From the Futures Team
Year 10 Future You Festival – 17 and 18 November
The Future You Festival is a two-day program designed to help Year 10 students begin exploring post-Pymble opportunities and pathways.
Students participated in workshops, presentations and reflection activities focused on identifying their strengths, developing interview skills and considering possible future careers. They heard from ex-student Sam D’Souza, who shared her non-linear journey into her current career, spoke about the changing nature of work with AI, and highlighted the importance of transferable skills and networking.
Each student then attended three workshops led by external stakeholders from both industry and universities. Academics from TAFE NSW, UNSW, Notre Dame and UTAS shared their expertise in areas such as Fashion Illustration, Law, Dietetics and Food Science, Engineering, Aviation, Accounting, Animation, Marine Science, Nursing, Occupational Therapy, Computer Science and Business. Student ambassadors from USYD, UTS and ACU led additional sessions in Commerce, Law, Visual Communication, Design Thinking, Early Childhood Education and Exercise Science. Industry leaders from UBS, CSX Cyber and Pymble staff introduced students to their fields and the range of career opportunities available.
Thank you to Greg Hastie, the Psychology team, Lyn Wyette and Simone Sailer, who ran additional workshops in Construction, Forensic Psychology, Primary Education and university study in the UK and USA.
Day 2 welcomed additional external guests from our community and alumni network. We are grateful to all who attended and generously shared their career journeys with our students. Kathryn Taylor concluded the strengths series by exploring the “balcony and basement” of the strengths profiles and providing students with practical opportunities to rehearse these insights through mini-interview activities with their peers.
Feedback from presenter Jaimee Hughes, Lecturer in Nutrition, Dietetics and Food Innovation:
“I just wanted to say how impressed I was with the students. They were so engaged throughout the session and asked some fantastic questions. It was great to see their enthusiasm, and I hope the session provided some inspiration to consider a future in dietetics and studying at UNSW”.
Student Reflection
This week, Year 10 had the opportunity to take part in the much-anticipated Future You Festival! As we prepare to enter the Senior School, it was exciting and useful to have speakers present to us about their career journeys and have meaningful conversations with experts in varying fields. We started off the festival by listening to an inspiring presentation by Pymble alumni Sam D’Souza, who spoke about her journey after graduating from Pymble. Sam taught us about how paths into the future aren’t always linear and the importance of having a ’support network’ around you, as well as recognising the changing nature of work with AI. After this, the Year Group split up into different self-selected workshops. I learnt about the role of Occupational Therapists, aspects of Visual Communication, and the different branches of Civil Engineering. We ended the insightful day with an energising Zumba session, which everyone enjoyed and participated in! On the second day, we listened to Kathryn Taylor’s presentation about the ‘Balcony and Basement’ of our various Clifton Strengths. We also learnt more about how to conduct ourselves and reply to common interview questions! We then had the amazing opportunity to have conversations with a rotating group of experts in diverse fields. This was by far my favourite part of the festival. From cardiologists to judges, I was so engaged and excited to learn more about the ups and downs of all the experts’ careers and educational journeys.
The Future You Festival was an unforgettable experience for the whole year group, as we learnt about the importance of knowing our strengths and recognising our weaknesses to advance in our future careers. We are so grateful for the Futures team for organising this outstanding festival for us, and we look forward to more opportunities like this in the future!
Emily Chiang, Year 10
