool DAZE Suzanna Costello Where did you go to school? Somerset College, Class of 2003 Favourite subject? Drama/Theatre Arts Favourite teacher? Mrs Priest, my pastoral care teacher. She was more like a school mum. Did you get any awards? I got the International Baccalaureate Award for Theatre Arts Higher Level. My classmates voted me “most likely to become a roadie.” It’s been almost 18 years and I am still not sure what to do with that. Sports or academic? Neither, Arts. Did you love school and why? I adored school. Not just the education process, but my actual school. I was fortunate enough to have a wonderful group of friends, who are still my closest friends to this day and most of our children are now at Somerset College together. Somerset was a very high achieving school which supported me to step up my game, they started me on a lifelong pursuit of achievement and education. Best friend? Can I be greedy and have a few? Cara Tamandl, Ashley Phillips (nee, Harrison) Amanda Appel (nee, Freeman) and Anya Robbie. What did you want to be when you left school? My first degree was a Bachelor of Arts (Double Theatre Major) - I had my sights set on the stage. Being a litigation lawyer is not that different, right? Is life how you thought it would be or better? It is certainly different. My career obviously went on a major detour into the law from being a theatre kid. The people that I met at Somerset (as a student and now as a parent) were and remain to be the reason my life is better than I thought it would be when I was 16.
Attending school and getting an education is an all-important part of shaping us for life’s journey. We asked some prominent women for their memories from their time in class during those formative years.
Olivia Scott Where Did You Attend School? I am from Sydney so Ravenswood School for Girls up to Year 9 and then my last two years were at St Ives High School for Years 10 – 12. Favourite subject? Home Science - I still can’t cook, but I love eating so that was a bonus. I can sew on a button, but that’s about it. Favourite teacher? Mr Carragher and Mr Ramsay - both Maths teachers (my worst subject) and Stan Heuston (English), we were allowed to call him “Stan”, unheard of in the 80’s. We studied ‘Hotel California’ and learnt every word to the song. We all thought he was the coolest. I’m Facebook friends with all of them. Best memory at school? I really loved school. I had some great friends and most of the teachers were pretty good. My friendship group was a mixed bag of crazy, amazing people and I’m still in touch with a lot of them. Academic or sporting achievement? I won “The Sunshine Award” at the end of Year 12 (a made-up award of course, but I didn’t care, I still was very proud). I also won a running race when I was about 8 years old, but that was a bit of a Steven Bradbury moment. I was ridiculously proud of my blue ribbon. What did you want to be when you grew up? I’ve always had a love for radio so I’m glad I followed that path, even though I detoured a few times. Is your life now what you expected it to be? Life is pretty good!!! I have great family and friends and a job I love. LAUNCH ISSUE • 2021 19
