Mt A Marvel

Sophie - Year 12 

Congratulations to Sophie for securing a work experience opportunity with GOMA and spending a week shadowing the head curator! We’re incredibly proud of her for taking this bold step. A big thank you to the GOMA team for offering this fantastic opportunity to one of our Mount Alvernia students! 

From Sophie: 

Recently, during the Term 2 holiday break I underwent an experience week in the Brisbane City Art Galleries, GOMA (Gallery of Modern Arts) and QAG (Queensland Art Gallery) respectively. 

I was lucky enough to secure this opportunity after I emailed an attendee and panellist from the 2024 Careers day, Ms Samantha Littley, who is the Curator of Australian art. When Careers day came to a close, I approached Ms Littley only to chat briefly about the arts and my appreciation for her appearance on the day, and after a week, I decided to write an email to the Curator to see if the Galleries offered experience weeks for students.

After an embarrassing amount of time spent dreading sending the email, I bit the bullet and sent away my inquisition.

And to my surprise, Ms Littley responded!During my experience, I shadowed Ms Littley and learnt about her position in the gallery, while also spending time across the hundreds of other different positions in the gallery I never considered existed! Exhibition design, Art Restoration, Artwork Archival (which was like spending a day in a candy store!), Marketing, Education, Outreach and much more! 

I helped out with official Gallery writing, like drafting an Artist Biography, Organising education resources for students in regional Queensland to use, and even assisting in their Art and Dementia program! 

This experience was life-changing. Simply getting the chance to thrive in an environment with like-minded people, with work that aligned with my values and love of outreach was wonderful.

Thanks to this experience, I’ve been able to successfully ‘get my foot in the door’ to a career I’ve dreamed of working in, simply through being brave enough to get up, and ask!

For any girls who’re anxious about their future in the world or their potential career pathways after school, my advice is to reach out and ask.

Be outgoing! I know we’re told this all the time, but it makes all the difference in pursuing what you’re passionate about. 

Make connections within the industry, and stay enthusiastic, persistent, and most importantly, yourself.

Izzy - Year 7 

After an awesome performance as Goalkeeper for Metropolitan North at the recent State Championships, Year 7 student Isobel is now set to represent Queensland at the School Sport Australia Championships in Perth in October! Izzy is really excited for this amazing opportunity. And we are too! Go Izzy!

Saoirise - Year 7

Congratulations to Saoirse who recently competed at the School Sport Australia National Swimming Championships on the Gold Coast. Saoirse made the finals and finished 5th in Australia in the 50m Backstroke. This was also her personal best time. We are MTA proud!