On Tuesday the 19th of March, OPGA and the Student Futures Team (led by Stephanie Thompson), hosted an alumni careers panel for the senior school students.

Students heard from three extraordinary alumni members about their experiences during and post Peninsula.

Firstly, we were joined by Steph Reid, Class of 2014, a professional basketball player who has just returned from Brazil, where she qualified for the Paris Olympics as part of the Australian Opals team. Steph took a different pathway to many aspiring professional athletes, playing College Basketball in Buffalo, New York before returning to Australia to continue her professional basketball career. She is highly involved in charities which support her community and is passionate about empowering women in sport. Steph’s story is one of persistence and hard work and she is a true champion by all definitions of the word.

Also joining us was Emma Qiu, Dux of the Class of 2018 with an impressive study score of 99.85. She received a Monash Scholarship of Excellence in 2019 and is currently studying a Bachelor of Law/Arts at Monash with major/minors in French Language and Film Studies. She works as a paralegal at the NDIS Commission, and volunteers at the Victorian Bar. Emma recently completed a year-long exchange in Paris and as a first year, she also spent a month in Monash’s campus in Italy doing an immersive study tour. 

Last but not least, we welcomed Triet Nguyen back to school, Class of 2010 and a member of our OPGA committee. Triet joined Peninsula at 16 years of age from Vietnam as part of our international student community, after receiving a full scholarship. He received an ATAR of 99.2, before studying a Bachelor of Accounting and Finance at La Trobe University. Triet has lived, worked and studied across Asia, Oceania and Europe so far and is a board and committee member for a range of not for profit organisations. He is currently a Manager in Corporate Finance at BDO Australia.

The panel was moderated by our fantastic Heads of Year 12, Charlie and Abbey.

Thank you to our alumni speakers and student representatives in helping us a create a fantastic careers event for our years 10, 11 and 12 students.