Remarkable Lives - Launching the IB Diploma Creativity, Activity and Service Programme 2015
In 1992, as a fifteen year-old dissecting an ox eye in a science class, Dr Angus Turner was awestruck by the brilliance and complexity of the eye. In a moment of serendipity and boldness, he stumbled across an email address for the professor of opthamology at Oxford University, and he sent a request halfway across the world seeking work in the department. He was told that he ought to seek a medical degree first, but that there would then be a job for him at Oxford University at the end of it all, and there was. Attending the university as a Rhodes Scholar, and then returning to Australia in 2010 to establish the Lion Outback Vision programme with its mission to "prevent blindness and vision loss among regional, remote and Indigenous Western Australian's by improving access to quality eye health care services", Dr Turner has emerged as one of the great young minds of Australian medicine, and Year 11 and 12 IB Diploma boys were lucky enough to hear him speak as the very first speaker at the inaugural Scotch College CAS Launch Day.
Dr Turner offered an engaging account of his own journey, speaking to the theme, "A Life Lived in Service of Your Community". Speaking of his initial spark of curiosity, he described how his vision for the Lions Outback Vision programme was the fruit of many years spent feeding his curiosity, and taking the opportunities that permitted him to shape his mission. He spoke with humour and deep experience of the challenges of pursuing such a vision, particularly with regards to Aboriginal health in remote communities. As he talked about current plans to disseminate this model more broadly, he reflected on his own strengths and weaknesses, and how these projects are so often a communal effort. His talk obviously engaged the boys, as they peppered him with questions afterwards, curious as to how to maintain a focus over such a long period of time, how to turn a passion into a life-long vocation, and what to do when faced with adversity or setbacks.
The day involved the boys hearing from a range of speakers on themes related to the CAS programme, as well as completing sessions planning their CAS activities for the year ahead. Their time together culminated with a dinner, hearing from Griffin Longley from Nature Play WA not only about how important physical activity is in building resilience and confidence, but also how central it is to community relationships. He spoke powerfully of running night basketball tournaments in Perth's eastern suburbs, and how they had a dramatic effect on the lives of adolescents. It was a challenging insight into how something so central to the lives of many of the boys could be so decisive in the lives of others.
Punctuating the day were talks from Nick Northcott, the Chief Operating Officer from Telethon Kids Institute, who spoke of corporate life with a sense of social responsibility, Cassandra Lake from the West Australian Symphony Orchestra, who helped the boys to understand the powerful role of creativity in offering healing and support to the vulnerable and marginalized. Finally, the boys gained insight from John Webb, a long-serving former staff member, as to the centrality of these healthy habits in sustaining men through life's challenges.
It was a powerful day for the boys, and established a philosophical backdrop to the programme they undertake throughout their IB Diploma.
Mr Brendan Zani
CAS Co-ordinator
