ESU President Update
It’s hard to believe that another busy term has flown by and we’re approaching the half way point of this year. The highlight for this term for the Ex-Students’ Union was undoubtedly our major Alumni networking event, held on 18 May at the beautiful KPMG offices at Barangaroo. The aim of the event is to facilitate connection between Pymble graduates aged between 18 and 35 years, as well as current year 12 students by enabling mentoring connections and networking opportunities to be built with the more experienced members of our Pymble community. This is the third time this event has been held and the ESU was proud to host this event in partnership with the College.
It was a pleasure to participate in the panel discussion to kick off the evening alongside my fellow panellists Melanie Kurzydlo (Cowlishaw 2001, Executive Manager Project Management, AAP Group Limited), Cristina Carter (2012, Senior Manager Partnerships Westpac), and Hester Leung (1993, Chief Operating Officer My Specialised Accommodation Solutions). And of course, a huge thank you to Evie Murdoch (2012, Associate Director KPMG Australia) for her excellent job steering the discussion as MC.
We had a wonderful discussion on making connections, giving back, and mentoring of all forms, and shared our own experiences from our careers. Despite the differences in our individual stories and journeys though, the strong common theme was the power that comes with confidently showing up as your authentic self.
Following the panel discussion, the participants moved into breakout rooms for the opportunity to meet and connect with leaders in specific industries. The energy and enthusiasm coming from the rooms was palpable and some interesting and engaging discussions were had, and connections made.
We had a wonderful response to the event with over 300 attendees. Thank you to everyone who came along, to everyone at the College and on the ESU Committee who partnered to make the event such a success and to our College Chair James Hunter and his colleagues at KPMG for hosting us again at such a fabulous venue.
We look forward to another busy term in Term 3. Our Commemoration Day chapel service will be held on Sunday 30 July at 10:30am. This service, which is followed by morning tea, is in celebration of the dedication of the College which took place on 31 July 1919 and features the ESU choir as well as our wonderful guest speaker Helen Jarvis (Fisher, 1989). Of course Term 3 means it’s also nearly time for the annual Garden Party on 16 September. I look forward to seeing members of our College community at these wonderful events.
Mrs Fiona Walmsley (McGeachie, 1996). 