Students enjoyed meeting Australia's top CEOs
Nine students from five secondary schools in the Diocese of Parramatta participated in the Big Conversation with the Business Council of Australia, held in Sydney on 28 March.
The event was organised by the Foundation for Young Australians, a national non-profit organisation that is dedicated to enabling learning and enterprise opportunities for young people. The students were invited to take part in the event following their participation in the Work Inspiration work experience program with VISA in 2013.
Students from St Mark’s College, Bede Polding College, Patrician Brothers’ College, Terra Sancta College and Xavier College enjoyed the opportunity to meet some of Australia’s most successful CEOs from Westpac, Telstra, Commonwealth Bank, NAB, Microsoft and McDonalds who shared their own education to employment stories and their challenges and achievements.
Brayden Kean from Bede Polding said the day was very informative.
‘Today we became aware of not only the opportunities available to us but also how to use them to our advantage in generating a greater level of success in our lives,’ said Brayden.
Lachlan Mifsud said Big Conversation was a great experience. ‘We engaged in countless conversations that opened our eyes to many aspects of business,’ said Lachlan. ‘We were given the opportunity to share our work inspiration experiences and communicate with the CEOs and listen to their employment stories. I enjoyed it immensely.’
Catholic Education’s RTO manager, Karen Ruppert, said the experience was an inspiring learning opportunity for students.
The Big Conversation provided the students with a wonderful opportunity to speak directly to CEOs about what they can do to support young people in their transition from school to further education or work.
The participating students were Jayden Defohlts and Jacques Quail from St Mark’s College, Stanhope Gardens; Lachlan Mifsud, Brayden Kean and Lachlan Tweedie from Bede Polding College, Windsor South; Corey Scott and Rohan Hudson from Patrician Brothers’ College, Blacktown; Crishelle Bonifaco from Terra Sancta College, Schofields and David Turner from Xavier College, Llandilo.