Emma Hain

“The teachers at Yarra were there for the students – they cared.”

Emma Hain’s journey to becoming a Geographic Information System (GIS) specialist and cartographer has taken many unexpected twists and turns.

At each juncture Emma has adapted, learned, continued to build her skills and embraced every opportunity to broaden her network and knowledge.

“My whole family is good at changing things, taking a risk and giving things a go. I’m someone who follows my gut, too. In the end, I think we are here for a reason and we all have something to contribute,” she says.

Emma’s Yarra memories are happy ones.

“I was heavily involved in theatre and music, I loved Outdoor Ed, kayaking, the camps and I had a ball at the Rock Eisteddfod. I also fell in love with rugby union,” she says.

Emma has long had a passion for theatre and her current ‘side hustle’ is working as a dresser for Opera Queensland. It is an outlet for her creativity that she relishes.

“When I left school, I wished I’d known there was such a role as a production designer because I would have loved to do that at NIDA. But I studied Art History at school and loved it and instead I went to La Trobe university and did that.”

“From that I got into Honours for Archaeology but while I was doing that I fell in love with Ancient Greek and Mandarin so I moved to ANU to study Politics and Mandarin instead.”

But at this point, Emma became very unwell due to Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and she had to step back from studies. When she was well enough to return, she took another diversion and went in to Sports Management, eventually moving to Sydney to work for the Australian Rugby Union.

Wanting another challenge, Emma then moved into the field of cartography or mapping using GIS software to support the needs of clients in diverse areas – from engineering to the environment.

“I use information like big data, legislation and satellite imagery to help people decide where to build a bridge or to highlight environmental hotspots. It’s a visual skill. You pull together science, logic and the visual to tell a story and create something beautiful.”

Emma is a firm believer in following your passions and the school motto still holds deep meaning for her.

“Lift your eyes, look at the sky and take a new view. Whatever situation you are in, look up at the sky and the stars and know you are part of one big universe. You don’t have to be super popular or super successful – you are you and your story is your story.”