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鈥淭here were a lot of new and enthusiastic teachers at a new school.鈥�

Paul Fildes enrolled at Yarra in 1968, about a year after migrating from the UK with his parents.

鈥淚t was a small school in those days 鈥� tiny compared to what it is now. I remember there were a couple of buildings but the grounds were huge,鈥� he says.

鈥淚鈥檇 previously been at a boarding school in Bedford and when I arrived at Yarra, I remember wearing shorts and long socks 鈥� you wouldn鈥檛 have seen that in the UK! But, of course, the climate here was very temperate compared to England.鈥�

Paul remembers football games on a very muddy oval, a newly-built gym with a basketball court 鈥� but no swimming pool then. There were also far fewer classrooms and on July 20th, 1969, he remembers the whole school cramming into a room to watch the Apollo 11 moon landing and to see Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walk on the moon.

Paul was a keen tennis player and enjoyed Saturday sports. He was inspired by the arrival of sports teacher, Allen Crawley, in 1969 鈥� a year after representing Australia at the 1968 Olympics in Mexico.

鈥淗e was inspirational and we all knew who he was and looked up to him. He was a huge figure at Yarra,鈥� recalls Paul.

While his parents were both doctors and encouraged Paul to study science and maths, in his final years of school he moved instead towards commerce, economics and history.

鈥淭he school did place emphasis on academia but Yarra wanted you to become a well-rounded person who could adapt to change and I left with very positive memories,鈥� he says.

After graduating at the age of 17, Paul enrolled at Monash University and studied commerce and law. After two years, he took a six-month break and worked in a nursery, but returned to his studies and became a lawyer. He initially worked in smaller law practices, then in larger firms, before becoming part of a boutique practice that specialises in family law.

鈥淚鈥檝e taken career risks and tried different things. You have to create opportunity and if you have an aspiration, you owe it to yourself to give it your best shot,鈥� he says.

鈥淚 think it鈥檚 important when you are choosing what you want to do with your working life that you do what you want to do. We spend a lot of our life working, and you will end up resentful if it鈥檚 not what you want to do, but what someone else wants you to do.鈥�