Alumni

DOROTHY KESARIOS

Student Alumni

I had the pleasure of attending Oakleigh Grammar (or Oakleigh Greek Orthodox College in the good ol' days) from the years of 1986-1993, when I started there as a Year 5 student. Back then, the school was still in its infancy both as far as numbers of students went, but also as far as the actual size of the school - our classroom was in a little corner house a few doors up from the main site! There I was, lucky enough to be inspired by the teachers who nurtured my love of maths and reading (Mrs Korlos you were one of them!), and guided me to the path of choosing to do Medicine at the University of Melbourne. 

My first year was in 1994, and after many tough years of hitting the books, I graduated in 1999. I then completed my internship at Geelong Hospital in 2000. This was a defining year for me; I found that year very demanding, the long hours and intense responsibility of having people's lives in my hands. At many times, I thought of leaving medicine and going back to study something else. This resulted in me taking a couple of years off; I travelled to the United Kingdom and took up some well-paid locum work in psychiatry (there was a demand for psychiatric doctors back in the early 2000s) to 'think about my options'. Plus it allowed me to travel to Europe on weekends! During that time, I found my love for psychiatry. I had done an elective term as an intern in psychiatry and had found it so interesting, so different to the rest of medicine, and having that break reminded me of this. 

I returned to Melbourne in November 2002 with a renewed vigor for my career, and took up a job as a hospital medical officer at the Alfred Hospital in adult psychiatry, which started my training as a psychiatrist. I chose to specialise in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, and in September 2009, after doing a rotation at the Monash Medical Centre, I was offered a job as a Consultant Psychiatrist. This coming February will be my 10 year anniversary as a child psychiatrist! It is the most wonderfully rewarding job; yes demanding, but it is such a privilege to be allowed into someone's world, into their journey and to 'lend a hand' at their most difficult moments. I am so very glad I didn't give up on medicine, otherwise I wouldn't be where I am today. 

Apart from working as a child psychiatrist, I am also a wife, and mother to a very cheeky toddler by the name of Pantelis, who keeps me very busy! My hobbies/loves, apart from my boys, include exercise (I love going to the gym and keeping active - a healthy body absolutely helps with a healthy mind - and is my stress release), shopping, spending time with my extended family and dear friends (gold class movies are a favourite splurge!) and going to Greece to visit family (specifically, to be spoilt by my mother in law's cooking!).

I would like to leave you with a couple of things that stayed with me from my years of schooling. The first is, if you find a teacher that inspires you, tell them. Ask them lots of questions, about their experiences, what attracted them to teaching and what they see as your strengths. There were teachers I had that ended up being some of the most inspirational and interesting people I have ever come across in my life to date.  I recall one teacher in particular who saw how much I studied, but also how I struggled with missing out on the social aspects of adolescence, i.e. I didn't want to be a seen as a nerd, I wanted to be popular! She said to me, "All your hard work now is going to be a small sacrifice for how much better the future will be for you compared to everyone else around you, who are too busy trying to be popular! None of that is going to matter in a year or two so keep studying!" She was so right. 

A few years of studying hard paid off big. I now have a secure, well-paying job that allows me to follow my passion of helping people, to support my family and to travel. She also told me to not cheat when we were learning how to touch type (back in the good ol' days we learnt on typewriters with our hands covered by a sheet of paper!). Again, she said, "If you learn how to do this properly now, it'll make your life so much easier in the future".  Again she was spot on!

On the other hand though, if you find a person being negative towards you, try to not take that on. No one has the right to put you down or make you afraid. To guide you, to sometimes give you boundaries for your physical or emotional safety, sure, but not to make you feel less than what you are.

So remember, you are the decider of your destiny. Pick the people you want to inspire you, and hold on to that. Everyone has a talent, find it, make it your passion and the world will be your oyster! Not everyone is going to be at good at getting high grades at school, and that's totally okay. Just do the absolute best YOU can do so then you have as many options open to you as possible. That's the key.

Best of luck, and study hard!