Former TIS grad Taleni Patterson (Class of 2014) returned home to Australia recently to attend the University of Sydney where he is enrolled in the Bachelor of Economics program. Luckily for TIS, he didn’t start until January 2015, which meant he was able to accept a temporary position in our IT Department this past fall. Taleni’s job was to create a series of videos showcasing some of the recent advancements at TIS, such as the newly expanded front field, as well as a video highlighting the features of Phase II. Taleni also designed and created the title screen for TIS videos. We sat down with him before he left to talk about what TIS has meant to him.
What are your best memories of TIS?
My best memories of TIS as a student are my grade 12 experience week trip to Cebu and winning gold in ACAMIS. Gold in basketball had been one of my goals at this school since I first joined the high school boys basketball team. I was on the team in grades 10, 11 and 12. Achieving something that was for years just a dream was incredible.
In what ways do you think TIS helped to prepare you for university?
TIS gave me huge variety of extra curricular activities, and I’m proud to say I think I made the most of them, but managing a time table was a skill I had to learn almost immediately. If I wanted to play three sports, be on student council and be in the drama play, I had to make sure that there was time for me to study FIRST, before I focused on other activities.
TIS also gave me a more open mindset. I can’t say that this one helps in studies but in terms of making friends and getting to know people in university, it’s huge. Because of the multitude of cultures in universities, already being accustomed to so much internationalism makes it really easy to make friends. Above all else though, TIS taught me how to study independently. I think this is one of the strongest points of our teachers. Their ways of putting learning into our hands and letting us choose how well we want to do, by making the knowledge available to us if we ask, but not so much as babying us. No one in university is going to go through the course material and hold your hand through homework, so knowing how to learn by yourself is instrumental in doing well.
What advice would you give to the grade 12 students who will be going to university next year?
Don’t become complacent; the beginning of the year or the semester is important and there will definitely be speed bumps further in the year, so make sure you work hard on all your course material from the very beginning. Have fun and enjoy your last year; not every subject HAS to be taken. If you can take some subjects that aren’t as work-heavy, that’s a good thing. It’s not about pushing yourself the hardest, it’s about pushing yourself the furthest, so give yourself that extra time when you get home to study more in the subjects you’re having difficulty with.
What are your plans going forward?
My plans are always the same, to study as hard as I can at university, learn as much as I can and do as much as I can. Hopefully, spend some time abroad and then come back to this part of the world to work in banking and finance.
You can watch Taleni’s video about the front field here and Phase II here. The Phase II video also includes the new title screen he created.