The Sunshine Coast Daily will soon be doing a feature on past captains of sunny coast schools. This was just the impetus we needed to track some of them down and find out what they are up to. We are still in the process of locating some captains but will share their stories with you as they come to hand. Calista was our 2015 College Captain and writes:

“After I graduated from school in 2015, I went straight to the University of the Sunshine Coast and completed my three-year bachelor’s degree in sport and exercise science.

“I was then going to travel to Japan and work on the ski fields but I tore my ACL three months prior to leaving and ended up staying to have surgery.

“In 2019 I started my Masters of Sport and Exercise Science by Research with a keen interest in biomechanics. My thesis title is, “MRI review of ACL reconstructions at nine months post-surgery with a comparison of four surgical techniques.” I’m writing this thesis with Dr Steve Lawrie, a surgeon on the Sunshine Coast as well as my supervisor at USC, Professor Mark Sayers. I’m aiming to finish at the end of this year and publish some of my work in orthopaedic journals.

“After school, I started working casually as a receptionist at a physiotherapist as this is where I thought my career would head after studying exercise science. I then started my master’s in ACL research and decided I would enjoy the medical field instead. I started working as a clinical consultant at Stryker Corporation (a medical device company) two years ago. I’ve worked in both the sports medicine and trauma surgical fields assisting surgeons and nurses with new devices, tools and products in theatre.

“The reason I actually went down this route was because GCC advertised an Open Day at USC for Sport and Exercise Science. I attended and fell in love with the biomechanics lab! I’m grateful for GCC and the opportunities it gave me.”

Calista Theron, College Captain 2015