From the 2006 School Captains

2006 was the year that John Howard was Prime Minister, the Commonwealth Games were held in Melbourne, Steve Irwin was featured in the news, "I wish I was a punk rocker" was number one in the music charts, and Sam Fricker and Sally Walters were Girton School Captains.

It was most excellent to reach out to former School Captains, Sam Fricker and Sally Walters to see what career path and personal journey they have taken since leaving Girton.  It was no surprise to hear that these high achievers have taken off in their professional and personal lives.

Here's what they had to say...

Sam Fricker (School Captain, Aherne 2006)

Occupation: Operations & Marketing Manager, Gibson’s Auctions

Qualification: Bachelor (Hons.) Industrial Design, Monash University

Did you think you would end up where you are now?  Why or why not?

I never thought I would end up where I am…I originally studied Arts, which I thoroughly enjoyed, but I was desperate to do Industrial Design, so I transferred after first year once I was at Monash. Monash is very well regarded for its Industrial Design course and so I thought this would be best for me – it certainly wasn’t. I had a lot of struggle finishing my Industrial Design degree and it put me under a lot of stress. It turns out I should have remained in Arts, where I later discovered my passions really were. Industrial Design taught me that although I loved the theory and process, I was not meant to be a practitioner myself, as such. 

After university, I was a bit unsure of what to do or where to go as I did not want to be a designer. I started at a well-regarded auction house and was later promoted multiple times to become the department manager, where I was sent around Australia co-ordinating and cataloguing important fine art and decorative arts collections which would then be highly publicised and marketed, leading to sell-out sales. 

A highlight was being involved in a sale where we set multiple auction records including selling the sixth highest value painting in Australia, an artist record and the most expensive artwork to be sold in South Australia at $3.3 million. When the business closed about five years later, I took a position in marketing and advertising for another three years where I was later approached to undertake my current position. 

What was it that appealed to you most about undertaking this type of work?

I love being amongst art. I love hearing and learning the stories, histories and meanings of paintings, artworks and other items. I also thoroughly enjoy learning and understanding the commercial side of the industry.

Best bits of the job?

Seeing, handling and learning more about great works of art as well as writing essays to accompany the sale of works of art.

What do you find most challenging in your role?

This industry can be extremely busy and sometimes time management and finding a good work/life balance can be difficult.  There can be weekend and out of hours work as well.

Any advice for others wanting to break into the industry?

Use your contacts – don’t be afraid to talk to people and use all of your networks. Speak to anyone else you can in the industry! If you have a genuine interest, you’ll find your way there.

What life skills did Girton provide you with which you still use today?

Girton definitely helped me to build confidence in myself through all the opportunities of public speaking that came our way. 

What are some of your strongest memories of Girton (good or bad)?

• Of course all the long-time friends I have made - I am still close with particular people to this day. All of the other people from school, those from other years or those from my own year that I have lost touch with, I know it would be so easy to re-connect on a mutual level with them. 
• I always enjoyed all of the inter-House competitions, whether it was athletics, swimming or inter-House singing. Cross country, not so much…
• I loved playing hockey with the team, although looking back on it, I don’t know if I was ever that good at it!
• I was in the school production of West Side Story in my final year, and I always remember that with fond memories – it was great fun and I got to become closer friends with a lot of the other students involved.
• Starting the Leukaemia Foundation’s Shave for a Cure a few years in a row, which I think continued for a few years after I finished.  My mother wasn’t happy I was razor bald in my Year 12 pictures. 

Who was your most influential teacher and why?

There are a lot of teachers that were influential and memorable for many reasons although I would have to say that I think Mr Jones would be the most influential. When I was younger at school, I was always a bit fearful of him as Headmaster, simply because he was the Headmaster. As I grew older and eventually after finishing school, I understood that he was an excellent and dedicated man, working hard for the benefit of all the students and the school itself. 

What other life changes have you experienced since leaving Girton? 

• I’ve lived overseas in a few different countries and travelled to a lot of others (when we were allowed!) including Europe, Asia and the Middle East.
• My parents moved from Bendigo once I finished school, so I have only been back a handful of times since, for friends weddings and fun weekends away. 
• Currently living in Melbourne, with my partner Hugh and our two silly little dogs, Gertie and Earl. 

Can you share with us something your fellow alumni may not know about you since leaving school? 

Have been a Bulldogs supporter through and through since moving to Victoria in 1998. My dad said to me, ‘Right, we’re Victorians now, so that means you have to choose a footy team’. He took me to Toyworld in the Mall and I chose the Bulldogs because simply because I liked their colours…and have been an avid fan ever since!

Sally Walters (School Captain, Frew 2006)

Occupation: Project Manager / Engineer

Qualification: Bachelor Chemical Engineering and Bachelor Science (Pharmacology) from the University of Melbourne and a Graduate Certificate in Business from the University of Western Australia

Sally is a project manager and chemical engineer with extensive international experience in the energy industry. Sally has diverse experience across engineering and project delivery, industrial site work and in corporate finance. Sally currently works as a project manager at Viva Energy’s Refinery in Geelong, managing a key project for refinery modernisation. She has most recently worked in Investor Relations and led the development of her ASX100 company’s Annual Report and financial reporting material.

Did you think you would end up where you are now?  Why or why not?

To be honest, I don’t really feel like I have “ended up” anywhere yet. I still feel like I have a lot ahead of me, but in saying that my life has definitely been filled with more adventure than I would have imagined for myself at 18.

When I applied to study engineering I didn’t really know what engineers do (to be fair, my mum and dad still don’t know) so I had no idea what university would be like or what my career might look like.

My course was a 5-year degree so I had time to make the most of my university experience. I lived at Ormond College on campus for three years, played netball for Melbourne Uni and spent a semester on exchange at McGill University in Montreal. 

After graduating I started my graduate job as a chemical engineer at Worley (formerly WorleyParsons), an engineering and project delivery services provider for the energy, chemicals and resources sectors.

I’m coming up on 10 years with Worley which I suppose these days is pretty unusual, but the nature of the work means that my projects and assignments have been so varied it doesn’t feel like one job. 

I’ve worked out of our Melbourne, Brisbane and Geelong offices, worked on-site at Port Campbell for a period and then was lucky enough to have an opportunity to relocate to Perth where I stayed for two years. I feel like Perth is Australia’s best-kept secret. I really loved it there; the weather was always good, the lifestyle was so relaxed, and I lived a 15-minute walk from Cottesloe beach. Weekends were spent hopping from one beach to another, riding bikes between snorkelling spots on Rottnest Island or visiting wineries down south in Margaret River.  I really enjoyed my role coordinating construction campaigns for an offshore platform, and I really only left when an opportunity in London popped up which had been a dream for some time at that point. 

Three weeks after I interviewed I moved to London and I spent a very happy two years making the most of the opportunity to travel throughout the region and enjoying all that the London lifestyle had to offer. Incredibly, we worked a 9-day fortnight in the UK so every second Thursday I headed straight to Gatwick Airport to wherever I was travelling to that weekend. I did my best to make the most of my time in the UK and Europe. A couple of highlights were a four-week trip through Scotland, Iceland and Ireland with my sister Jen, seeing the pyramids and the Valley of the Kings in Egypt, attending a garden party hosted by the Queen at Buckingham Palace and celebrating my 30th birthday with some amazing friends at Oktoberfest.

Since coming back to Melbourne, I’ve been seconded into ExxonMobil supporting two of their offshore platforms in Gippsland and then worked in Worley’s global finance team in Investor Relations. I was responsible for delivering our Annual Report, financial results presentations and strategy days for something completely different. These days I am a Project Manager supporting the Viva Refinery in Geelong, albeit recently from my home in Northcote. 

What was it that appealed to you most about undertaking this type of work?

I chose to study engineering and science because I always liked maths and science, but really what I like is solving problems. I’m a project manager now more so than a technical engineer which I like because I get to work more closely with our customers and other engineering disciplines to see the whole picture of what we’re trying to achieve. 

I knew working at a consulting company would offer a broad range of projects and roles but I never imagined just how broad it would become. 

Best bits of the job?

I know it’s cliched to say the people, so instead, I’ll say flying to work in a helicopter.

What do you find most challenging in your role?

Probably not isolated to my industry - the hardest part of my job is getting project stakeholders aligned on what outcome we’re trying to achieve and how to best achieve that outcome. My projects generally impact most functions of an operating business and getting operations, trades, engineers, finance and management etc on the same page can be tricky.

Any advice for others wanting to break into the industry?

My general advice which is applicable for any industry:

• Never stop learning
• Say yes to new opportunities
• If you don’t think you’re ready for the next step but there is one person out there who does, then you are ready.

Looking at energy in particular, it’s a really exciting time to be part of the industry. I’ve spent most of my career working on gas-related projects or sites and I’m looking forward to playing a role in decarbonising the world’s energy systems. The scale of change required to transition how we produce electricity and fuel our cars and how we decarbonise supply chains from heavy industries like steel and fertiliser production right down to the production of everyday consumer products is enormous, and this change has to happen quickly.

What life skills did Girton provide you with which you still use today? 

I loved playing sport at school and still do. I love being part of a team and it’s true that the skills you learn when you’re young on the netball/volleyball/tennis court translate to how you interact with people as an adult when you’re studying or working.

I had a pretty busy co-curricular calendar at school which meant I had to be really organised and that set me up well for uni and in my career, and in particular planning my travel when I was overseas. Studying French was a bonus when I was travelling too.

I also learnt the importance of having an extensive highlighter collection and a good colour coding system.

What are some of your strongest memories of Girton (good or bad)?

I look back really happily on my time at Girton and I have a lot of great memories.

Most of them are just having fun with my friends: playing netball at Golden City, volleyball States and Nationals trips, iced chocolates at Café Kryptonite after school, and buying crunchas from the canteen. 

I can remember really clearly my last ever netball game for Girton in the gym at GVGS, standing on stage with Sam at the Schweppes Centre at our last Speech Night and hugging my sister under the peppercorn tree the last time we ever walked into school together on my last day of Year 12.

Who was your most influential teacher and why?

Ms Cumming and Mr Evans taught my favourite subjects (biology and maths), I thought about Mr Itter’s Classics class a lot when I was overseas (mostly about how it was wasted on me as a 17 year old), and I had the most fun in Mr Hiroshima’s Japanese class but I think actually Mr Jones influenced me the most. A lot of his stories and pieces of advice still resonate with me: treat others as you wish to be treated, Nike don’t make shoes they make money, and his disagreement with cricket commentators saying “he deserved to make a century” when a batsman lost his wicket in the 90s – the message was you don’t deserve anything, you need to always keep working hard to achieve your goals.

What other life changes have you experienced since leaving Girton? (travel, home ownership, married, family, hobbies etc)

Apart from my travel and buying my apartment in Northcote, I think most people I was friends with at school know that my family moved to Warrnambool after I finished Year 12 which was a huge change at the time. 

Can you share with us something your fellow alumni may not know about you since leaving school?  

My netball career in the University of Melbourne seconds was cruelly cut short when I did my ACL in 2015 and had to have a knee reconstruction. Since then I’ve channelled my passion into unsuspecting social teams and supporting the Melbourne Vixens.