Jack Harper

"You have to have a drive, purpose and passion each day."

Jack arrived at Yarra on his first day wearing a blazer and shirt that were far too big, shorts, a striped tie and knee-high socks.

“There’s a photo – the blazer was so big that I wore it until the end of Year 12!” he says.

“I already knew two boys well and we were in the same tute group. We were a really sporty group and so everyone fitted in and made connections early on and those friendships were maintained all the way.”

Sport was a key part of Jack’s happiest moments at school - he played in a premiership-winning cricket team – and after graduating, health and exercise became his career, too.

He has a degree in Exercise and Sports Science at Deakin University and a Masters in Clinical Exercise Physiology.

Jack now teaches in the Master program and combines this with private clinical work.

“I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do so I had my finger in a few pies in terms of subjects at school. It’s easy to get caught up in ATARs and pre-requisites but if you want to work your way into a profession, there are lots of options to get there,” says Jack.

“I decided on exercise and sports science and quickly realised that was the career with my name on it. For me, it was important to go down a career path that I would enjoy.”

As well as teaching, Jack is leading a new project at Deakin that involves developing simulated content for students to give them more exposure to working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, people with disabilities and people from culturally diverse populations.

Jack says his years at Yarra inspired him to work hard and to seize opportunities.

“I remember the motto about looking to the hills or sky and I’m a big believer that if you walk around looking at the floor, you miss so much of what is going on in the world. It’s important to take life moment by moment and to be grateful to things that happen each day,” he says.

Jack also believes in small moments having impact and he remembers such a moment happening in Year 9.

“I wasn’t the most academic student but my Head of Middle School, Jenni Farmilo, called me to her office and spent five minutes reflecting on things I’d done in class that year. She’d noticed my progress and hard work and that recognition motivated me for the next year,” says Jack.

“Experiences like that at Yarra shaped a lot of who I am today.”