Rojini Selladurai

“I got involved in as many things as I could, and that helped shape who I am today.”

From the moment she arrived at Yarra in Year 9, Rojini Selladurai threw herself into school life – both inside and outside the classroom.

“Maths was always one of my stronger subjects, but Years 9 and 10 were great because there was such a breadth of subjects to choose from,” she says.

“I did a bit of everything – Food Technology, Dance, Maths, History and some business subjects – and I was also involved in sport. I played badminton and netball and loved Saturday morning sport.”

A busy school life and her determination to grab every opportunity and experience that came her way called for careful time management. It’s another skill that Rojini learned at Yarra that she finds useful today in her role as a Product Manager for REA Group.

After studying Commerce at the University of Melbourne, Rojini joined Telstra’s mobiles product team for four years.

But living and working overseas was always part of her plan and Rojini moved to London.

“I travelled on my own a lot before I went to London and I enjoyed spending time with myself,” she says.

“I’d also lived a comfortable life at home with my parents until then and I wanted to do something different. Going to London on my own was one of the best experiences of my life. It was challenging but I met new people and there is a big Australian community in London.”

Rojini worked as a product manager for a financial business in the UK before recently returning to Melbourne and joining REA Group. Her partner, whom she met while overseas, has returned to Australia with her.

Rojini has nothing but positive memories of her years at Yarra. She remembers joining a production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream in her final year and being particularly pleased with her Year 10 history project on Gandhi.

Her advice to students currently at Yarra is to choose subjects that interest them and to talk to ‘as many people as you can’ to find out what options are available after leaving school.

“I wish I had done that more. I went to university not really knowing what I wanted to do and what potential jobs were out there. There are so many things you can do, but you won’t know about them until you put yourself out there,” she says.

“The school motto is all about opening your eyes to what is in front of you and that is relevant throughout life.”