Great Scot December 2019 Great Scot 158_December_ONLINE | Page 41

What inspired you to become a teacher? Like so many before me, becoming a schoolteacher happened more out of good fortune than good planning. Becoming a teacher was never really my goal or ambition but I love working in schools, with young people and other like-minded adults, and there isn’t a job I would rather be doing! I did a degree in Behavioural Science straight after finishing school, but stopped studying after my honours year in Psychology because it was all getting a bit too arduous and demanding. I thought that getting a job and working would be easier. It wasn’t! I then spent a few months travelling around Australia with a good mate from school before enrolling in a Graduate Diploma in Education (Secondary Teaching) rather than face another year in the full-time workforce. One of my teaching rounds was at Swinburne Senior Secondary College, a wonderful school where ultimately I obtained my first teaching job at the end of that year. I worked at Swinburne for almost a decade and was constantly inspired and impressed by the students I taught. During that time, I became the Student Welfare Coordinator and completed my Masters in Educational Psychology. Interview: NICK CLARK Senior School Psychologist In 2010 I tried my hand at working as a psychologist in private practice, but compared to the school environment I found the work lonely and repetitive, and by the end of that year I had a job back in a school. This job was at St Kevin’s College, and I worked both as a teacher and school Psychologist. It was the perfect mix and I loved the job. I’m essentially doing the same job at Scotch, and now it’s at a school I love too! What are your roles at Scotch and what do you enjoy most about your work? I teach one class – Year 11 Psychology – and the rest of my work is as a Psychologist working primarily with individual boys and their families. The schools I have worked in are very different, but what I love about my work has actually not varied that much across these schools. The thing I enjoy most is learning from the boys. I hear about the hardships that so many boys and families endure, from devastating tragedies to the small stuff, and experiencing these people grapple with what life has thrown at them and persevere and ultimately grow is deeply inspirational. In the classroom and the broader school context, I also enjoy being a role model for the boys. I hope that the behaviour I role model for them is that of being respectful and kind but also realistic, in that there is some reciprocity in how I interact with others. What is your favourite place at Scotch? My favourite place at Scotch is in the Principal’s office. These days I am rarely in trouble when I’m summoned up there, and I invariably learn a great deal when I’m in there. Tom’s chair looks as if it would be comfortable as well, but it’s too big for me. What advice would you give to boys as they leave Scotch? My advice would be to keep pursuing and doing what you enjoy, and work to be good at what you do. Luck does favour the brave and by ‘brave’ I mean people who do brave things (even if they don’t feel brave), and by ‘luck’ I mean where opportunity meets preparation. www.scotch.vic.edu.au Great Scot 41