Where are they now – Ben Willian (SPC 2010-15)

The College recently reconnected with Ben Willian (SPC 2010-15) who is now following his dreams of working in marketing and sales after gaining entry into a special program at university which  allowed him to learn valuable skills and experience with the uni’s marketing team.

Where has life taken you since leaving SPC?

I’ve been studying the Bachelor of Business, Marketing and Management at Fed Uni in Ballarat and I recently graduated. During my time there, I was lucky enough to get into an IPP placement program so I was working full-time with the uni marketing team, sort of like an internship. From there, I managed to get more work, so I have been working at the uni a couple of days a week and in that time also, I started working at an advertising agency, RU Advertising, so I work there three days a week and at the university, two days a week, doing a bit of event planning for an open day coming up. My ambition is to be in marketing and sales.

What are your fondest memories of your time at St Patrick’s College?

Probably just the friendships and being around your friends. Now that I am working full-time, you don’t get to see your friends as much as you would like, so being able to at lunch-times, to catch up with your mates, were some of the greatest times I had. You take it for granted, I guess, when you’re at school. You know it’s sort of cool at the time, but then sometimes, you want to go out and earn some money and do some other stuff, but now that I’m working full-time, I wish I could go back to school and hang out with all those boys again! I keep in touch with a lot of them, not all of them, but most of them, because I’m from Ballarat and a lot of them are still around.

Which teacher from your time at SPC had the greatest impact on you? Why?

Probably Mr (Peter) Joyce. I connected with him really well. I had senior English classes with Mr Joyce. I wasn’t bad at English, but I wasn’t the greatest student and he helped me improve with my English.

How has your education shaped your professional life?

Definitely leading down the path and coming through St Patrick’s, the school helped me to work out what I wanted to do. I had meetings with (the College Careers Coordinator) Mr (Anthony) Meehan about where I wanted to go, what I wanted to do and then coming from those meetings and catching up with other teachers, I worked out that I had a passion for marketing. My father has an advertising agency, so I’ve grown up around marketing, and I worked out that this is what I want to do.

How has your time at SPC shaped your personal values and your family life?

I’m very family-oriented and I love my friends’ families, so I suppose from hanging out with people from St Patrick’s and learning the College’s values and goals too, I’ve taken those in my own footsteps, and I try to be the sort of person that St Patrick’s brings the boys up to be.

If you could pass on one message to the students of today, what would it be?

Cherish the moments that you have at St Patrick’s, because time flies and you don’t realise that until you leave.