Since graduating in 2010, Esther Allen has pursued her
dream of becoming a primary school teacher. We caught up with Esther to see
what else she has been up to since leaving Holland Park SHS and some memorable
moments about the school.
What have you done since
graduating?
Since graduating, I went straight into University at
QUT and studied a Bachelor of Education, majoring in PE. I now have a permanent
position at a Primary School in Brisbane teaching Year 2.
Do you think your time at Holland Park
helped you to pursue this?
From a young age I wanted to be a teacher. I had the
privilege of being taught by many amazing, kind, caring, knowledgeable,
inspiring and passionate teachers during my time at Holland Park. This helped
to foster and keep my spark alive to peruse my goal of becoming a
teacher.
Do you still live locally?
Yes I still live locally on the south side of
Brisbane.
Did you enjoy your time at Holland
Park?
Holland Park was one of the smaller high schools and I
really enjoyed this aspect of it. During my time, I grew personally and had
many opportunities that I don’t think I would have been able to experience at a
larger high school. These opportunities ranged from being involved in Creative
Generation as a member of the band to travelling to Melbourne and consecutively
winning the National Volleyball title.
Do you still remember your favourite
teacher?
I had 2 favourite teachers, for similar reasons. Mrs
Ross and Mrs Hasson. Mrs Ross was never my PE teacher; however we travelled to
Toowoomba and Melbourne for Volleyball and she was my Touch Football coach for
inter school sport. Mrs Hasson was my English teacher for 3 years. It was clear
they both were passionate about developing meaningful connections with students
and support each and every student to ensure they saw success. They built a
positive classroom environment, where it was ok to have a laugh or share a joke
and they were also there to push you when we might have needed pushing to do
that little bit more.
What was your most memorable moment as a
student?
I definitely don’t think I could truly pinpoint my
most memorable moment as a student - there’s too many to name. A few things
come to mind though: winning the national volleyball title in Melbourne 3 years
in a row, being named school captain, achieving the top grade in PE in my cohort
and lastly, probably playing wall ball with my friends at every opportunity we
could, even if it was formal Friday and the girls had to wear skirts. Nothing
stopped us!