From The Careers Team

Fly, Lucas, Fly: My time at the Royal Australia Air Force

I was recently privileged enough to be selected as one of the 18 accepted students to attend the Air Force Familiarisation Work Experience at the Richmond Air Base. From the start, it was evident that I would not only learn so much from the program, but also have one of the most memorable experiences of my school life throughout the few days I was there.

Waking up at 4am to travel a three-hour commute is a memory that I will hold with a laugh, powering through three trains and a very long bus ride to arrive at the Air Base on time. Yet, my excitement made it seem much quicker than it truly was. However, my efforts seem extremely small when I met people who had to relocate for the week from other remote parts of NSW or came from Melbourne just to accept this opportunity. 

On the first day, I was able to interact with peers and students who I could truly have a connection with, and our bond as a group only grew as the days went on. Every single one of us were introduced to different customs and rules that we had to follow, which reflected on bad habits when it came to formality. When I still talk to the other members of the group now, we still laugh at the amount of push-ups we were required to do for every time we crossed our arms or put our hands in our pockets. 

The program itself, was an unforgettable experience. I was able to ask experienced people about their personal career journey and learn what decisions they made to become successful. Everyone who I interacted with were so honest and transparent, and I could not appreciate their help more. My two supervisors, Sergeant Gerard Harkins and Flight Sergeant Mark Werner were so accommodating and easily helped created a sense of community within my peers. Other than using simulators, doing team-building exercises, and trying cool equipment, my favourite part of the experience was seeing a F-35A Lightning II take off in person. It became the topic of discussion between my friends and I, for the rest of the trip.

I had the best time, and my happiness was clearly shared among everyone once it ended.

I wanted to thank the Careers team for this opportunity. For my other work placements, they have helped me with unfamiliar forms and contacted the correct people when I wasn’t sure how to. Whether it is the Careers Team helping me in person or posting a constant stream of possible work placements online in Google Classroom, it feels like they never stop trying for the students here at Cecil Hills High School. Speaking to other students from other schools, it truly feels like we have the best careers advisor. There has never been a day where I have seen them do less than the absolute most, so to say that I am grateful would be an understatement. Thank you. 

Lucas Kim

Year 11 

Destinations Unlimited

On 30 May 2024, Year 10 students participated in the Fast Forward program at Western Sydney University's Campbelltown campus. Eighteen students attended the university under the theme 'Destinations Unlimited.' Students participated in two workshops where they identified their interests and mapped potential career pathways by exploring different industries and post-school options.

They also had the opportunity to become familiar with the Western Sydney campus by visiting key stations and completing challenges related to various industries. This experience provided students with a clear idea of their future subject selections and career choices. The aim was to engage students with different industries and post-school options.

Students were able to discuss and interact with staff from Western Sydney University and enjoyed the entire experience. We highly encourage our Year 9 and Year 10 students to participate in this program in 2025.

Mrs Naim

Senior Improvement Program Coordinator

Daniel Silmi Experiences UNSW

Daniel's email to Mrs Reid of his first day at work experience:  

"I thought I would just inform you about how my first day was at UNSW. 

I woke up at 6 am, went to the train station, and got to Central by 8:30 am. It took me 30 minutes to find platform one. Then we were marked down and headed to our coaches (30 people for each group) I made friends with 2 people which by the end of the day turned into more than half the group. Everyone was very nice including Tricia the manager and it was great. 

Today we went to Sydney Water, and we looked at desalination and dam processes and how water is treated I learned so much about how ocean water can become drinking water! 

We then drove back to campus (a 40-minute drive) and got there by 1 pm and we had a lunch break. The campus was beautiful, and everything looked great. I found out that many of my friends have come from far distances such as Coffs Harbour and even northern Queensland I think one even came from New Zealand, and I'm not sure. 

After the break, we went into the beautiful and modern labs where we conducted a couple of experiments about the smell, look and filtration of water and what materials best filter water which was great fun. After that, we went to the computer labs to write our 1-page reports which were very fun, and I wrote everything I learnt. 

By the time we finished, it was 4 pm and we could leave (I arrived home at 6 pm). I had to use light rail, train bus and car. Also, they gave us a UNSW bag and a Sydney water bottle. 

Thanks for this once-in-a-lifetime experience and am looking forward to tomorrow! Can't wait to see what's next".

Daniel Silmi

Year 10

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