What were your favourite subjects at Proserpine State High School? Drama, Maths A, Maths B, English, and ITS.

Favourite Proserpine State High School memory? Making friends I still hold close today, over a decade on. Or Mrs McBride begged me to read ‘To Kill A Mockingbird’ for the final english assessment knowing full well I didn’t need to in order to pass. This resulted in me finally figuring out how to pay attention to a book and me absolutely adoring a piece of art I would have otherwise missed entirely. I only did it because Mrs McBride was my favourite teacher, and who would have thought she actually had my best interests in mind and gave me an experience and a lesson I’ll never forget. Thanks to Mrs McBride, I haven’t coasted through life since.

Where did life take you after you graduated? I went straight into university in Mackay after graduating and even though it wasn’t the best of the best for going into the Performing Arts Industry, I am doing pretty okay in London.

What job position are you currently in? I’m technically a professional performer which feels wild to say. I earn money in between acting jobs as events crew. Setting up and packing down concerts. Since leaving university I have done several contracts in Spain as a performer and a few jobs in London including a commercial for a major network.

Tell us about why you picked a career in the Performing Arts, and what your study/training journey has been? I had absolutely no idea what I would do after graduating at Proserpine State High School. After one drama class Mr Albion told me that becoming an actor was not only an option, but a very achievable one for me. At university I made sure to work as hard as I could studying and taking control of my learning to get the best outcomes. 

Best experience since graduating at Proserpine State High School? My best experience would be my time in Mallorca performing with strangers who very quickly became some of my best friends. While in Mallorca I decided to move to London and I’m currently living with one of my former castmates. Packing up everything I had and darting off to another continent was the best thing I’ve ever done and it’s all thanks to my singing contract in Spain.

Best advice for current Year 12 students? Slow down. It’s not forever, mate. It’s your entire life right now because you haven’t experienced what comes after. When you leave, what will you look back on? Make some memories with your mates and make sure to get the most out of it while you can - the teachers have told you 1000 times already I’m sure, but they’re right. Make the rest of your life easy by committing fully to something that will take up less than 20% of your life. Do the work. Get your piece of paper. Live your life fully and easily once you graduate.

Favourite quote?

A quote from my university lecturer, Miss Paula Dawson, that I’ll never forget.

“It’s acting not an aorta transplant!*"

Feel free to replace ‘acting’ with whatever the task in front of you is. Stop overthinking and just hook in. Just get the ball rolling. Write the first few sentences of your essay and it’ll just start flowing.