Elodie Nadon (JD BPsychSc) graduated from Brighton Secondary College in 2009 with excellent VCE results. After starting BioMedicine at Monash, she transferred to Swinburne University to study Psychology. It was duirng this time that Elodie was diagnosed with a brain tumour. After undergoing brain surgery, rehabilitation and radiation treatment, Elodie eventually returned to studying Psychology, this time back at Monash. She graduated as dux of her degree in Psychological Sciences.

At this time, Elodie decided to pursue postgraduate studies in Law, being accepted into the Juris Doctor course at Monash. Her studies involved a semester in Italy. Once again, Elodie graduated as dux of the course and was offered an internship at the prestigious international law firm, Herbert, Smith, Freehills (HSF). As part of this internship, Elodie spent a month working at the HSF Tokyo office. Elodie’s work at HSF has been in Commercial Law.

Following her return to Australia, a routine scan revealed a relapse in Elodie’s cancer, requiring further treatment and on-going monitoring. As part of her processing of the experience of brain cancer, Elodie has been involved in a number of state and national cancer boards, becoming a youth cancer advocate.

Wanting to broaden her legal experience further, Elodie has taken leave from HSF and embarked on an associateship with a Supreme Court Judge working in Criminal Law. Among the choices Elodie will face at the end of this year is whether to return to Commercial Law at HSF or proceed towards the Bar Entrance Exam and pursue a role as a barrister.

Elodie is an excellent example of someone who has worked hard to overcome obstacles and achieve her goals. She has also demonstrated that the pathways towards these goals are rarely linear or smooth.

Dylan Murphy is a screenwriter, director and performer. His work has been recognised by the Melbourne WebFest and the Australian Writers Guild and includes the web series Feedback, the award winning short film Super Birthday, and the upcoming comedy anthology Who Do You Know Here, for which he established and led an expanded writers room of local filmmakers and comedians. He has also acted in the ABC series Upper Middle Bogan and The Inbestigators, as well as the play Dummy, which was awarded Best Show at MudFest 2019.

David Karoly was a student at Brighton High School during 1967-72, a skinny nerd with a keen interest in science and in sport. He did well at school and went on to do a Bachelor of Science degree at Monash University, then a new University with new science facilities. He majored in Physics and Applied Mathematics, but shifted to Meteorology for his Honours year at Monash. It was there that his interest in the environment and outdoor activities flourished as a member of the Monash Bushwalking Club. He was lucky enough to get a Shell scholarship in 1977 that funded him to do his PhD in meteorology at the University of Reading in England from 1977 to 1980.

David is now an internationally recognised expert on climate change and climate variability. He is Leader of the Earth Systems and Climate Change Hub in the Australian Government’s National Environmental Science Program, based in CSIRO. He is also an honorary Professor at the University of Melbourne. He is heavily involved in giving talks to the government, to business, and to community groups on climate change and what it means to them.

From 2012 to 2017, he was a member of the Climate Change Authority, which provides advice to the Australian government on responding to climate change, including targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. He has been involved in the Assessment Reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in 2001, 2007, 2014 and 2021 in several different roles. As a Lead Author for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, he shared in the award of the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize jointly to the IPCC and to Al Gore. He was elected as a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science in 2019 and was awarded the 2015 Royal Society of Victoria Medal for Scientific Excellence in Earth Sciences.

From 2007 to February 2018, David Karoly was Professor of Atmospheric Science at the University of Melbourne and in the A.R.C. Centre of Excellence for Climate System Science. From 2003 to 2007, he held the Williams Chair in the School of Meteorology at the University of Oklahoma. Before that, he was Head of the School of Mathematical Sciences and Professor of Meteorology at Monash University during 2001-2002.

My name is Alex Yu and I graduated from Brighton Secondary College (BSC) in 2012. I continued my studies at the University of Melbourne, completing a Bachelor of Commerce with double majors in Economics and Finance, as well as a Diploma in Languages: Japanese (Dean’s special approval Super Advanced Stream). I also studied one year at Kyoto University in Japan as an international exchange student during my university years. Once I graduated from BSC, I volunteered and worked at BSC as an assistant Japanese teacher (when I was in Melbourne), for a period of six years. I travelled around the world throughout the years and visited hundreds of cities in 27 countries. Travel and photography are passions of mine, as well as learning various languages and immersing myself in different cultures.

I then interned at the Australian Embassy in Tokyo as part of the Public Diplomacy section in 2018. I assisted with managing the Embassy’s social media and helped with various official events promoting and enhancing Australia and Japan’s bilateral relationship. I currently work at the Australian Embassy in Tokyo as a Consular Officer. I assist Australians who run into trouble in Japan, as well as legalising documents and issuing passports. I look after all Australians in need, ranging from those who become hospitalised from a ski accident to those who find themselves arrested, or even those who are starting a new family in Japan. I facilitated the first successful international prisoner transfer in 10 years from Japan to Australia and regularly liaise with various Japanese and Australian government departments to support Australians in Japan as best as possible.

I was a core member of the crisis response team that managed the Diamond Princess cruise ship coronavirus crisis in Yokohama Japan earlier this year, assisting with the hospitalisation and repatriation of the distressed Australians. I continue to support and assist Australians in Japan during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. I cannot wait until it is safe to travel again and look forward to exploring more parts of the world.