Smith's Hill High School logo

Smith's Hill High School

Smith's Hill High School

Promoting excellence in a spirit of trust and cooperation

Telephone02 4229 4266

Emailsmithshill-h.school@det.nsw.edu.au

Alumni Life - James Chappell

alumniheader

 

James Chappell went straight into full-time work as a cadet at Wollongong Council after graduating from SHHS in 2011. The field in which he is now employed was not on his radar until the end of the HSC, saying, “I didn't even know what a town planner was when I applied for the role.”  The attractive offer of having his degree paid for by Wollongong Council sold James on taking the job, as he was initially intending to study Environmental Science. 

I remember James as an earnest, quiet and focussed young man who, by the sounds of it, is now enjoying the ideal lifestyle, finding time for intellectually satisfying work, sport and art!

James completed a Bachelor of Urban and Regional Planning, studying part time via correspondence at the University of New England over five and a half years. He stayed at Wollongong Council as a town planner until October 2018, when he resigned and started a town planning consultancy of his own - JPC Planning. A bold move for which he has been successful to date. He is living a life of creative thinking: unafraid of taking some risks in life and using his intelligence to balance out his work life with other interests.

“The thing I like most about town planning is I get to visit building sites sometimes. When I was a little kid I wanted to be a builder and still find any form of construction or trade pretty interesting. I can't say many of the developments I've been involved with or approved have been that interesting in any unusual sort of way, I did approve a karaoke bar above Wan Long supermarket back in the day though - which I believe only stayed open for about two months!”

Smith’s Hill High School students would know well the (conveniently located) Wan Long shop, but who knew there was ever a karaoke bar above it!

A keen and talented cricketer currently playing with the University of Wollongong team, James recently spent six months playing cricket in Northern Ireland.

“There are a number of player exchange agencies that line up overseas players with clubs looking for an overseas player to bolster their squad. For example, in our Wollongong grade cricket comp, this season one of the teams has a professional County cricketer playing with them. Cricket in the UK is a completely different beast, there are opportunities everywhere because there are so many clubs, many drawing from only a small pool of locals. As such, most teams have an overseas 'pro'. It's less common in Australia. The deal was that I would come over and play in their 1st 11 and coach their junior sides in exchange for a place to stay, airfares and 100 pounds a week.

Playing in Northern Ireland there are four main leagues and each year one team is promoted and one is relegated from each division - Premier league, Section 1, 2 and 3. The team I played for was in Section 1, after years of being in Premier League, and were looking to win the comp and get promoted back into the top league. Premier league is the highest cricket you can play in Northern Ireland below being selected for the Irish national side and the overseas players in that league are usually on decent money - 500 to 800 pounds a week isn't unusual. There are guys that aren't quite good enough to crack professional cricket that make a good living moving from club to club in this sort of arrangement.” 

James has also travelled widely, visiting the United States twice, Spain, England, Thailand, Japan and Malaysia. “Travelling for me is never the postcard experience some people make out, it can be challenging and difficult at times - but it is a rewarding experience for those reasons and is something I'd definitely recommend. “

James’ HSC subjects included Maths, English, Earth and Environmental Science, Biology, PDHPE and Visual Arts. He says, “It's hard to pick a favourite - depending on the day it would be shared three ways between English, Art and E&ES.”

When asked about which subjects have been the most helpful to his employment, James responded:

I'd say the most practical subject with regard to employment would have to be English. Writing is an important skill. I had Mr Trickett, he was always super enthusiastic about his classes and teaching – I definitely found him to be a great teacher.

In my view, the majority of school work is more about learning discipline (to study, to listen) and patience (to learn for the sake of learning, to stick out six years of high school) - not everything you do in life is relevant or important to an end goal - it's the ability to focus on the everyday task with as much focus as possible”.

I confess I cannot hide my own bias as a “recovering Visual Arts teacher” by asking whether James thinks electing Visual Arts in high school helped in any way to his current situation.

“I think everything you do in life influences where you end up. It was definitely therapeutic to have a subject that involved 50% practical work and allowed you time to detach from conscious thought and relax whilst being creative. Still to this day I use creative outlets like art and music and sport to calm the mind and refresh.”

This proves that Visual Arts is a worthwhile subject for the senior student and contributes to life skills of creative problem solving, as well as leisure pursuits!

I was not surprised to see that James continues to enjoy art making and puts his drawings on Instagram regularly. You can see more of his artworks at @chappoart.

I was gratified to see that he has one of his HSC artworks there, a lovely black and white image he calls “Mount Keira on a Starry Night”. James has a graphic style and is inspired by subject matter from popular culture. He has a precise drawing technique with pen and ink, often employing stippling for fine detail in terrific compositions.

So James, what is inspiring your career right now?

“Resigning from local government and starting a business of my own has been refreshing. The feeling of competence that comes with fending for yourself to earn a living feels good and drives me to continue”.

What are you most chuffed about in your life?

“That through hard work in the six or seven years straight out of school, I have put myself in a position to prioritise work-life balance. At the moment I am limiting my working week to 25 to 30 hours which gives me plenty of time to pursue other interests.”

What would you say that SHHS did for you that other schools couldn't?

“I definitely believe that you slowly become who you hang around with. Being surrounded by like-minded people was a good thing academically. I would qualify this by saying that I try to have friends from all different backgrounds as it can be very easy to lose sight of other people’s outlook and opinions.” 

What advice would you have for your 17/18 year old self?

“Do things. It doesn't matter what. Opportunities don't come to you when you're sitting at home.” 

James’ case demonstrates how it is beneficial to be flexible in tertiary study options. Doing well in the HSC certainly can open doors and provide financial benefits such as cadetships or scholarships and early entry into university, but perhaps not in areas you might initially consider.

Is there anything else, or any advice you'd like to share with the current high school generation?

“I can tell you that it doesn't feel like eight years since graduating (from SHHS) - listen to your parents - time flies when you're on the run, so make the most of your school days and early 20's!

Plant a tree, pat a dog and don't be in a rush.”

 

Sharon Mearing – Visual Arts teacher (Retired)