Alumni Stories: 1990-1999

Linda Newnham- Recruitment Manager

Class of 1997

"After graduating from Henry Kendall I went on to study Japanese and Linguistics at Macquarie Uni. I'd always wanted to join the NSW Police Service but after a few years of studying Japanese at Henry Kendall, and participating in a short exchange program in Japan, I was interested in spending more time in Japan so moved to Tokyo straight after uni. The original plan was to get some 'life experience' before returning to Australia and joining the police service.

Fast forward 20 years and my Japanese language skill allowed me to take jobs that I would never have dreamed of otherwise. In 2006 I was part of the first 20 Google Japan team members and helped Google set up their operations here in Japan. Now I manage recruitment for Nike across Asia Pacific and am gearing up for Tokyo2020.

Though I don't get back to Australia much, my time at Henry Kendall is one of my most treasured memories and many of the friendships I forged there continue to this today."

The teachers and subjects that were most influential:

"Mr. Phelan: Mr. Phelan tragically passed away while we were still in Year 9 or 10 but he was such a wonderful listener and counselor to the students. I'll never forget the effect that his passing had on all of us.

Ineke Blakeman: Mrs Blakeman brought so much energy and passion to her classes it was hard not to fall in love with learning language. I can still sing some Indonesian songs thanks to her!

Phil Collier: Mr. Collier challenged students to do better than their best and I still remember his encouragement and honesty to this day.

Mrs. Ryan: Mrs Ryan was my art teacher and had great taste in music too. I'd love to get back in touch with her! That was back in 1994-5.

Angela Glover: she believed in every one of us and thanks to her we had some amazing work experience opportunities.

Mr. Adlard: sorry I was so bad at math. That has not changed."