Class of 1991
BA (Hons) History and American Studies
IF YOU STUDIED YOUR UNDERGRADUATE PROGRAMME AT YORK ST JOHN UNIVERSITY OR FOUNDER COLLEGES, DID YOU GO ON TO POSTGRADUATE STUDY?
Yes, somewhere else.
JOB:
Executive Principal – XCL International School, Penang
WHY HAVE YOU CHOSEN THIS PHOTO AS YOUR YSJ SNAPSHOT?
One is of me behind the SU bar in 1989 I think. The second is proudly awarding my youngest daughter with the BXCL Primary School Sportswoman of the Year Award at our annual Prize giving Ceremony at my school in Penang.
WHAT ARE YOUR FONDEST MEMORIES OF YORK ST JOHN UNIVERSITY?
The people I met there and the friendships I made which continue to this day are my fondest memories. The College, as we called it then, was very much a second home to me and I found it extremely difficult to adjust to life after I had graduated.
WHY DID YOU CHOOSE YORK ST JOHN UNIVERSITY OR FOUNDER COLLEGES?
History was my only love academically. What better place to study history than at St Johns in the middle of York and at Grays Court. My dad had also attended St Johns 1959-61 and only had positive things to say. (Incidentally, my eldest daughter has just started her second year at the College!)
WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN DOING SINCE COMPLETING YOUR STUDIES?
I drifted for a couple of years after leaving as I struggled with coming to terms that I had left and my second home and family had ended. I then undertook my PGCE at Aberystwyth before teaching in Milton Keynes for six years. In 2000 I decided to go and teach in south east Asia, a place I had always wanted to visit but couldn’t afford to go to on holiday with the plan to come back to the UK after a couple of years. I went to the British International School, Jakarta (now British School Jakarta) met my wife and ended up staying for seven years. While there, I became a father to two wonderful little girls. I then moved to Dulwich College Suzhou as Deputy Head of College, a start up school and stayed for eight years where we were blessed with another fantastic daughter. I then became founding Headmaster of Malvern College Egypt, before being recruited by GEMS education in Dubai who installed me as Headmaster of their school in Penang which was subsequently bought by XCL Education. I have been here for over three years. I received my MA in Education from the University of Bath in 2020.
WHAT ONE PIECE OF ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO A CURRENT STUDENT, OR ONE ABOUT TO GRADUATE?
Ensure that you get the degree that your efforts deserve. Do not settle for less than 100% effort so that you get the best result you can. You will regret settling for second best. After graduation, look for a job in an area that you want to work in. You have to enjoy your job, life is too short to just be occupying a position you have no passion for. I would also say that you should pursue your dreams and not be put off by rejection or disappointment. You have one life – live it to the full. Remember St John’s motto ‘Ut Vitam Habeant et Abundantius’ – ‘That they may have life and have it more abundantly.’