Our second speaker was Rob Matthews, who has a connection with Andrew because Andrew was his Under 16 Footy Coach and they now also work together in Ambulance Victoria. Rob works as an Ambulance Community Officer (ACO) in a voluntary capacity on his weekends, which happen to be Wednesday/Thursday! Unusual, but not when you know that Rob is a Chef at the Timboon Railway Shed Distillery. Rob grew up in Newfield and also attended Timboon P-12 School, and like Andrew, didn’t work hard in his last three years. He thought that the examiners would just love his essays - but not so. He was motivated to work when he was 15, as a kitchen-hand, at the Timboon Distillery, so that he could buy a phone. He felt anxious when going to work the first time and believed that they would be faster without him. Rob was surprised when he was asked to return and it didn’t take long for him to be promoted to other duties, such as frying food on Father’s Day! In Year 10, Rob didn’t hand in his Work Experience forms on the due date and had to spend time at the Timboon Childcare Centre. It convinced him that he didn’t want to work with 4-year olds!. Rob’s urban work experience took him to Melbourne’s Collingwood Children’s Farm – quite ironical, given that he had come from the country. He enjoyed his time but again it didn’t interest him and, after he completed Year 12, he was offered to study writing at Uni but he felt that they would know he was a ‘fraud’. In 2015, Rob visited Forage in Port Campbell and was impressed with their business location and menu and was offered an apprenticeship. He made many mistakes but he learned to prepare food – 8 hours pitting olives, butchering and baking, all areas are professions in their own right. He attended Gordon in Geelong for training in weekly blocks over 3 years. Apprentices don’t earn much and he told us of his financial low-point, when his meagre budget only allowed him to sleep on a friend's floor and eat hot-dog ramen! Bleh! But he did get to travel overseas whilst learning and working. By 2019 Rob was a qualified Cert 111 chef but COVID impacted the hospitality industry in 2020 and he worked on a dairy farm while the industry recovered. Times have changed and now Rob has his own home, with his partner Nina and their three (former feral) cats. Rob understands that young adults have to go through the difficult process of making decisions and he advised our Year 10 students that they should explore different areas and also undertake subjects they enjoy. His life-philosophy is that we need to care for each other, lift others and help them also find happiness, so that we can make the world a better place. Both Andrew and Rob are certainly making the world a better place for all of us. Thanks to the TAP for providing this opportunity. -Katherine Fox & Fiona Mackenzie, Year 10 Health & Careers teachers Comments are closed.
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April 2024
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