Year 10 Careers Week

Luke S. Kennedy is one of Australia’s most sought-after motivational speakers, known for his raw honesty, humour and powerful life story. After overcoming a troubled past, Luke now inspires audiences across schools, businesses and communities with messages on resilience, mental health and self-leadership. He’s an international best-selling author, founder of Empowering Youth, and passionate advocate for creating real, lasting change in young people.

Ally Ibrahim completed her VCE in 2018. She completed a Bachelor of Laws at Australian Catholic University in 2022, and her Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice at the College of Law in 2023. She was admitted to practice in October 2023. Ally has practiced exclusively in family law since her admission at a mid-tier law firm in the city. She previously worked as a legal assistant in family law, and a paralegal for an immigration law firm. In 2022, she also assisted in an appeal to the United Nations on Australia's approach to dealing with human rights issues.

Mukehs’s job as a Utilities and Services Engineer at the Melbourne site of Pfizer’s Global Supply is to keep our site's essential services running smoothly, ensuring they can reliably manufacture the medicines people need. He is also the Subject Matter Expert for Water Systems, which means he makes sure their water for manufacturing is always delivered in a compliant manner for pharmaceutical production. With a background in Chemical Engineering and Information Technology, Mukesh is passionate about analytical and automation technologies which maintain and drive the Critical Services and Utilities systems and processes. His advice for school students is to always stay curious about how things work, and you might just find your passion in unexpected places.

After completing a Master of Clinical Psychology at the University of Technology Sydney in 2020, Claire has worked as a Psychologist across multiple settings. She currently works in a private Geelong-based practice with adolescent, adult and geriatric clients, specialising in working with trauma, neurodivergence, anxiety and chronic health presentations. Claire has also worked in Elite Sport with the AFLW, Hospital and Community Health settings. She is passionate about supporting her clients through their challenges and helping them find their path towards their best version of themselves.

Over the last 15 years, Jeremiah’s career has included working for a charity, a group of eight universities and one of the ‘Big 4' banks. He also started his own business, People Squad, with a friend, which is focused on helping young people navigate career planning and job applications, especially interviews. Jeremiah is excited to share how he navigated different industries and jobs until he found a home in banking, and what he has learnt from starting his own business.

Mitch graduated from Heathdale in 2019 before moving on to the University of Melbourne. Five years later, he still hasn't escaped—he's a third-year med student, which means he could give you a flu vaccine, but if you need a new kidney, you should probably look elsewhere. Outside of studying, he's a bit of a hobby chameleon, jumping between social sport, theatre and other bits and bobs. He is looking forward to sharing about his journey through Heathdale, his time after high school up until now and his plans for the future.

After completing Year 12, Joshua started working as an electrical apprentice while studying for a Certificate III in Electrotechnology at Victoria University. He has worked as an A Class Electrician across residential, commercial and industrial settings for the last 17 years. Currently, Joshua is working on growing his electrical business that specialises in new homes, service work and light commercial projects. He enjoys working with people and building teams, and strives to create a workplace and culture that people enjoy being a part of. Joshua is now married with three kids, and he loves F1, playing basketball and footy.

Yosup is the lead strength and conditioning coach for Combat Sports in Australia. He works specifically with Olympic level Judo, Taekwondo and Boxing athletes, based at the Victorian Institute of Sport in Albert Park, Melbourne. Yosup’s job is to get Olympic athletes fitter and stronger for their sport so that they can win at the highest level. He works closely with a big team including coaches, physiotherapists, sports doctors, dieticians and psychologists to devise optimal training programs for each of their athletes.

Mikaela Donges is an international airline pilot for a large and reputable Australian airline, with over 15 years of flying experience. Having had a keen interest in aviation from a young age, with encouragement from her family, she took her first flying lessons at 15 and eventually flew solo at 16. After completing her training, she gained her first pilot job at the age of 20 in northern outback Australia. She then moved to New Zealand to work for her first airline, and after a few years, headed back to Australia to fly a jet aircraft. After several years of domestic jet flying, she is now fortunate to enjoy her role as a First Officer on a Boeing 787 Dreamliner, travelling the world. She enjoys an active lifestyle—hiking, camping, snowboarding, rollerskating and gardening. She is currently a mentor for new pilots at her airline and is keen to encourage younger generations to chase their dreams and aspirations.

I’m 22 years old and a second-year apprentice at C.O. I finished my VCEVM at Heathdale in 2021. I worked at Coles while doing my police enrolment, and once that fell through, I started a 4-week trial period as a Carpenter (Labour) to see if I liked the job. Then, they offered me a full-time job. I’m doing my TAFE course at Victoria University in Sunshine. I play football at Werribee Centrals Football Club and my life revolves around my 2-year-old Rottweiler named Otis.

I graduated from Heathdale in 2014 after completing my VCE. I am an experienced Program Manager with a track record of leading cross-functional teams, delivering complex projects and aligning strategy with execution. I thrive in fast-paced environments, bringing structure to ambiguity and driving outcomes that make a real impact. I am passionate about collaboration, clear communication and building programs that scale.

My name is Jack and I’ve been in the Fitness Industry for over 4 years now! Coming out of high school at the end of 2017, I didn’t really know what I wanted to do. I ended up taking a gap year, travelling, trying a bunch of different things and ended up in the fitness industry. I grew up in the gym environment from a young age and had a health scare back in 2018 which drove me to take my health more seriously. I ended up completing a Cert III and Cert IV in Group Training and Personal Training which has led me to where I am now. I’ve been managing a gym for the last two and a half years, and coach many clients through the various obstacles of life and health.