Humans of Old Trinity #10 - Chris Hargreaves

in conversation with Denis Curnow

What years were you at Trinity?

I was at Trinity from 2006 to the end of 2011, so from Year 7 to Year 12.

Why did you go to Trinity?

I think to be honest it just came down to my parents’ decision. There are a lot of similar schools in the area, but I think they’d heard about the school’s positive reputation, so Trinity ended up being the choice. I was the first one in the family to go through, and later my brother James was there from 2009 to 2014. 

What sort of things did you do at school?

I tried to involve myself in a lot of what the school had to offer. I spent a lot of time playing various sports - cricket in the summer and football in the winter, and athletics wedged in between those two seasons as well. I was fortunate to be able to head overseas with the school, playing cricket in England and hiking in Papua New Guinea. During the senior years I spent time in the outdoor education space – I was a Leppitt Leader as it was called back then, and was also part of the training team that was put together to support other camp leaders who were coming through. All of these things made for some incredible formative experiences. I remember I had this pretty clear moment early on in Year 12 when I thought, “Well, it’s my last year here, so I might as well try and throw myself into everything.” I ended up picking up things like debating, more sport, participating in drama acts and trying to fill up my time as best I could. Of course I was involved in the House system as well – just doing everything to try and enjoy myself within that and make it a positive experience for the other boys in Roberts House. 

Have you had any involvement with the school post-graduation?

Yes, on and off over the years. I’d say I was particularly more involved while my brother was still there and then for the first few years after his graduation, too. I spent some time playing footy at Old Trinity in the Under 19s, and later on I got involved in a tutoring program that was running for a little while for Year 9 and 10 students. I was actually back there mid-last year as part of the Year 8 Learning Journeys program, where I gave a short presentation about my career situation and how I got to where I was. So in small parts over the years I’ve tried to touch base with the school. 

What sort of stuff did you talk about in your presentation?

The message of the presentation was to follow the things that you’re passionate about, and if you want to make a change then you should absolutely do it. Essentially I spoke about how I ended up becoming a high school teacher. I left high school to do a Commerce degree and worked in the corporate sector for a couple of years. Funnily enough, I always liked the idea of being a teacher, but I think something in the back of my mind had it pigeonholed as a sort of ‘lesser’ profession. But ultimately I got to a point where I thought I’d like to change things and also go back and be a student again, so I returned to university and studied a Master of Teaching and now I’m pursuing a real passion of mine.

Was there a moment in your old job that you realised that you weren’t following your passion?

I wouldn’t say it was a single moment, it was probably more an accumulation of time at work where I wasn’t overly satisfied with what I was doing, and then I thought, “I’m still in my early twenties, I’ve got time to go back to uni and figure out if I do want to do something else. And even if it doesn’t work out, well then that’s only another year or two down the road, and I’ll still have taken something from this experience.” One of the things I reflect on is figuring out what you want to do with your career is probably a case of trying a lot of different things, and ultimately deciding which one you enjoy most. Fortunately I was really happy with the change that I made.

What do you teach?

At the moment I’m teaching Commerce and Humanities subjects. I’ve got a few senior Business Management classes and a Legal Studies class, and then a junior Humanities class keeping me honest too. 

How have you and your school coped with the pandemic and its effect on the school system?

I’m teaching at the moment at Albert Park College and fortunately I’d say they’re really well equipped to deal with the pandemic. Even before everything that occurred this year, they’re a fairly progressive technology-oriented school, so there was a lot of infrastructure in place that made the move to remote learning fairly straightforward - as much as it could be. There’s certainly challenges that go along with this, but it’s a unique experience. The thing for me is trying to create some sort of meaningful relationship with the students while working remotely can be challenging. So at the moment, with my senior classes being back on campus, it’s been really valuable to be able to spend time with the students again, compared to trying to get them motivated and engaging with the content over a Google Meet or a Zoom call, which can be a bit tricky at times.

Has there been any way you’ve been coping with the challenges that quarantine life and lockdown life has thrown at you? 

Our house has been embracing a few cooking challenges, which have been both experimental and enjoyable. I usually spend quite a lot of my time exercising, too - cycling at the moment - so time on the indoor bike trainer is keeping me motivated for when I can ride and race with a bunch of friends outside again. With the first onset of COVID I saw many athletes setting new challenges to stay motivated in the face of cancelled or postponed events, so I used the first lockdown period to train for and complete a charity ride on the indoor trainer. I raised some money for OTG Wayne Schwass’ mental health social enterprise, Puka Up, and ended up spending a little over eleven hours riding on the trainer one Sunday in the living room. Getting physically and mentally prepared for this - as well as the fatigue afterwards! - gave me some renewed perspective on what I was capable of and definitely took my mind off being in quarantine.

Speaking of exercise, you have been pretty active on the Strava group, in the first week you topped the leaderboard with 13 hours or something ridiculous like that. How has that come about, is fitness just a passion or have you competed?

There’s probably a couple of things coming through there. In school I was into a lot of sports, and then I got into rowing fairly intensively when I left Trinity. The commitment to try and row at a high level sort of took over my life for quite a few years, and I really enjoyed that challenge. More recently I transitioned away from that into cycling, and am now appreciating riding for its more social element but also having access to a lot more racing opportunities. Having said that, just about all the major rides for this year are being cancelled or postponed! So I’m trying to maintain some physical fitness because I’ve found at least for me personally, being physically healthy and fit is a really good support for staying mentally healthy too.

Where to from here? What are your plans for the future?

In terms of teaching, trying to accumulate experience across a range of year levels and subjects. I suppose you aim to teach more of the VCE subjects, but that’s not to discount the challenges of the younger secondary years! I’m not too concerned at the moment. I think it’s just about building up quality experience across a range of settings.

I’d like to race my bike at a competitive level while working around my teaching commitments, but that’s a little bit on hold at the moment - we’ll wait and see what the end of the year brings.

It’s obviously a pretty strange time now, and I’m sure there a lot of OTGs who are feeling the pinch a bit or feeling a bit lost at the moment - would you have any advice or words of wisdom for the OTG community?

There’s probably two things I’m trying to keep in mind at the moment. One would be that it’s really important to stay connected. That could be as simple as chatting to one mate each day - a phone call or a text message or whatever form it takes; recognising who your support network is and doing what you can to cultivate the relationships with those people is so beneficial. The second thing would be to find something that you enjoy, and then make plenty of time to do it. For me at the moment that’s riding my bike; I can spend my day at work and then look forward to going out for a ride or a ride indoors, knowing that it gives me a bit of a mental release during these challenging times. 

I guess that thing that you enjoy doesn’t necessarily have to be a career path or anything, just something you can escape to, or a hobby?

Absolutely. Particularly with people spending so much of their time working from home, the line between working and being able to switch off in your own home space seems to get pretty blurred. So finding something that you enjoy and can focus on is really beneficial for helping to get through this time.