Foundation Newsletter - 2013 April - St Aidan's Anglican Girls' School

Spotlight on
science achievers
Sevannah Ellis Jessie Madden Emily Stevens Madeleine Colquhoun
The Science Appeal is the new major capital fundraising project
for St Aidan’s Foundation – a $300,000 appeal to add two new
science laboratories to the Senior School.
Two new technology-enabled science laboratories
will help St Aidan’s deal with the demands of
integrating Year 7 fully into high school from
2015 (the start date of the project depends on
the success of the appeal).
The St Aidan’s Foundation is looking to the
St Aidan’s community for support to ensure our
girls have the facilities required for excellence.
St Aidan’s is hoping to start the building project
within the next 12 to 18 months, with the
start date dependent on the success of the
Foundation’s capital campaign.
Foundation chairman Mr Tony Markwell said it
was fascinating that girls who attended all-girls’
schools were more than six times more likely to
earn degrees in maths and science subjects –
key subject areas for many current and future
career paths.
“Our appeal aims to support the school’s
capacity to foster the study of science and
engineering, which will lead to many and
varied career opportunities for our daughters,”
Mr Markwell said.
A number of high achieving 2012 students had
spoken at the recent Honours assembly about
their study and career paths. The thoughts of
some of these students are featured below.
Sevannah Ellis
(OP1, studying Bachelor of Biomedical Science at
University of Queensland)
“It was during Year 10 when we first started
looking at career options that I was interested
in medicine – until I realised research was what
really fascinated me,” Sevannah said.
“It is not often that you find an all girls school
with such a broad and enjoyable science
program. I found science highly engaging in my
early years, which is when I first considered a
future in this area. Senior Sciences allowed me to
specialise my interests and I started to develop a
passion for biology and chemistry.
“If you start developing an interest in Sciences,
try to extend yourself as much as possible.
Choose assignment topics that excite you and
are out of the ordinary and make good use of the
resources St Aidan’s provides. The teachers are
fountains of knowledge, always willing to help
and with the amazing technologies available, it is
a lot of fun to pursue a passion for sciences.”
Jessie Madden
(OP1, studying Bachelor of Science, followed by
Doctor of Medicine, at University of Queensland)
The school’s 2012 Dux says St Aidan’s gave
her the self-confidence to challenge herself
to achieve things she would never have
thought possible.
“During Years 11 and 12 I seriously considered
becoming a Lawyer, Doctor or Medical
Researcher. I am still weighing up between
Doctor and Medical Researcher,” Jessie said.
“I have been lucky enough to be awarded
Provisional Entry into a Bachelor of Medicine
Bachelor of Surgery degree (soon to be
changed to a ‘Doctor of Medicine’ degree) and
am completing a Science degree, majoring in
Biomedical Science for the next three years,
before continuing into Medicine.
“The Australian Space Design Competition was a
valuable experience as it allowed me to use my
interests in a more concrete ‘real world’ scenario
and gave me an understanding of the sorts of
opportunities in a Science/Maths career, which
encouraged me to think seriously about how to
use my interests and talents after school.
“My advice would be to really make the most of
the passion and enthusiasm your teachers have
for Science, and use that to help you decide
exactly what area of Science interests you,
because it is a very big field.”
Emily Stevens
(OP1, studying Bachelor of Physiotherapy at
University of Queensland)
“St Aidan’s has given me endless opportunities
and fantastic friends and mentors, and its
emphasis on empowering women is a unique
quality,” Emily said.
“Since about Year 7 I have wanted to be a
Physiotherapist. In Maths, Biology and Physics
in my senior years at St Aidan’s, the passion my
teachers felt for these subjects was evident and
they led and encouraged by example (a special
shout-out to Mr Brennan!).
Science is such a broad topic with many unique
and dynamic facets. It can be challenging
but also very rewarding. My advice to current
students would be to take the time to discover
what areas interest you. Finding something you
truly enjoy doing is definitely worth the wait.”
Madeleine Colquhoun
(OP2, studying Bachelor of Speech Pathology at
University of Queensland)
The 2012 Vice Captain and Prefect believes a
basic understanding of a scientific discipline can
help in many aspects of life:
“There are lots of opportunities in a science
career, offering a wide range of employment.
If you don’t do science in Years 11 and 12, your
options become much more limited when it
comes to University courses. If you enjoy it at
school, then I advise to definitely consider it as a
potential career choice,” Madeleine said.
“I was scared throughout Year 12 as I had
no real direction of what I wanted to pursue
after school. I considered engineering, taking
a gap year, joining the army, teaching. Luckily
after attending multiple Market Days, I found
something I was really interested in: Allied Health.
We were always encouraged to study at least
one science subject for one of our six senior
subjects as it acts as a gateway to a majority of
University courses.”