We recently heard from our 2014 College Captain, Courtney Sinclair and she was good enough to provide us with an update on what she has been up to since graduating GCC. It was exciting to read that Courtney continued using her leadership skills right through her study and now brings them into her career. Here is her story:
Life After Graduation
“Since graduating from GCC in 2014 I have been very fortunate to have had many opportunities and adventures come my way. In the four years following my departure from GCC I graduated from the Queensland University of Technology [QUT] with distinction in my Bachelor of Primary Education minoring in STEM education. Throughout my undergraduate degree, I was very fortunate to work in a range of roles for QUT including, campus life leader, student ambassador and robotics ambassador. In my student ambassador role, I was able to work alongside two very talented careers counsellors which inspired me to begin my Masters in Education (Guidance and Counselling) which I have been completing part-time for the last two and a half years.
“In my final year of my undergraduate study, I was offered a rural STEM scholarship and a teaching position at Inglewood State School. There I worked as a classroom teacher, technology specialist and taught in a district relief role, teaching students across the curriculum from Prep to Year 10. Over those two and a half years I gained a deep appreciation for teachers and how much of their own time they sacrifice to provide opportunities for their students, in an effort to show my appreciation I offered new extracurricular activities including robotics and gardening clubs within my school.
“Over the last eight years, I have spent most of my free time, hiking around Australia and New Zealand, horse riding and rock climbing. I found out about working in Outdoor and Environmental Education as a qualified teacher in my final year of my undergraduate degree, but knowing it was a niche industry I felt it was a pipe dream. However, in term two of last year, I was given the opportunity of a lifetime to work as an educator at Barambah Environmental Education Centre (a K-12 residential camp facility and day excursion site) which aims to strengthen students’ leadership and teamwork skills, environmental knowledge, cultural awareness, and overall wellbeing. It has been amazing to be able to share my passion for the great outdoors with young people and gain qualifications in outdoor recreation. I have no doubt that I have one of the best jobs in the world.
“Moving forward, I think I’ll always be keen to learn more about helping young people and would like to investigate nature-based, adventure-based and equine therapies once I finish my postgraduate studies.
“Who knows what adventures the next eight years will bring!”
