Brittanie McCarthy (class of 2018)

It is a delight to have on staff a young alumna who graduated from Year 12 at the College only a few years ago in 2018. Brittanie was educated at Corpus Christi School before commencing Year 7 at St Mary’s in 2013. Her younger sister Caitlyn was also educated at the College, graduating in 2019.

From the start, Brittanie threw herself into school life, grasping every opportunity that came her way. Participation in the sports program led her to play soccer with great commitment from Years 7 to 12. As well, she played cricket and netball and always took part in the Mud Run, Big Splash and Athletics Carnival with huge enthusiasm. Brittanie was a dedicated member of Nagle House. She makes the point that all these sports gave her the opportunity to meet students from other grades and to make new friends among different teammates each year.

Having already taken guitar lessons for several years, Brittanie enjoyed continuing with this instrument in Years 7 and 8 at St Mary’s.

Friendships were an integral part of Brittanie’s experience at St Mary’s College. Brittanie feels that she was able to develop significant relationships with her classmates which helped boost her self-confidence. The school allowed her to discover and develop her own passions and interests, while she continued to grow as a person along the way. Her many friendships endure today: Brittanie attributes this partly to the ‘best decision’ she could have made, to stay at the College for Years 11 and 12. Her year group grew very close and resulted in the friendships still treasured today by this group of young women.

In Brittanie’s words:

I most enjoyed the welcoming atmosphere that really allowed me to thrive and to discover the subjects that I could pursue at university. Particularly in my final years of school, I had some really fantastic History and English teachers who truly encouraged me to complete these subjects to the best of my abilities, something that helped me to discover an interest in media before commencing university. I really enjoyed connecting with my classmates and the rapport with teachers over the years that created a fun and inviting learning environment each day.

Brittanie was elected a Prefect in her final year, which happened to be our 150th anniversary: Brittanie’s Prefect role was created specifically for the anniversary year, which meant that she had a unique opportunity to be involved the planning and execution stages of all the events in that historic year.

Brittanie has many funny and unforgettable memories of her student days, among them the ‘unnerving competitiveness’ brought out in her sports class by a game of Ultimate Survivor Dodgeball, filling Dr Gourlay’s office with yellow balloons in reference to the movie Despicable Me, creating memes in English Literature to cope with complex names in a text, and the challenges of Outdoor Education in Year 10 on the Maria Island and Freycinet Camps. The reward for those particular challenges were the spectacular views at the end of gruelling hikes.

Upon graduating from Year 12, Brittanie commenced studies at UTAS for a Bachelor of Media, majoring in Strategic Communications, which she completed in 2021. This involved much online learning due to COVID-19, and it is only in recent times that Brittanie has been able to study at the UTAS Media School in person, experiencing and enjoying more of the social aspect of tertiary life. This clever young woman is currently completing a Masters in Strategic Communications, with the plan to finish it at the end of 2023.

Only six days after completing her first degree, Brittanie was snapped up by the Community Relations office here at the College, and it is hoped that her career with St Mary’s will be a satisfying and fruitful one.

Margaret Rootes
Heritage Officer