I graduated from Riverview in 2014. It was an interesting place to be brought up, with a lot of wealth and a lot of heart. After graduating, I remained closely connected to the school and the Jesuits. I picked up part time work as a tutor and a debating coach. I moved into Bellarmine House and worked with Fr Gerald Brennan SJ for one day a week.

I had ample opportunities for formation, for which I’m grateful. Despite the wash of adolescence and money that was being a teenage boy on the north shore of Sydney, the school maintained a thorough line of core principles. Service was paramount. Opportunities for reflection on your faith life were there if you wanted them – my experiences on Kairos retreats still resonate.

Bellarmine House was another stroke of luck. Those first years out of school can be very challenging, if you’ve lived a sheltered life like I had. Fr Dave Braithwaite SJ was a huge support, as were the other people I lived with. I remember our masses in the basement, deep in the concrete beneath the rumble of traffic down Broadway. That’s where I learned to sing Salve Regina.

We were all aware of it at the time – the friendships I made then, with Fr Dave and the other people in the house, were very special. We shared a very close bond. It’s an exciting thing to be young and surrounded by like-minded friends and role models. We were having fun, and we felt like the project we were working on (The Two Wolves) was worthwhile. When things were bad – a death in the family, or a mental breakdown – we supported each other. I moved out of Bellarmine House after three semesters and have remained close my house mates ever since. 

I left Sydney in 2020, and ended up in Darwin. I was eager for a challenge, and took on a few roles working with vulnerable young people, and working in remote areas. I feel like my motivation was very similar to the young people at Cardoner who sign on for a service year. It’s a sense of, I’ve had it so good, for so long. Is there some way I can give back? Is there something I can do that’s good, unequivocally good? Please make it hard, and please make it worthwhile.

This year I began a program called Teach For Australia, which is a pathway into secondary teaching. I’ve been working at Xavier Catholic College, Wurrumiyanga. It’s a community of 1500 people, on the Tiwi Islands off the coast of Darwin.

I was lucky to be placed here – it was just one of the teaching vacancies that became available. But it’s a little bit like coming back home, too. It’s a Catholic community, with a strong connection to Riverview through Sr Anne Gardiner. It’s a parish with a strong faith life.

Sometimes I wonder whether my own faith life is circumstantial. Before eating a meal in public I make the sign of the cross, very surreptitiously, almost like I’m scratching myself, hoping no one will see. Would I go to mass if was living somewhere else? I didn’t in Darwin. But whenever life curves back around to what I know, I find myself thinking of the basement at Bellarmine House, the hum of the traffic, and the singing. Maybe that is enough to build an inner life on. I’m not sure, but I hope so.

One of the teachers here is a Canossian Sister. Sometimes I worry about money, or my own priorities in life. I’m fortunate in that I have her example near at hand to follow, that a life lived selflessly and generously is worthwhile.

In the meantime, I’ll be staying on at Xavier for the next few years. Best wishes to everyone at Cardoner, and to all the young people out on service placements. Have a safe and blessed Christmas.