What year did you graduate? 2010

What were your senior subjects at Proserpine State High School? English, Maths, Art, Graphics, Biology and Chemistry.

Favourite Proserpine State High School memory? I have some great memories from the school band. Proserpine State High School has such a great music, drama and band curricular. Also the senior ski trip to New Zealand was a highlight.

Where did life take you after you graduated? After graduation, I moved straight to Canberra to start a Bachelor of Arts in Architecture, I lived on college and met some of my closest friends including my long-term partner Brad. It has been one of my favourite parts of life so far, so much fun.

When I was 19 and in my third and final year, I moved to Izmir, Turkey for university exchange – this was my first time travelling overseas (except for the school ski trip to New Zealand… which felt far away at the time!), initially it was quite the culture shock but it didn’t take long for the Turkish people to have a very special place in my heart. I lived and studied in Turkey for 6 months and then spent 2 months travelling around Europe.

At the end of 2014 after taking some time off to work, I made the decision to move to Sydney to complete a Masters of Architecture at the University of New South Wales. I have been living, working and teaching at university in Sydney for the past 10 years, of course with more travel dotted in-between - some of the favourites would have to be Italy, Iran and Portugal. At the beginning of 2025, Brad and I made the move to Bristol, UK to live, travel and work and we recently got engaged during a campervan trip around Scotland!

What job position are you currently in? I am currently a Project Architect at an Architecture and Ecological Construction practice based in Devon, UK. The business is fairly new, therefore I’m across various parts of the practice from design, construction documentation and technical detailing, project management and research to business strategy and marketing - however this isn’t uncommon in architecture, we wear many hats. Low-carbon, sustainable and affordable design and construction is a passion of mine therefore it is so exciting to be working in a practice where this is the primary ethos.

Tell us about why you picked a career in architecture and what your study/training journey has been?

My favourite subject at school was Graphics, I particularly loved technical hand-drawing and I also worked part-time at Proserpine Newsagency and would take home all of the old Houses/House and Garden/Design magazines. I also completed a weeks work experience during Year 12 at a local practice.

My journey to becoming an architect has been a typical pathway – a three year bachelors degree (some universities do four) followed by a two year masters degree. At the beginning of my masters degree, in Sydney, I started part-time work at a medium-sized architecture practice (about 40 people) in a “student” position. Once graduating from masters, you don’t immediately have the title of “architect”, in fact it’s another minimum 2+ years gaining professional experience in the industry and passing registration exams. I was offered a full-time graduate position at the same practice and remained there for another 18 months. This practice worked predominantly in high-rise residential towers, I knew pretty quickly it wasn’t the type of architecture I wanted to be working on however I had so much to learn outside of “design” - practice types and processes, project stages, construction methodologies, project management and delivery and the many other consultants and collaborations that are crucial in all projects.

At the end of 2017, I was offered a graduate position at a slightly smaller practice that had a focus on small-medium residential alterations and additions and small public architecture. I remained at this practice for a little over 6 years, where I really grew into the type of architect I was hoping to be – it was also just a lot of fun and rewarding professionally. I worked my way to leading my own projects and guiding other graduates – I’ve been lucky to see 4 of my projects from concept to completion on site (if all goes well, projects generally take 3+ years from start to finish). During this time I became a Registered Architect which requires a logbook of 3,300 hours of professional experience (across 26 different criteria), a 2 hour exam and an interview. Achieving this closed out a 10-year process from the start of university to finally gaining the title of “Architect”.

Best experience since graduating at Proserpine State High School? It would have to be a tie between moving /living overseas and my first project on site, a small boutique preschool which was awarded a NSW Architecture Education Award and I was also shortlisted for the NSW Young/Emerging Architect Project Award.

Best advice for current Year 12 students? Enjoy this time and your upcoming 20s! It’s the time to try different things, stay true to yourself, find what gives you joy, keep trying at the things you find tough, make mistakes, try again. You don’t have to know exactly “what” you’re doing after high school - gain some life experience and you might find this starts to become a little clearer. There’s also not just “one” pathway - I didn’t achieve a high enough OP to start my university studies at Sydney or Brisbane, which is one of the reasons I studied in Canberra however I worked hard at uni, achieved good results which enabled me to apply for masters at Sydney, some of my friends took TAFE pathways and while others are now in industries completely different to their education.

Favourite quote? “Sometimes the right path is not the easiest one.” - Grandmother Willow, Pocahontas