While we celebrate the achievements of our current students, Emmanuel College takes inspiration from the contributions made by our students of the past. Over the 150 year history of our College, many thousands of students have been through our doors and as a community, we are very proud of their ideas, passion and achievements. They have followed a great variety of paths in their lives and they are the people who have helped shape our College and the communities we live in and serve.
Since 2009 our College community has been recgonising the contributions of past students of Emmanuel, CBC and St Ann's College by inducting them as Emmanuel College Inspiring Alumni. The reason for the Inspiring Alumni is to constantly demonstrate to our students that they too can achieve their dreams. Year after year the graduating Emmanuel students go out into the world to find their place in it - to discover their purpose and passion. They do not sit back and wait for the world to come to them. If we can help our students to dream, give them the tools to achieve their dreams and inspire them with examples of success, then we are going a long way towards fulfilling our role as educators.
The ideal of awards such as this is to inspire, like a fire that ignites other fires, this generation of Emmanuel boys and girls. It is for this reason that I will accept the award.Inductee Br Frank O'Shea Class of 1972
In 2019 we introduced another way of recognising our alumni with the awarding of our Young Alumni Achievers. Their energy and hard work are too wonderful examples for Emmanuel students past and present.
Previous recipients have been:
Rachael is currently the Deputy Editor for the Warrnambool Standard – the youngest in the media outlet’s history. In addition to leading the news team, she is often pulled to other regional papers across the country to fill in for Editors when absences occur.
Throughout her career as a journalist, Rachael has enjoyed being a voice for the South West. A particular highlight was the work she did putting pressure on the State Government for funding for what is now the Merri River School.
In 2019 Rachael was awarded the Walkley Foundation’s inaugural William Buckland Foundation Fellowship from The Age. The Fellowship provided Rachael with many insights and opportunities by working in The Age’s newsroom in Melbourne, learnings that she eagerly shared with her team at The Standard on her return.
More recently, Rachael was invited to be a judge for the 2022 Victorian Australian of the Year. On this panel she worked alongside some impressive people, however walked away most inspired by the nominees’ stories of service.
Jonathon is a dairy farmer, whose goal-oriented approach to life now sees him the owner of his own farm and 250-strong dairy herd that has been recognised in the top 10 in Australia.
Growing up on a dairy farm at Koroit, he had always aspired to have a farm of his own one day. His family encouraged him to expand his horizons, but most of all instilled in him a drive to be self-made. Jonathon set about not only building his knowledge and skills in dairy farming, but also in having a solid financial plan, based in property investment and following opportunities where they arose.
The purchase of his first house at the age of 21, built him a string of property and herd investments, that led to the purchase of his first farm by the age of 29, and ultimately his farm at Illowa today.
Jonathon’s passion for dairy farming continues to see his herd improve, and has recently had his first bull accepted into an AI breeding program.
Brody Couch is a cricketer, perhaps now best known as a fast bowler with the Australian Big Bash League’s Melbourne Stars.
Recruited by Cricket Victoria at age 20, Brody made his List-A debut in the 2020-21 Marsh One-Day Cup season against Tasmania, where he impressively recorded one of the lowest bowling averages for the game. The following year he made his first-class debut in the 2021-22 Sheffield Shield season at the SCG, which he identifies as one of the highlights of his career to date.
That same year, Brody was recruited by the Melbourne Stars, where he not only debuted in the national T20 league’s 11th season, but played all 14 games, and finished the season as the Star’s leading wicket taker. This outstanding performance also secured him the title of BBL Rookie of the Year.
Brody is currently overseas playing cricket in a new T20 league starting up in the USA. Playing for the San Francisco Unicorns, Brody will be captained by Aaron Finch, and play alongside fellow Melbourne Stars teammate Marcus Stoinis.
Nicole is a nurse who, straight out of university, landed her dream job at the Royal Children’s Hospital, in Melbourne. Moving between clinical roles on the wards and in emergency, to leadership, Nicole has established herself as a specialist in paediatric nursing and is now often seconded to train student nurses and to travel to regional hospitals to upskill their paediatric teams.
After seeing the contrast in outcomes that the delivery of timely first aid can have on young patients, Nicole decided to make First Aid education more accessible. Now in its 5th year, Nicole’s business ‘Rhythm First Aid’ delivers modern first aid training to schools, businesses, and families across the State, and has forged an incredible social media following due to her practical and reassuring advice. This reputation now attracts invitations to further advise the public through programs such as Sunrise and the Today Show.
Nicole was also responsible for a remarkable delivery of items for infants to the flood affected Northern Rivers area in 2022. By putting a call out for donations, Nicole was inundated with donations and quickly inspired collection points across the State.
Alex is a creative and an animator, who is now a sought-after for work producing music videos. Working with bands the likes of The Murlocs, GUM and Bananagun, Alex crafts animations to create music videos through the pain-staking art of stop motion.
Alex holds a Bachelor of Photography, however started making and selling videos when he was still at school. Experimenting with video in these early days, Alex would capture footage of his mates skateboarding and publish it for sale onto DVD. He soon moved into making music videos for mates’ bands, and from there his reputation and style has grown. Within the industry, he now has a global reach with his work being viewed by millions worldwide.
The resulting artwork, in some cases, has gone on to pique the interest of art collectors, who have sought out and purchased individual stop motion frames.
While he continues to catch the attention of bands locally and abroad, Alex highlights his favourite projects as King Gizzard and the Wizard Lizard’s video O.N.E., and White Fence’s video Forever Chained.
A familiar name to many at Emmanuel, Maths and Humanities teacher Isaac Jones, has established himself within his first few years teaching, already being selected for the Country Dioceses Leadership Program (CDLP).
Isaac believes that any strength in his teaching stems from the fact that learning maths didn’t come naturally to him at school. He instead highlights how he enjoyed the process of learning it, a skill which is a much better tool for teaching others who find it difficult.
Prior to starting at Emmanuel College, Isaac had long been known for his success in competitive swimming. Winning medals and setting records from the age of 10, swimming led Isaac to compete on a global level and a full scholarship at the University of Kentucky. His highlights include representing Australia in the 2013 FINA World Junior Swimming Championships in Dubai; becoming the 400m Freestyle Champion at the 2014 Australian Titles; and his performance at the 2018 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Championships in Minneapolis.
Dylan has built a multimillion-dollar business from the ground up, with nothing more than a can-do attitude. Aged 24 Dylan decided to change paths away from the sports marketing industry, with the goal of being his own boss.
Starting with a little research to identify a gap in the market that he could break into with limited funds and experience, Dylan began Clarke Clean. It was named after his Nan, as a homage to her unwavering love and support.
Establishing the business with only a website, vacuum and mop, he put his hand up for any job he came across - all while still working full time. In some cases, he would be teaching himself how to complete the task via YouTube videos. This dedication saw Clarke Clean become self-sustaining within six months. Now one of the biggest in Ballarat, it is contracted to clean Council venues and events, independent stadiums and sporting grounds, local businesses, and festivals throughout Victoria and is continuing to expand.
The Leadership Ballarat Western Region program awarded Dylan a scholarship in 2017. This 12-month community leadership program involved working with local government, including focus group time in Canberra with then Prime Minister, Malcolm Turnbull and Opposition Leader, Bill Shorten.
In 2019 Dylan was an ambassador for the Ballarat Foundation’s highly successful Dancing with Our Stars fundraiser. This involved 12 weeks of full-time dance training, with the initiative collectively raising over $112,000.
More recently, Dylan’s early passion for the fitness industry has reignited, driving him to open his second business, a gym – The Underground.
Meleita is the Senior Prosthetist and Orthotist at The Royal Children’s Hospital Melbourne. She has a degree in Biomedical Science from Melbourne University and a Masters in Prosthetics & Orthotics from LaTrobe University. She is currently undertaking a Masters in Health Administration.
Meleita has held various volunteer roles in the profession including a Board member of the International Society for Prosthetics and Orthotics Australian National Member Society and the Australian Orthotic & Prosthetic Association’s Congress Committee.
More recently Meletia’s expertise has found her on many occasions a guest lecturer and assessor for LaTrobe University’s Prosthetic & Orthotic course. Plus, she is collaborating with Melbourne University on various 3D printing/manufacturing projects. Most notably she is working on a project set to improve outcomes for patients with facial burns; and another working on the development of a myoelectric prosthetic hand for children.
Meleita thrives on the relationships she builds with her patients and families and enabling children to reach their potential through prosthetics.
Soon after finishing school Daniel was drafted to the Sydney Swans AFL Football Club. Daniel was with the club for three years, before being delisted due to numerous injuries. This led him back to Victoria in the hope of making the list at Geelong, but sadly injuries led him to retire at the age of 22.
Following a brief stint as a PGA Professional Golf Trainee a new passion and pathway opened for Daniel - a career in coaching. This newfound drive saw Daniel take on any opportunity to coach he could find. This led to his first serious coaching position as Senior Coach at West Geelong FC, then with the Geelong Falcons. His first year at the Falcons saw the team win the premiership, breaking a 17-year drought.
From the Falcons Daniel has gone on to be the VFL Assistant Coach with the Geelong Cats, the Development Coach with the Carlton Blues FC, and most recently the Head Coach of the Carlton Reserves. As Carlton has separated from its alignment with the Northern Bullants, Daniel’s role involved establishing a VFL program for the team from scratch. Now comprising a strong playing list of 28 and over 20 staff, Carlton has a great reserves program that is already filtering readymade players into the AFL.
James is a videographer whose passion for film has jettisoned into a business now attracting national clients. James has a degree in Commerce majoring in Marketing & Management from ACU, which has unintentionally supported the transformation of his hobby into a nationally reaching business.
His big break came with an opportunity to work for Aerial Vision Services (AVS) in Melbourne. With AVS he shot drone footage for big clients, such as Racing Victoria, long running television series Neighbours, and Australian soccer A-league team Melbourne United. This work then led him to an internship with global firm, TLA Worldwide.
At only 23 years of age, James is now working for himself from his home base in Warrnambool, completing work for key local clients, like South West TAFE, and Emmanuel College. However his portfolio extends to a national level, working with major clients, such as Woolworths and Music Victoria (a project initiated by Mushroom and Michael Gudinski).
James is also an active volunteer on the Board of the Warrnambool Surf Life-Saving Club, directing their marketing and communication needs.
Stephanie is a commercial fashion photographer based in Paris - one of the world’s major fashion centres. Using her experience and connections, Stephanie has created a platform to bring up-and-coming Australian and New Zealand designers into the highly competitive fashion scene in France - via a publication called Peachy Keen Magazine. Printed in French and English, the magazine aspires to promote the geographically distant designers with strong ethical and sustainability values.
Prior to publishing Peachy Keen, Stephanie attained her Professional Photography Diploma through Parisian photography institute, Speos. From there she has worked in both Paris and Montreal as a freelance photographer for European and North American designers and magazines, including cosmetics giant L’Oreal.
Stephanie always returns to Emmanuel College during her trips to Warrnambool and shares her experiences and technical knowledge with our studio arts students. On her last visit in 2019, she gave a masterclass to aspiring senior photography students.
Stephanie is currently studying for her Bachelor in Early Childhood Development through Deakin University.
In amidst the bushfire crisis of 2020, Garry’s work managing Warrnambool’s Telstra Store saw him dealing face to face with those in our community who were directly impacted. On sharing these experiences with his friend and classmate, Tom, the pair came up with an idea over lunch in the hope of making a difference.
In fear of it being just another idea that got “left at the table” they decided to act at once. Within 19 days, the boys had organised and staged a huge community music event - Coast Aid.
While the boys had never organised anything of this scale before, they quickly learned that asking questions leads to answers. Momentum built quickly, and before long they had all the permits, musicians, sponsors, and food vans in order. The community of Warrnambool turned up in droves on the day and raised an incredible $16,512.85 for the bushfire relief appeal.
The event was recognised on Australia Day by the Warrnambool City Council for Community Event of the Year.
After securing a highly sought-after position in the Graduate Program at Macquarie Capital it took only 7 years before Peter was appointed a Vice President. He has been instrumental in developing improved mental health practices within Macquarie Bank and is currently working with fellow member of the Class of 2006, Simon Hogan, to implement new programs.
Prior to joining Macquarie Capital, Peter made the Dean’s List honours on completion a double degree in Civil Engineering and Commerce at The University of Melbourne. While at University Peter was heavily involved in tutoring and mentoring his peers.
Peter in known for his loyalty to his friends and family, and his undying willingness to give of himself to support others is second to none.
Virginia McCormick nee Moloney has a long list of distance running titles from all over Australia. She has represented Australia at the 2017 IAAF World Cross Country Championships and the 2018 Commonwealth Games in the Marathon. However, it was Virginia’s performance at the 2017 Gold Coast Marathon that firmly recognised her as an elite athlete, opening doors for her on an international stage. The race secured her a personal best time and saw her ranked 9th nationally.
Virginia is also a secondary school teacher at Elwood College where she teaches Year 12 Psychology and years 7-10 PE and Health. At the College she also fills the roles of Daily Organiser, Timetabler and the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Program Coordinator.
Virginia has also been recently named an Ambassador for AMP Tomorrow Makers Fund.
As an artist, Aimee Timpson is regularly exhibiting and creating work for clients under her brand Aimee’s Visual Arts. Aimee has recently exhibited at Montsalvat and Art on Piper and is part of the Macedon Ranges Arts Trail. Her work also features on the cover of a recently published book “The Mira Side” by Karla Popovic; and in 2018 Aimee won a National Centre for Farmer Health photography award.
In addition to her own creative work, Aimee also runs a variety of art classes - classes for adults aim to mentor people back into art, and classes for children aim to either support building their VCE folios or for young ones to foster their creativity.
Edwina Goodall is a successful business woman in the building industry and along with her husband is the operator of Warrnambool Timber Industries - the largest glue laminated timber manufacturer in Australia - producing laminate beams for building projects across Australia and New Zealand. Edwina has been working for the business for eight years, and is now heading the organisation.
Edwina is also a member of the Glue Laminated Timber Association of Australia where, she is a member of the Technical Committee that is rewriting the Australian Standards.
Edwina also owns an Engineering and Software design firm – ED Quick Design. Edwina’s engineering software is used all over the southern hemisphere.
After working for 12 years in the fitness industry Emma McDowall together with her now husband, alumni Mark McDowall, identified Bendigo as the ideal spot to establish a Snap Fitness Gym. With Emma’s business acumen and passion for health and fitness, the business very quickly went on to become one of the biggest clubs in Australia and has been recognised from over two and a half thousand Snap Fitness centres around the world as: Most Innovative Franchise of the Year in 2016, had the Largest Number of Members in 2017 and has consistently placed in the top 3 for Highest Revenue.
Emma was also individually recognised as the Australian Snap Fitness Club Manager of the Year 2015.
Emma has taken a passion for health and fitness and built it into not only a business, but a large community with a culture of positivity, support and motivation.
The Senior Manager of the Victoria Racing Club at Flemington, Liam O’Keeffe oversees 35 staff to ensure the track is ready for the 600 plus horses that use the facilities on a weekly basis along with having the course ready for the race that stops a nation - the Melbourne Cup. Liam began his career working part time at the Warrnambool Racecourse as part of his Year 11 VCAL studies, which quickly moved into an apprenticeship.
Liam has been recognised with awards from the Australian Golf Course Superintendents' Association, and Anco and received scholarships to participate in study tours of the UK where he spent time with track managers at Royal Ascot, York and Newmarket, and racecourse operations in Singapore and Hong Kong.
As a professional basketballer Nathan Sobey is achieving at the highest levels. Nathan’s career began locally with the Seahawks, but his dedication and perseverance has seen him quickly progress to playing state level with the Ballarat Miners, then nationally with the Cairns Taipans and the Adelaide 36ers. Nathan is currently playing with the Australian Boomers, whose 2018 Commonwealth Games efforts saw the team win gold. Nathan was also listed in the top 10 of All-American College basketball in the USA.
Nathan is always willing to return to Warrnambool to talk give back to the community giving his time to school groups and at coaching camps. He is also a keen supporter of Muscular Dystrophy Awareness.
Help us to uncover your amazing classmates by nominating them to be an Inspiring Alumni or Young Alumni Achiever.
