“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.”