“This girl is destined to spend a number of years in a state institution; whether that turns out to be a university or a prison remains to be seen.”

An excerpt from my Year 12 School Report: I thank my History teacher for that vote of confidence.

At my 35 - Year Reunion, I looked around as we whooped at the yellow 1980’s sports uniform that had been set out for our horrified amusement, and wondered: when exactly did we turn into grown-ups? Seriously, when did we turn into more-or-less-respectable professional adults? 

Some credit must go to the ethos of expectation that permeated Ivanhoe Girls’. 

The “Girls Can Do Anything” campaign of the 1980s didn’t touch us; it was redundant. Instead, there was a powerful tacit assumption: if you could, you would.

It was during my Honours year in the Biochemistry School at The University of Melbourne that an unsuspected aptitude for bench research emerged (nobody was more surprised than me).  A PhD in Protein Biochemistry followed. I’m now a Senior Defence Scientist with a 30-plus year research career in Chemical-Biological Defence Science, with oversight of a Bio-Sciences lab (18-Year-Old me certainly never saw that coming). 

Highlights include being on security for the 2000 Sydney Olympics, riding in helicopters older than me, and the occasions when I am called upon to pretend to be a terrorist.  Today, I spend more time than I like flying a desk, but occasionally I do still sneak back into the lab.

At 20, I discovered motorcycles, and they remain my preferred transport. In 2017 I completed The Long Ride, a Defence men’s health fundraiser motorcycle tour around Tasmania. At age 52 I discovered a love of skiing. In March 2020 (before COVID-19 hit) I skied powder for the first time in Canada; the scenery (and the falls) were truly spectacular.  

What next? I hope for more study, more travel, maybe even another bike or two. I might even see you on the slopes. All while keeping myself more-or-less respectable, of course. I'd hate to disappoint my History teacher.