He had some terrific role models among his SHHS teachers…
“I’d say the teachers at [SHHS] directly inspired my teaching career. I had some fantastic teachers: Ms David was a huge inspiration. She was such a gun at Japanese and a seemingly bottomless well of knowledge. She would answer all of our silly and sometimes weird questions about the language and culture. Mrs Yastreboff was also a passionate maths teacher. I remember being put on detention for not doing my homework and she’d spend her own lunch times to make sure I completed all the activities. At the time I hated it, but looking back as a teacher, I realise how much dedication she had for maths and teaching.
As for stand-up, there’s so much inspiration out there! I recently watched and loved Bo Burnham’s Netflix Special “Inside”, a musical comedy special, shot and performed by Bo Burnham, alone, over the course of a very unusual year. Pretty apt for our current [Covid 2021] situation too!
On the topic of the Covid19 pandemic, I asked Harry how this might have affected his life/career, helping or hindering it in any way... “Well, we’re currently in a lockdown which means no live stand-up comedy. It’s hard to figure out material when you don’t have any feedback and that’s made it tough. Luckily, it’s pushed comedians to find other outlets and it’s been inspiring to see the different content they’ve created as a result of not being able to perform live.”
While Harry is currently experiencing the challenges of teaching during the NSW Covid lockdown, he remains positive and hopeful for the future… ”I can’t wait to dust off my passport one day. And, in a couple years I’d like to take a break from teaching to focus a bit more on comedy.”
Harry Jun is blazing a trail for others. Stand-up comedy has attracted many SHHS students over the years and continues to do so. Readers may recall the success of current Year 11 student Sophia Marosszeky who, in the April 2021 school holidays, travelled to Melbourne to perform at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival as part of the Class Clowns (stand-up comedy competition for teenagers) National Finals. She represented Smith's Hill and placed ‘Runner Up’ at the competition.
“Looking back [on his time at SHHS], I feel like we were given such a wide variety of experiences at SHHS. We had School Rock Concerts that high school bands could perform in, Rock Eisteddfod and Ms David even organised a school trip to Japan. Insane! I feel like the teachers were really great at imbuing their own personal passions and interests into their teaching which became infectious. I don’t know if you could get that anywhere else."
Harry also reflected that as a 17 year old, about to finish high school, he wished he had “hesitated less! And, not to spend so much time thinking about doing things and just do them! Like, figuring out how to do tax returns!”
His advice to the current crop of Smithshillians is: ”There are very few people whose opinions actually matter, and it’s important to focus on these. I think trying to find/prove yourself gets waylaid by trying to meet other people’s expectations, but trying to make them happy can just leave you feeling empty. Just do what you like and try to do it well!”
