b'Inspired by YarraAlumni of Yarra Valley Grammar, establishedIt gave us insight into the reality that its ok to not in 1966, are known as Yarra Old Grammariansbe 100% certain about what you want to do, that you (YOG).TheYOGAssociationinspiresYarrasdo find your path. Cass (YVG student)pastandpresentcommunitieswiththeItwasgreattoaskquestionsandgetabetter opportunity to connect, benefit and contribute.understanding of the day to day running of their Twonewlyintroducedinitiativesthatareprovingtrulypositions and what they actually did to get into their inspirational,tostudentsandalumnialike,aretheYOGcourse and profession. Justyn (YVG student)Speed Careering event and the Inspired by Yarra podcast series. Both involve YOGs sharing their stories with students and community members in an engaging way. Inspired by Yarra PodcastInspired by Yarra is a podcast series of conversations with YOG Speed Careering YarraOldGrammarianswhorecallfunny,compelling, informative and inspiring stories from their time at Yarra and Yarra Old Grammarians hold a myriad of positions withinbeyond.Hosted by our School Chaplain Rev. Paul Joy, guests the world of work and each has their own unique journey andshare some of their fondest memories of Yarra and how their story of how they got to where they are today. This real worldtime here has helped establish and shape their lives, their experience,andtheadvicetheycanimpart,isinvaluablefamilies and their careers to date.to our students as they navigate the often tricky challengeThe interviews are recorded in person using a simple digital of subject choices and career pathway options.Each yearrecorder, or over the Internet on Zoom.us. To maximise sound ahead of subject selection deadlines, we invite approximatelyquality, we have also started to post portable recorders to our 30 YOGs back to Yarra to talk to our Year 10 and 12 students.remote guests for use during their interview. These are then This gives the YOGs the opportunity to share their careerposted back to us, or onto the next YOG.We have a very journeys, as well as general career advice. talented YOG sound engineer who edits the recordings and The selected YOGs cover a vast array of professions anda writer who listens to the conversation and writes us a one-careers,includinglaw,architecture,entrepreneurship,page summary that we use as show notes.thepoliceforce,engineering,veterinary,teaching,IT,A new episode is released on our website every fortnight on hairdressing,accountancy,hospitality,graphicdesignanda Tuesday at www.yvg.vic.edu.au/podcast and is uploaded medicine. to Anchor.fm.Through Anchor, our podcast is available on The students are presented with a list of the YOGs ahead ofApple Podcast (iTunes), Google Podcast, Stitcher, Spotify and the day and they are matched as best they can be, to YOGsmany other podcast platforms. We encourage our community in their desired fields.On the day, there are approximatelyto subscribe to the podcast in their preferred podcast player six students in each group and the groups change every tenandithasprovenverypopular,withapproximately6,800 minutes, with each student meeting with five different YOGsdownloads in its first year.across the morning.These informal and honest chats giveOne Yarra family told me how their whole family often listens students the opportunity to ask about journeys since Yarrato the podcast. They reached out to me to connect their Year and any specific questions about their industry or field of10 son with one of the YOGs in his chosen career whose expertise. story they had heard on the podcast.They are meeting the This event inspires both the students and the YOGs, and hasYOG at Government House when they go to Canberra to visit proven to be an excellent alumni engagement initiative. the Naval Academy there.They were most grateful for the opportunity to listen to so many great, and inspirational YOG I find it really rewarding being able to pass mystories; they truly are inspired by Yarra.learnings and experiences onto the next generation. Its great to be able to speak with the students, as I remember being in that same position, either not knowingwhattherightsubjectswereorwhereROSIE BROWN they would eventually take me. I think its a greatDIRECTOR OF DEVELOPMENT programthattheYOGAssociationrunsfortheYARRA VALLEY GRAMMARstudents, giving them the opportunity to talk with professionals from such a broad range of industries and experiences. Wish I had that when I was in high school. Jonathon Adam (YOG 2006)20 FACE 2 FACE MAGAZINE'