At Brighton Secondary College we love hearing from past students as they make their way in the world and pursue their goals. Recently we heard from Meg O’Leary (class of 2011), a newly minted pilot with Tiger Air. Meg graciously answered a few questions for us about school and what it takes to see a dream come to fruition:
“I moved to Australia from the UK in 2008 and joined BSC in Year 9. I completed Years 9-12 at BSC. My favourite opportunity I took advantage of was to become Murray house captain in Year 12 and having the chance to develop my leadership skills.
I believe that motivation and dedication are key to achieving your goals, and an understanding that things that are worthwhile will generally not come easy. At times you may need to make sacrifices to achieve your long term goals. Remain optimistic and motivated throughout and keep your long term goals at the forefront of your mind.”
When asked about the challenge of pursuing a career in an industry that could be percieved as male-oriented, Meg went on to say:
“Don’t worry about it! Just do whatever you want to do and don’t allow any unwarranted generalised perceptions to put you off doing something you are interested in. As we all know age, race, gender, religion etc all have no bearing on our skill and ability to do a certain job. At the moment the aviation industry, among many other male dominated industries, are pushing more and more to raise the numbers of female employees and strive for gender equality across all roles.
Keep working hard towards your individual goals and don’t worry if thinks take a bit longer than you think, or are harder than you think. It doesn’t matter if you don’t have specific goal yet either. Just keep doing whatever makes you happy.”
Meg wishes everyone at Brighton Secondary College well, and the next time you fly Tiger Air, keep an eye out for Meg!
