Kilvonian Profiles

Tom Smith

Tom Smith, Class of 2016

Q: Tell us a little bit about yourself.

A: My name is Tom and I graduated from Kilvington in 2016. I am currently completing my Bachelor of Commerce degree at the University of Melbourne and plan on pursuing a career in the finance or infrastructure sector.

Q: What year did you finish at Kilvington?

A: I started in 2013 and finished in 2016.

Q: What have you been up to since leaving Kilvington?

A: Since finishing at Kilvington, I have been predominantly focused on completing my degree. During this time, I have represented the University in overseas case competitions and ran Australia’s largest professionally-focused student organisation. I have also had the opportunity to complete multiple internships and travel throughout Canada and Europe.

Q: What is your favourite memory of Kilvington?

A: I have so many great memories from my time at school! I think my favourite would be the Wednesday afternoons when my friends and I would stick around after school and play soccer for hours before going to the gym and getting dinner together. 

Q: Any funny stories?

In hindsight my funniest story from school must be the fact we used to fight the grade fours to play on the soccer courts at lunch time. This ultimately led to the School creating separate lunch times for the senior and junior schools.

Q: Did you end up where you expected you would when you finished school?

A: Sort of, finance has always been of interest to me given it focuses on utilising capital as a source of value creation. I do believe my priorities and values have certainly consolidated since finishing school.

Q: How did your time at Kilvington prepare you for what you’re doing now?

A: Kilvington gave me an incredibly well-rounded education. I am grateful to have been taught to value both academic excellence and strength of character. At Kilvington, I was surrounded by intelligent and hardworking peers and had access to incredible teachers. It also gave me an appreciation for the grit required to achieve your goals. Most importantly, I believe Kilvington made me realise the importance of values. Whilst I think this was something, I picked up subconsciously at the time, I have come to realise that the values I adopted at Kilvington have formed the foundation of my character. For example, I believe Kilvington’s focus on cultivating a ‘growth mindset’ in students has been pivotal in my life. This alone helped spark my intellectual curiosity and allows me to approach challenges in my life with a ‘how can I learn and adapt to overcome this’ attitude as opposed to considering them a fixed constraint. 

Q: What have been some of the biggest challenges you’ve had to face to get where you are now?

A:  I have dealt with a range of setbacks and failures in the process of getting to where I am now. Ultimately, this has taught me that they are inevitable and that you can only control how you respond to them. Things often do not go to plan so being adaptable, resilient, and persevering is invaluable.

Q: What advice would you give to others who might be faced with similar obstacles?

A: I have two pieces of advice. First, keep at it. Never give up, persevere. To contradict this however, you must also question whether the goal is worth the sacrifice. Second, my greatest failures or periods of adversity have also acted as my greatest catalyst for personal growth. When you are successful in achieving a goal, you aren’t really forced to reflect and internally evaluate your approach and mindset. Failure instead forces you to be self-critical and reflect. This process allows you to evolve and overcome future challenges. 

Q: What has been your biggest highlight so far?

A: I don’t think I have one single biggest highlight so far. I have had lots of incredible experiences and achievements that are special in their own way. Some notable highlights would include hiking in Canada and Europe and competing in case competitions in Seattle.

Q: What excites you about the future?

A: Everything! I have a very broad idea about what I want to do with my career, the types of people I want to surround myself with and the type of person I want to be. Because of this I am looking forward to seeing where life takes me and enjoying every moment of it.

Q: How did what you learnt at Kilvington help make you the person you are today?

In my opinion, Kilvington provides the most well-rounded education you could possibly receive. Reflecting on Kilvington’s values and educational philosophy, I see that they mirror my own. Kilvington taught me to be disciplined in pursuit of my long-term goals, challenge my beliefs and opinions, think critically and outside the box to solve problems, be mindful and value integrity.

Q: Any advice for our current Year 12 students as they embark on the next stage of their journey?

A: “We all have two lives. The second one begins when you realise you only have one” – Confucius 

You are going to die one day, so enjoy yourself. Do something positive. Project some love. Make someone happy. Laugh a little bit. Appreciate the moment. Read widely. Pursue the things that interest you. And always challenge yourself.