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Alumni Magazine

“Excellentia Academica Persequenda”

Edition 3, December 2014

All the news on past students, find out where they are

now and what tkis meant to them

VOLUME 2, 2014

The Kilmore

International School

Australia

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Dear Alumni,

I am delighted that our graduates look back so fondly on their days in The Kilmore International School. It is gratifying that so many former students highlight both the quality of teaching and the quality of care during their time in the school. Whether from Guangzhou or Seoul, Kilmore or Brunei, an education at TKIS has created world-ready and world-class graduates who are now pursuing professional careers around the world.

Next year TKIS is 25 years old. That calls for a celebration! I hope as many graduates as possible will join us in person to celebrate the achievements of The Kilmore International School.

Let me take this opportunity to wish all alumni and alumnae and their families a Merry Christmas and a prosperous New Year.

Yours sincerely,

Andrew Taylor

Principal

welcome

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1998 1999

Name: John Holdaway

Homeland: Australia

Current location: Jakarta,

Indonesia

Where is he now? John went to Melbourne University and studied Computer Science and a Diploma of Modern Languages (Indonesian) and graduated in 2004. In 2011, he completed a

Masters of Management (Economics).

John now works as an infrastructure economist. He is currently employed as an Associate Director in Ernst and Young’s Transaction Advisory Services Division heading EY’s Infrastructure Advisory team in Indonesia, where they advise clients on all sorts of topics relating to energy, water and sanitation, transportation. He recently resigned from his job at EY and has accepted a position with an Australian government funded program called the Australia Indonesia Partnership for Economic Governance as an infrastructure policy adviser.

John loved his 4 years at TKIS. He recalls the strong pastoral relationships with his teachers as well as learning firsthand how to interact and communicate across different cultures and languages.

Johns advice to current students is: “Academics are important, but they’re easy; there are plenty of books that can tell you how to pass an exam. Creativity and leadership are hard; there’s no book that can tell you how to manage a lunchtime soccer tournament, write a song and perform it at the talent show with your friends, or comfort a friend that is struggling with a break-up. Study hard because it will get you your first job, but do all the other stuff too, because that’s what really teaches you how to succeed once

you get it.”

John is married to wife Shelley and they have a two year old daughter, Erica.

Name: Anthony (Tony) De Sousa

Homeland: Australia

Current location: Melbourne

Where is he now? Tony graduated

from TKIS in 1998 and went on to

study Medicine at Monash Universi-

ty. He graduated with honors in

2004 and recently completed his

training as a urological surgeon. In

2010, he spent a year in the laboratory with the prostate

and breast cancer research group at Monash University.

Tony finds it hard to believe that he graduated from high

school 16 years ago and as he reflects on his time at TKIS,

he remembers having a lot of fun. It was the first time he

really got to know anyone from overseas and he didn't even

have to leave Kilmore. He believes the experience really

opened his eyes to other cultures.

Tony fondly recalls memories of his dedicated teachers and

found it hard to pick just one favourite. “They all helped me

to focus when it mattered to get through the IB with a rea-

sonable mark, which got me on track to where I am today.

Mr Szczur started at the school in the same year I did. His

physics classes were entertaining, sometimes a bit unconven-

tional, but it worked for me.”

Tony’s advice

to current stu-

dents is: “Enjoy

your time at

TKIS as it goes

by very quick-

ly!” He is pic-

tured here

with his wife

Christina and

their two chil-

dren, Antonio

and Alicia.

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2004

Name: Brenton McKiterick

Homeland: Australia

Current city: Melbourne

Where is she now? Brenton left TKIS after graduating in 2004. He then went on to complete an Arts degree at Melbourne university majoring in Criminology and Socio Legal Studies. Afterwards, he

completed post graduate studies in risk management and occupational health, safety and environmental systems. He’s now working as the performance and reporting manager at the Royal Women's Hospital in Melbourne.

Brenton has wonderful memories of his 6 years at TKIS and still keeps in touch with most of his close friends from his school days. He fondly recalls KOS (King of Soccer) competitions, soccer at recess, the unbelievable school community and the amazing teachers who invested so much time into their students.

His favourite teacher was Mr Szczur: “He’s an absolutely lovely guy and the perfect teacher; smart, humble, inquisitive.”

Brenton’s advice to current students is: “It’s hard to plan your life as a teenager; find what makes you happy in life and pursue it until the day you die - it's a guaranteed way to live a fulfilling life!” Brenton is married to wife Enrica and they live in North Melbourne with their cat.

Name: FAN, Hao (Jenny)

Homeland: Guangzhou, China

Current city: Hong Kong

Where is she now? Jenny moved to Australia with her mum when she was just 9 years old and at-tended TKIS for her last couple of years of secondary school. She graduated in 2004 and went on to study Commerce at Melbourne University majoring in Accounting.

Jenny worked with the ANZ bank in Melbourne after uni-versity and then moved to Hong Kong a couple of years ago. She is now an Associate Director of Transaction Banking, ANZ Hong Kong. She’s also working towards obtaining her Masters of Applied Finance with Macquarie University. Jenny’s best memories from TKIS are the friendships she made within the closeness of the small school community.

She believes that the real relationships that you build with your classmates are definitely much stronger and she still keeps in touch to see what’s going on in every-one’s lives today.

Although Jenny had so many great teachers at TKIS, her favourite teacher was Ms Lin who she finds inspirational in everyday life.

Jenny’s advice to current stu-dents: “Enjoy being at TKIS and the friends that you have made and will make. Study hard because this is the start-ing point for the rest of your life but at the same time don’t forget to have fun because one day you will look back on these years with fond memo-ries.”

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2006

Name: Rami Shenouda

Homeland: Melbourne

Current city: Bendigo, Aus-

tralia

Where is he now? Rami grad-

uated from TKIS in 2007 and

was accepted into Medicine/

Surgery at Monash where he

graduated in 2012. He undertook a Postgraduate Diplo-

ma of Surgical Anatomy at the University of Melbourne

this year and is now completing a surgical residency at

Bendigo Health before moving to The Alfred hospital in

January 2015.

Rami has great memories of TKIS including soccer at

recess with his classmates, the famous HL Maths compe-

tition and the down-ball competition.

He believe hat there's no better place than TKIS to

achieve what you want and his advice to current TKIS

students is: “Never be too afraid to ask for help!”

Name: ZHANG Yifei (Johnny) Homeland: China Current city: Melbourne Where is he now? Johnny grad-

uated from TKIS in 2006 and

went on to complete his Bache-

lor of Engineering at Melbourne

University and then his Masters.

He is now working as an educa-

tion consultant for Smart Choice Education in Melbourne.

Through his role, he provides counselling services to oth-

er international students that want to study in Australia.

He feels like his time as an international student has well

equipped him for his job.

Johnny visited TKIS this year with his company and put

on a moon cake party for current international students.

He loved visiting his old school and lots of memories

came back to him. He particularly remembers the board-

ing life and living alongside all the boys from his year lev-

el — they had so much fun together! He also has great

memories of his time in Higher Level Physics classes, es-

pecially his classmates and teacher. His advice to current

students is: “Be proud of your school!”

Above: Johnny is pictured with Mr Hong and Ms Kan dur-

ing the moon cake party at TKIS in October.

2007

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2008

Name: DING Ting (Asha)

Homeland: Yan Cheng, China

Current city: London

Where is she now? Asha fin-

ished her IB at TKIS in 2008 and

moved to England after being

accepted into Architecture at

Nottingham University. She

graduated in 2012 and then

completed her Masters in Architecture at the Royal Col-

lege of Art in London. Since 2013 she has been working

for Grimshaw Architects in London.

Asha has fantastic memories of her teachers at TKIS. She

was really good friends with Mr Mumford as they shared

a common interest in photography. She also loved Visual

Arts class time and became good friends with Ms Allen as

she spent a lot of time in the Art factory. Although she

didn't like physics much, she remembers Mr Wright as he

never gave up on her and was really patient. She believes

she probably wouldn't be an architect today if it wasn't

for him.

Asha also has very fond memories of her school friends, especially her best friend Jane Xiu as they were very close.

Asha’s advice to current TKIS students: “Live and Learn”

Name: Bree O’Dwyer

Homeland: Australia

Current city: Melbourne

Where is he now? After leaving

TKIS in 2008, Bree went to

Melbourne University and

studied a Bachelor of Arts

majoring in History and

Criminology. She is now in her

second year of Law School as a Juris Doctor candidate.

Each summer, Bree volunteers for the VCE Summer School

where she teaches Visual Art, Legal Studies and

Revolutions to students experiencing some sort of

disadvantage which negatively affects their education. She

finds this to be a fun and very rewarding experience.

Bree remembers playing soccer on the tennis courts with

students from all different year levels and was amazed

how students in year 7 mixed with those in the senior

school.

She felt that the close-knit community of TKIS was so

beneficial and welcoming. She will never forget the

kindness of her teachers, especially during her IB years.

Her advice to current students is: “If you weren’t up to it,

you wouldn’t be here. Remember that having a social life

and a good night’s sleep are important for your wellbeing

and for you to study effectively. Go and have fun with your

friends, quite often you’ll find you’re much more productive

in the few hours afterwards than you would’ve been had you

spent the whole time attempting

to study. Your teachers are

incredible. They believe in you so

believe in them and take their

guidance and help seriously. You

will miss them sorely when the

real world comes along.”

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2009 2011

Name: Hee Seo Kwon (Rain)

Homeland: South Korea

Current city: Seoul, South

Korea

Where is she now? Rain

graduated from TKIS in 2009

and then moved to London to

commence her degree: BSc

Urban Planning, Design and

Management at The Bartlett

School of Architecture and

Planning, University College London (UCL). She

graduated in 2013 and has since moved back to Korea

and is working as an Assistant Research Fellow at Korea

Research Institute for Human Settlements (KRIHS).

Like many other past TKIS students, Rain has fantastic

memories about her Visual Arts class time and spending

countless hours working in the art factory.

Rain’s advice to current students is: “Please do appreciate

and make the most use of the rich expertise and experience

the TKIS teachers have in the IB Diploma. They are really

there to help you, and they really wish you the best.”

Name: Ashleigh Mendes

Homeland: Australia

Current city: Mornington

Peninsula, Victoria

Where is she now? When

Ashleigh finished high

school in 2011, she was so

unsure what she wanted to

do and she kept changing

her preferences over and

over again. Choosing to

study a double degree in Nursing and Paramedics at

Monash was a very last minute decision and one that she

is so happy she made. She was even awarded paramedic

of the year during her first year of university! She's

enjoyed the course so much over the past three years

and will be sad to finish next year. After graduating, she

plans on doing a nursing graduate year, hopefully in

paediatrics and then she'll begin her career as a

paramedic.

Ashleigh has so many fond memories of TKIS but one of

her favourites is definitely her time spent in English class

with Mrs Krilis and they still keep in touch today. One of

her favourite memories with Mr Krilis is the time they

spent in Cambodia together with the CKF. Ashleigh also

has wonderful memories of her friends from TKIS as they

were a very close group.

Ashleigh’s advice to current TKIS

students is: “It’s okay not to know

exactly where you are headed after

high school. Go with your

intuition and you cannot go

wrong! Also, make sure you take

time to enjoy life. IB is hard work

and very demanding, but your

mental health is equally as

important – remember to take a

break!”

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2009 INTERN

Name: Wasli Muhammad

Wafiuddin (Wafi)

Homeland: Brunei Darussalam

Current city: London

Where is he now? Wafi

graduated from TKIS in 2011 and

is currently in his final year of

Biochemistry at University

College London (UCL).

He has so many great memories of TKIS including his life

as a boarding student. Originally, the thought of living

away from home when he was 17 wasn't what he

planned, but it turned out to be one of the most

memorable times in his life. He cherishes the friendship

with his classmates from around the globe and realises

how much they all grew up together during those

wonderful two and a half years. One of his favourite

times of the day was dinner time when everyone would

sit down together, enjoy the food and socialise. He

vividly remembers his group being loud and cheeky! He

keeps in touch with most of these friends still today.

He also recalls the amazing teachers who were very

approachable, understanding and always willing to help.

Mrs Moulder’s Chemistry class and Mr O’Neill’s

Geography class were two of his favourites.

Wafi’s advice to current TKIS students is: “IB may seem

intimidating at first. However,

with the variety of support

offered at TKIS – and of course

utilising them to your benefit,

you can easily get through the

two years with great results.

Make lots of friends, be

organised, attend tutorials,

join fun CAS activities and

above all, believe in yourself!”

Name: Justin King

Homeland: USA

Current city: Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA

Where is here now? Many of you may remember Justin

King who was an intern at TKIS in 1997. After his time

working at TKIS, Justin returned to the US and graduated

from Oklahoma University Law School in 2000. He is

now working as an attorney. He is married to Jani Smith

who is quite famous where they live

(www.jamismith.com) and they have two children,

Emory who is 5 and Griffin who is 3.

Like many staff and students who pass through the

unique doors of TKIS, Justin has great memories of his

time there. He fondly recalls driving busloads of TKIS

students to various events, including once to see Michael

Jackson, and once to see "the footy" at the MCG. He built

some strong relationships with fellow staff members

including the wonderful Des Gregory— “he led great

conversations and great bushwalks!”

Justin's advice to current TKIS students is: “Enjoy your

time learning! Take advantage of opportunities to get out

and see unfamiliar things”

Do you remember this wonderful group of TKIS interns

from 1997? Mr Gregory is pictured here with Shannon

McCharles, Steven Solomon, Stephanie Graham, Justin

King and

Darren Wenz.

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The Kilmore International School

40 White St, Kilmore

Victoria, 3764

Australia

Phone: 0011 61 3 5782 2211

Fax: 0011 61 35782 2525

Email: info@kilmore.vic.edu.au

Web: www.kilmore.vic.edu.au

Facebook: www.facebook.com/

thekilmoreinternationalschool

“Excellentia Academica Persequenda”

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