Memories@Merici with Heather Phillips (Class of 1998)

Heather Phillips pictured with her parents and niece, Year 7 student Niamh Blake

At our recent Grandparents Day, our community welcomed grandmothers, mothers and aunties who are ex-students of Merici College.  This presented us with the wonderful opportunity of interviewing ex-student Heather Phillips, aunty to current students Imogen and Niamh Blake.  Heather graduated from Merici College in 1998 and shared the following reflection.

“I fondly remember my time here at Merici. While here I was involved in lots of dance and drama activities. I thoroughly enjoyed participating in the Rock Eisteddfods and Drama productions. Towards the end of my time at Merici I made a massive move into the world of art and, after finishing school, went on to the Campus of Art and undertook the study of ceramics at the ANU. Today, while visiting Merici, it has been wonderful to go on a school tour and see how the school has changed and I am very delighted to see that there is such a great display of student ceramic and pottery work around, showing lots of talent and skill.

One of my favourite activities at school was being involved in the Duke of Edinburgh (DoE) program where I undertook my Bronze, Silver and Gold awards. Involvement in DoE gave me a lot of confidence and leadership skills, which I have used in life.  All the activities I was involved in at school gave me an adventurous sense of spirit, self-identity and my ability to trust in myself in difficult situations and challenges.  The DoE hikes, where we would get totally lost, with no parents or teachers there to help you out, taught us that we had to use our skills and group together in a team. This helped me to develop my team building skills and problem-solving skills, but also I learned to trust in myself and believe that I had the skills to get me out of tough situations.  This has helped me a lot in life after leaving Merici.

When I graduated from Art school and completed my honours degree, I went to Glasgow in Scotland where I did an exchange at the Glasgow School of Art for six months and then I ended up moving to Glasgow permanently, undertaking various jobs but mainly working as an Art Technician. From that position I realised that I quite enjoyed teaching and working with young people. I realised that I had good skills and a good ability to communicate with young people, so I went on to undertake my teacher training in Glasgow and now I am a full-time high school Art teacher.  I visit my family in Canberra once a year, and love hearing about Merici through my nieces Imogen and Niamh Blake who currently attend Merici College.

I would like to thank Merici College, past and present teachers, for instilling the same values and principles into my nieces as were instilled in me many years ago.” Heather Phillips

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