Alumni News

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Spotlight on graduate Arshdeep Singh - Class of 2023

Our College Captain for 2023, Arshdeep Singh, was born in Talwandi Bhai, a small town in India (population approx. 17,000), and moved to Melbourne about 8 years ago. Only knowing basic English did not deter Arsh, as he improved his skills quickly on arrival and is now fluent in not only English, but three other languages (Hindi, Punjabi and Urdu).  

Arsh and his family settled in Pakenham in 2019, just before Covid occurred. According to Arshdeep, Pakenham is more like life in India, where it is slow paced, he knows his neighbours and he knows the kids on the other side of the street. Although, he says, that Pakenham is much more progressive.  Arshdeep very much enjoys living in Pakenham and thinks “the community is lovely”. 

According to Arshdeep, coming to Pakenham Secondary College was “a fresh start” for him. He has strong, productive relationships with peers, and his friends are very supportive. Being chosen as School Captain increased his social skills, he can speak one on one or to a group, and he also gained more confidence in public speaking. 

He has had a job at the local chemist since 2022, dispensing medications and everyday goods, and realised that this was an area that appealed to his “humanitarian values”. Arsh sees the chemist as being a vital role to the local community - providing essential medical advice and helping people. His career goal is to become a qualified pharmacist. 

Arshdeep excelled at both Chemistry and Mathematics in 2023, being awarded the VCE Academic Excellence Award in General Mathematics and the VCE Attitude and Effort Award in Chemistry. Chemistry relies heavily on English for report writing, and it is a credit to Arshdeep’s perseverance that he has developed such strong English skills. His Chemistry teacher, Dr Sonia Bhatia, was extremely impressed by Arsh’s hard work and dedication to his studies, mentioning that he missed out on the Academic Excellence Award for Chemistry by one percent. Dr Bhatia further commented that his “effort prior to his exams and the extreme amount of practice exams he completed was outstanding.” 

Arshdeep’s commitment to his studies culminated in being offered his university first choice - to study a Bachelor of Pharmacy (Honours) at Monash University. Arsh was also awarded a Coursework Scholarship from the university. 

The teachers and staff at Pakenham Secondary College have no doubt that Arshdeep will achieve his goals and we wish him all the best for his first year of university and beyond.

Inspirational Speeches at Whole School Assembly on 20th February

We were thrilled that two of our high achieving students of 2023, Lucy Moir and Tara Cudmore, came to speak to our students at our first Whole School Assembly of 2024. Lucy and Tara gave a glimpse into their preparation for their final year of high school to not only our current Year 12 students, but to all of our students.

Lucy will be studying a Bachelor of Criminology at Monash University (receiving a substantial scholarship to do so) and Tara, our SRC President of 2023, is about to embark on a Degree in Secondary Education, also at Monash University.

We would like to thank both Lucy and Tara for taking the time out of their busy schedule to speak to our students and we are sure their powerful words and advice will give our students the impetus to achieve greatness this year.