Darren Sutton

Another view is that ‘who we are’ derives from the set of experiences in our initial period of independence, which for many of us was when we were in College. This is the time when we challenge those values to arrive at the set that are truly our own.

I don’t think we are static, who we are evolves through-out our lives, I think that the experience we had during our College years are foundational. They certainly were for me.

I arrived at John XXIII in 1984, a naive seventeen year old from a small rural town in South Australia. I was incredibly fortunate to be allocated a room in B1, which in those days was an all-male ‘corridor’.

In O-Week I met a great bunch of people and formed friendships with many of them, some of which remain strong to this day. We drank, we laughed, we listened to music way to loud and we developed bonds based on shared interests and increasingly shared experiences.

I learnt at least as much from my time in College, and with people from College, as I did from the lectures, tutorials and laboratory sessions I attended at the ANU. I learned about difference and how to respect and value it. I learned about integrity and how actions speak as loudly and often more so than words. And I learned about being there for people, having their back, and backing them up when things were difficult.

"Many great memories...and most importantly some great friends".

After a period out of College I returned on staff as the Academic Sub-Dean and then acting Dean of Students. This gave me a different perspective, but it also reinforced those lessons as I observed the next generation of John’s people, and their development into truly independent people. Those lessons have remained with me and have shaped my approach to life and work ever since. As already mentioned I have maintained close friendships with some of my ‘fellow collegians’, and have seen them excel as well as face and overcome incredible challenges.

A career in the public service might not sound exciting and it certainly wasn’t what I had planned while completing my PhD, but it has proved personally rewarding and provided a great satisfaction from making a difference in a variety of ways.

I look back fondly on my years at John XXIII, as a student and on staff for a total on seven and a half years over the period 1984 to 1993. Many great memories, so obviously I wasn’t too drunk, too often, and most importantly made some great friends.