Trinity College Talks

So the other week we were invited to Trinity College in Perth to do some talks and workshops with the year 8,9 and 10’s. Our role for the most part was to try and take away a bit of the stigma that boys associate with creative writing and to show them how much enjoyment can be found by simply putting pen to paper in any creative sense.

On the Friday, Garrett and I met with some of the staff to get an idea of how we were expected to approach the whole thing, because to be honest we were a little lost as how best to go about it. School for us ended ten years back and it’s hard seeing yourself as a teacher rather than a student when you step into a classroom again. But after our meeting and a weekend spent planning and brainstorming, we were pretty confident we could show the boys that reading and writing weren’t just things ‘nerds’ did.

In the beginning it was a little nerve wracking, sitting in a lecture theatre with a class of students staring down at you, but it didn’t take long for us to find our rhythm. And after two days and 600+ kids we’re undoubtedly more confident at the prospect of trying our luck again at other schools in the future.

Aside from the enthusiasm we saw, I think the best part for us was knowing how much we ourselves would have enjoyed young authors coming to our school to share their story and passion. Writing creatively wasn’t something we ever really had a chance of pursuing in school and certainly something we never expected to find a future in, and I feel like we achieved our goal by showing the students that there can be one if you have the want and drive to make it happen.

 

A huge thanks goes to Lisa Mack who made this all possible and all the staff and students that we worked with at Trinity.