What years did you attend Arden, including school years and calendar years?

I started in 2002 and finished in 2015, from Pre-School all the way to Year 12.

Describe your Arden education in three words.

Caring, community, and fun.

Do you have a favourite memory from your Junior Campus schooling to share?

Two memories stand out from my time at Junior school. First, before they built The Colin May Centre, we had an open playground that we called ‘Adventure Playground’, because it was quite open and just had a few trees and not much else. I remember running around and using my imagination. The other would be when the School first started Gardening Club. That was really fun. We planted vegetables, waited for them to grow, and then picked them and ate them.

Do you have a favourite memory from Secondary Campus?

Some of my most cherished memories from Secondary school would be time spent in the computer lab with my IT teacher, Mr Simak. That is where I met some of my closest friends, who became my groomsmen. We were doing similar subjects and learning programming and video editing, which then became my career. So that was what started it all for me.

What were your favourite subjects at Arden?

I unexpectedly ended up really enjoying Extension English, which I initially only took due to the minimum unit requirements. My teacher, Mrs McDonald, showed me how to really appreciate that English is not just reading books or writing essays. Instead, it is understanding language and people and how to communicate. Both during school and post school, I came to recongise English as probably my favourite subject.

Do you have a special memory of a teacher? Please share.

I remember in Year 8 or 9, when I first did Multimedia with Mr Simak. We went into the hall, and he organised the PE high jump crash mat to be brought in, along with a massive green screen. We all chose what sort of action scene or movie we wanted to film involving the green screen and the crash mat. I remember Mr Simak himself sprinting up to the green screen, he was jumping between buildings or something, and then afterwards we edited the footage of ourselves jumping around or flying. It felt very much like unbound creativity, and to be honest, did not really feel like school. It was fun but also learning.

What activities did you enjoy while you were at Arden?

I was very lucky to do pretty much all of the co-curricular activities that were on offer. Doing things like debating and basketball, where you go off campus and meet other students and compete. I am a competitive person, so that was always enjoyable. Whether it was preparing my debating speech, seeing other schools, or getting to go on the bus. But I also always enjoyed lunchtime, talking and playing games with friends.

What have you focused on since your graduation from Arden - education and career?

When I first left Arden, I thought I knew the exact career path I would take. I initially accepted a scholarship with UTS to do IT and work in corporate. But through my major work project, I developed an interest in entrepreneurship and innovation with virtual reality. So, when I got to university, I realised I wanted to work in startups. After some time at university, I changed paths to work in small tech startups, which then led me to decide to start my own business a number of years later. Which is now what I do full-time with my wife.

How did you know what career path to take after your graduation?

I think for me, I thought I knew, but then that changed, and then that changed again. So, the answer is I didn’t know - but I just chose what I felt was the right direction and stuck to it. Even if you don’t know what direction to go in, I feel the best move is to just pick SOMETHING and give it your 100% effort and attention, whilst staying open to new opportunities.

We have all heard the statistic of people no longer having just one or two careers in their lives but four or five plus. To me - that takes the pressure off ‘is this the one’ and instead ‘is this a good starting point and will I enjoy it?’.

In what ways did your Arden education impact your career choices?

I think my Arden education didn’t just impact my career choice, but the way I approach life. I got to do a number of different activities including co-curricular and sport. I would try everything, and that is still something I carry into my daily life, where I am picking up hobbies or interests that add to my life. Because life is not just about your career. For me, it is about family, friends, space, and everything else. It gave me a good grounding to know there is more to life than just your one career path.

It both introduced me to my interest areas of multimedia and technology and gave me a good base from all the other subjects I did. English and everything else all sort of feeds in, which is funny because at the time you sometimes think, ‘why am I doing this?’

What advice would you give to Arden graduates or current students wanting to pursue a similar career path to you?

From my perspective, it is now easier than ever to set your eyes on a particular career path or goal, particularly if it is something unknown or entrepreneurial or innovative, because you really can learn just about anything online. I think committing to your subjects and an initial direction is the way to go but knowing that you could leave school and do almost anything. You just need to set your mind to it, try and learn it, practise and get amongst it.

It is no longer just choose a university degree, do the university degree, and that is the rest of your life. For some people it may be, but for others, it is completely different. And now more than ever, that is totally okay.

What do you regard as your biggest accomplishment to date, career or otherwise?

My biggest accomplishment to date would be marrying my amazing wife, Sarah. When you leave school, it is very easy to be laser-focused on career and progress as if that is all there is to life. But meeting my wife and now working with her every day is my biggest accomplishment, for sure.

What are you hoping to achieve personally or professionally in the next five to ten years?

Over the past five to ten years, I have been growing my business, CactusCan Media, and we are reaching to a point where we are exploring new opportunities outside of the normal projects we do. An exciting goal for the next five to ten years would be to see our operations expand beyond just being based in Sydney, having offices in other major capital cities in Australia or abroad.

What do you believe Arden instilled in you as a person?

I think being at Arden instilled in me a solid foundation of Christian values that you can carry into every aspect of life. Strongly connected to that is the idea of community - leaning on people around you, taking direction from others, and not feeling isolated. I feel I am always out in the world looking for that same sort of community feeling in whatever environment I am in.

What brings you joy these days?

Beyond career or achievements or milestones, what brings me joy day-to-day these days is the little things in life. You might pause outside and look at the sky or have a few moments to read a book. Those moments of being still and being present are important because life can go very quickly. Being busy and accomplishing things is fun, but life is also happening right now. I think at the moment, my biggest joys are in the small moments of life that seem from the outside a little bit boring but are actually the most meaningful.

If you are interested in being profiled in an 'Alumni Achievements' story, please email alumni@arden.nsw.edu.au.