St Mary's Women by St Mary's Anglican Girls' School

ST MARY’S WOMEN

CELEBRATING

THE DIVERSITY OF OUR GRADUATES One of the privileges of being involved in education is observing the transition of our students from childhood to adolescence to womanhood; from uncertainty to certainty; from being led to being decision-makers and leaders; from feeling a passion to living that passion. We at St Mary’s are immensely proud of our Old Girls, their successful and often influential careers, the ground-breaking paths they have trod, the risks they have taken, the contributions they have made to society and the inspiration they provide to future generations of Old Girls.

We at St Mary’s are immensely proud of our Old Girls.

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In this, our first publication of St Mary’s Women, we highlight the careers of just some of the exceptional Old Girls who have graduated from St Mary’s since 1997. Theirs are compelling and inspirational stories. We look forward to future similar publications which further illustrate the diversity of our Old Girls. The one thing that links them, however, is the years they have spent exploring ideas, developing as people and enjoying the experience that form a St Mary’s education.

Lynne Thomson Principal

JESSICA GETHIN (WALKER ’97)

CONDUCTOR AND PROFESSIONAL MUSICIAN

By the age of ten I decided all I wanted to do was become a professional musician. I started life at St Mary’s relatively late, joining the school as a Year 10 student. I remember being overwhelmed in my first week by the huge number of opportunities offered. A combination of passionate staff with the best facilities and an established extra-curricular programme allowed the school to cater for each student’s individual strength, mine being music. I remember being very proud taking on the inaugural role of Year 12 Music Prefect (formerly school Music Captain), a position I enjoyed seeing my sister, Sophie, also a professional musician, take on four years later. Orchestral conducting is one of the most misunderstood art forms. While the musicians already have the notes, pitches and rhythms notated on the music, unifying the interpretation of seventy musicians and inspiring them beyond their limits is what really creates magic. As a conductor it’s not about showing what to play as much as how to play it. Imagine a fine artist using red paint; the colour red has so many variables in shade, texture, hue, intensity, opacity, direction, flow and volume; these are all options I see with different phrases of music.

It takes many years of study to attain the skills of communicating all these factors non-verbally through a universal sign language, as well as having a solid understanding of the techniques associated with each instrument and the history of all the composers. I’ve often had my role compared to one of a football coach, where only 10% is actually done on the day! I’ve been fortunate enough to travel the world with my work, and love the immense pressure of being in the recording studio one day and on stage performing the next. Working with major international artists from a diverse range of musical genres has been exciting, challenging and rewarding. As Chief Conductor of the Perth Symphony Orchestra I am passionate about fostering a new image of classical music in our community, making it approachable and accessible, believing music should be experienced and not just heard. Being one of very few female Australian conductors in the country means I am in a minority in this industry, a factor which I have chosen to feel inspired by instead of challenged. St Mary’s helped me to gain confidence, teaching me that anything and everything is possible.

Working with major international artists from a diverse range of musical genres has been exciting, challenging and rewarding.

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KYLIE GILES (WHEELER ’97)

OLYMPIC HEPTATHLETE

My mother used to say that school days are golden days and she was right. I am forever grateful for my mum’s wisdom and for her giving me the opportunity to spend eleven years at St Mary’s. Some might say I wouldn’t know any different, but you do always know when you’ve got a good thing.

I was encouraged in and received a well-rounded education, for which I am grateful, as now, in my post-athletic days, I have a number of options to pursue.

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The opportunities and support I received were vast, encouraging me to always give everything a go and nurture my potential. While I had a natural tendency towards Maths and Science (and I was lucky enough to have great teachers who fostered that tendency), my English teachers never gave up on me and pulled me through. My sporting career hit its straps in post-school days, but there was no doubt the school community supported my athletic endeavours in their infancy. I was encouraged in and received a

well-rounded education, for which I am grateful, as now, in my post-athletics days, I have a number of options to pursue. I have such amazing memories and experiences from St Mary’s that will stay with me forever and all of which have changed my life in a positive way. Memories like playing with the school band at the Sydney Opera House, immersing myself in Japanese culture on the Japan trip and receiving public speaking guidance from the Drama teacher to help prepare for my role as Head Girl, have all made their mark. The public speaking coaching came in handy again in my athletics career! Just as importantly, the friendships I forged, moulded who I am today, and I have some lifelong friends as a result. They say mums are always right. St Mary’s days were definitely golden days.

ASHLEIGH GILLON (’98)

JOURNALIST

My early school reports refer to a shy, quiet girl afraid to speak up in class. Now, my job involves speaking up to thousands of viewers and interviewing powerful people on a daily basis. The change happened in Year 7 at St Mary’s when I was encouraged to enter a public speaking competition. Doing well in that gave me a much needed confidence boost and by the end of that year I was MC at the Junior School Speech Night, a very big deal at the time.

Now, as a political correspondent for Sky News, I’m still learning. One day I’ll be focusing on industrial relations, the next on foreign policy, or the latest scandal to engulf an embattled politician. As a member of Canberra’s press gallery, I’ve followed Prime Ministers around the country during election campaigns and around the world. I’ve reported from a climate change conference in Indonesia, the UN in New York and the State Department in Washington. As the host of a daily political programme I’ve interviewed almost every senior politician in this country and foreign dignitaries such as the US Defence Secretary and former British PM Tony Blair. Now back in Perth, I anchor four hours of live rolling news a day, presenting what is the first national bulletin ever to be hosted out of WA.

My confidence grew in Senior School, through debating, drama, music and sporting endeavours. English literature and media classes opened my eyes to the world of journalism. With the encouragement of an enthusiastic teacher, producing documentaries became a keen interest and led to success in amateur film awards. Participation in UN Youth dialogues and St Mary’s encourages girls to believe that with hard running the school’s World Vision chapter created an work, they can achieve whatever they set their mind eagerness to learn more about the world. to. Being instilled with the confidence to try is a valuable gift I’ve carried with me throughout my career.

St Mary’s encourages girls to believe that with hard work, they can achieve whatever they set their mind to.

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PILAR MATA DUPONT (’98)

ARTIST

After many years of hard work and very little pay, I now work as a full-time artist and performer.

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One of my best memories of St Mary’s was being Wardle Drama Captain and writing and directing a short musical play for the school in my final year, an immense task for a sixteen year old, and one very much supported by the staff at St Mary’s. I was heavily involved in drama and art throughout my time at St Mary’s, which led to me completing a BA in Fine Arts at Curtin University and a Certificate of Music Theatre at WAAPA after graduation.

the Ellington Jazz Club. My practice spans film production and direction, photography, performance and production design. I even co-produced and designed an original full-length musical entitled Heart of Gold in 2009 and am Co-Artistic Director of interdisciplinary theatre group, Hold Your Horses. I am now heading to Europe to continue my adventures with residencies and exhibitions in Berlin, Amsterdam and Helsinki.

After many years of hard work and very little pay, I now work as a full-time artist and performer, having exhibited my work in galleries such as Centre Pompidou, Paris, the Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane and the Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney, and in festivals such as the 17th Biennale of Sydney, Art Basel, Miami, and in art/film festivals in the UK and Chile. I have also performed throughout Perth at venues such as His Majesty’s Theatre and

Looking back, I can see the confidence I had in exploring whatever I wished to do, and the courage to accept the risks in the field I have ended up in, were in part influenced by the years I spent at St Mary’s.

JONTÉ PIKE (’07)

FASHION DESIGNER

St Mary’s offered me a fundamental educational platform that in many ways shaped and developed my dream career of joining the competitive fashion industry. At a very young age I knew I wanted to pursue a career in fashion. I was involved in many school activities, from drama, sport, camping, debating, scuba diving, wearable art and exhibitions. My world was opened to numerous new experiences and I was able to learn much about others and myself. The variety of subjects and extra-curricular activities offered by St Mary’s made it easy to work towards gaining and developing knowledge and experience in the design field. I recall with fondness my student days and loved attending sewing classes where I could design and construct beautiful ladies wear, art classes that covered textile options and, of course, the exciting creative wearable art fashion shows that encouraged fantasy creations. As a student of St Mary’s I was encouraged to showcase my talents in various competitions. In 2007 I was awarded the Designer of Year in the APEX Australia Teenage Fashion Awards.

I continued my studies at Polytechnic West where I received a textile scholarship to visit Japan. Receiving the award and title in 2010 as Western Australia’s Vocational Student of the Year and Australian Vocational Runner Up Student was an honour. These awards geared me towards setting up my own fashion business with self-titled label Jonté. The last two years have seen the Jonté label showcasing at Perth Fashion Festival, Perth Fashion Week, Melbourne Fashion Aid, and Sunshine Coast Fashion Week. I am now concentrating on manufacturing and entering into boutiques across Australia. Jumping straight into setting up my own business in fashion needed a lot of dedication, resilience, passion and open-mindedness, which are all qualities I had developed through my time at St Mary’s.

The last two years have seen the Jonté label showcasing at Perth Fashion Festival, Perth Fashion Week, Melbourne Fashion Aid, and Sunshine Coast Fashion Week.

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EMILY PLANK (’02)

SMALL BUSINESS OWNER AND LINGUIST

Running my own busines has taught me a lot of things - namely in terms of accounting, marketing and networking - and I enjoy the independence that comes with being my own boss.

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I spent seven years at St Mary’s, starting in Year 6 in 1996, and I can safely say that the skills and education I gained from the school have helped me in my adult life. There was always a great emphasis placed on social interaction and extra-curricular activities, and over the years I was part of bands, choirs, debating teams and sports teams. My main love, however, was always languages, and I studied both French and German right through to Year 12. The assistance and encouragement I received from all my teachers, especially those in the languages department, contributed to my passion for this field, and I continue to be in contact with them even today, ten years on. Upon leaving St Mary’s, I completed a Bachelor of Arts at UWA, majoring in French and German. I also spent several months living in Valencia, Spain, where I attended an intensive Spanish language school and taught English. After graduating from UWA in 2006, I completed a Certificate in Translation, and began

running my own freelance business, E-Translations, translating various genres of documents from French, German and Spanish into English for clients around the world. Many of my translations have been published in tourist guides, history books, cookery books and websites. Running my own business has taught me a lot of things - namely in terms of accounting, marketing and networking - and I enjoy the independence that comes with being my own boss. Translation demands discipline, motivation, a high degree of accuracy, and an understanding and appreciation of foreign cultures – all of which were promoted and nurtured at St Mary’s. There is no doubt in my mind that the school played a major role in my career path, and I have nothing but fond memories of the people I met and experiences I gained during my time there.

NICOLE STAMP (’98)

CARDIOTHORACIC SURGEON

I remember, just prior to starting Year 7 at St Mary’s, I was reading the prospectus and I’m sure my little eyes were falling out of my head. Swimming pools, gymnastics, music, drama, tennis courts and the list went on. I could not believe the number of opportunities that St Mary’s offered – after all this was supposed to be school, not a place for fun and frivolity. As an adult, I can wholeheartedly say that the opportunities to ‘have a go’ and experience different things were the best part about being a student at St Mary’s. I think I tried just about anything I could at school and it has made me a very well rounded person, always willing to try my hand at new adventures and opportunities.

keen on a career in surgery. I just loved being ‘hands on’, with the opportunity to make a real difference to someone’s life. Following graduation, I commenced post-graduate basic surgical training through the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons. In 2009, I gained one of three places in Australia and New Zealand in cardiothoracic surgery surgical training. There are only nine female cardiothoracic surgeons in Australia so I feel pretty special to be amongst this small group. I’m focussing on a career in heart and lung transplantation, continuing my training around Australia and even overseas. My job is so special – I feel very privileged to share people’s pivotal life moments, both good and bad.

After leaving St Mary’s, I studied medicine at the University of Western Australia. I graduated with a Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery with Honours. During my time at university, I was always

I am grateful for the strong start in life my parents were so wise to give me. I hope to be able to repay the favour to my own children one day.

I think I tried just about anything I could at school and it has made me a very well rounded person, always willing to try my hand at new adventures and opportunities.

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ALISON STEER (’00)

ENGINEER

I remember my time at St Mary’s as being very busy. I was involved in lots of extra-curricular activities including sport and music, but in particular I spent a lot of time debating. Critical analysis and public speaking are two skills that are very important, no matter where your life may lead. At school I enjoyed Maths, Physics and Chemistry, so I went on to study Science and Engineering at the University of Western Australia. At the completion of my degrees, I joined Woodside Energy as a graduate instrument engineer.

One of the lasting impacts of my time at St Mary’s is the wonderful friends I made.

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Being an engineer in the oil and gas industry has led to a wide range of experiences including flying via helicopter to work on offshore platforms in the North-West of WA, commissioning control systems for multi-million dollar pieces of rotating equipment,

attending training courses in Europe and working with the loading of giant LNG ships which carry gas to Japan and China. For the last four years I have worked at the Karratha Gas Plant and I am currently the Instrument Engineer for the Domgas section. Since this section of the plant supplies around 60% of Western Australia’s domestic and industrial gas needs, it is very important that we have reliable production and this is a large focus of my work. Every day brings different challenges, but this also makes my job both interesting and rewarding. One of the lasting impacts of my time at St Mary’s is the wonderful friends I made. Even though we have spread across Australia (and the globe), we are still close and love to reminisce about our time at school.

RACHAEL YOUNG (’00)

LAWYER

As a member of the Class of 2000, I shared the excitement of a new millennium with my fellow classmates, eager to see what the future would bring and what we could get from and give to it. St Mary’s gave me a strong sense of self-worth, optimism about the power of good education and many lasting friendships which would prove to be a strong source of support and inspiration.

I joined the State Solicitor’s Office, where I qualified as a lawyer, and I have practiced in public law for the last 5 years. The ability to debate the interpretation of the law, learn advocacy techniques on my feet while in court, and contribute a little to the rule of law have been so fulfilling, both professionally and personally. Desirous of furthering my knowledge in public law, in 2011 I attended New York University to attain my Masters of Law in International Legal Studies. After graduating, I travelled to South Africa for the World Schools’ Debating Championships and my time I was admitted as a Transitional Justice Scholar, debating in our host Soweto high schools opened my focusing my studies on the role of law in post-conflict eyes to the privileged life and education I had enjoyed societies. I was lucky enough to be granted the New York University International Law and Human Rights for the past five years. I tried not to forget this when Fellowship which funded me to intern with the I attended the University of Western Australia, Office of the Co-Prosecutors at the United Nations completing my Bachelor of Arts with Honours in Assistance to the Khmer Rouge Trials in Phnom Penh, Political Science and International Relations and my Cambodia. There I put the theories of transitional Bachelor of Laws with Honours, graduating in 2006. A highlight of my time at university was being able to justice into practice and examined how the law operates in a mixed national and international system travel to New Delhi, India, to research domestic and in the aftermath of the mass human rights atrocities international human rights issues at the South Asia that occurred in the 1970s in that wonderful country. Human Rights Documentation Centre. In particular I studied the use of police powers in censorship and I always look forward to seeing the many friends grew a greater appreciation for my ability at home to I gained at St Mary’s and to hear and share our be able to speak my mind and debate ideas without many stories as we work and travel in Perth, around fear of retribution. This appreciation directed my Australia and the world. interests for the years after my time at UWA. In 2007,

St Mary’s gave me a strong sense of self-worth, optimism about the power of good education and many lasting friendships which would prove to be a strong source of support and inspiration.

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