International Grammar School alums continue to shape meaningful and diverse pathways beyond graduation. The journeys of Cian Galea (2013), Kestrel Stone (1997) and Nino Molinaro (2018) reflect a shared foundation built at IGS, demonstrating how an IGS education can inspire lives of impact across the world.
CIAN GALEA 2013
After school, I began a Bachelor of International and Global Studies and Laws at the University of Sydney. I suspended these studies to do a seven-month trip around Europe with IGS ‘lifers’ Joshua Maxwell and Joel Di Qual. Later in my studies, I went on an exchange to the Universidad de Chile before travelling around Latin America.
Towards the end of my studies, I embarked on my career, largely working within the trade union movement. I spent a few years juggling this work with my Master of Political Economy before deciding to move to London last year, where I am now working at the National Education Union. On the way over, my partner and I walked the 790km Camino de Santiago, at the end of which we got engaged!
I am so thankful for my time at IGS, which opened up countless opportunities to pursue my passions for travel and workers’ empowerment. For example, I am currently using my language skills to help organise the Spanish-speaking cleaners at my current workplace, which would have been impossible but for IGS.
Kestrel Stone (nee Pilkington) 1997
After school, I started a Bachelor of Liberal Studies (blend of Arts & Science) at the University of Sydney but took a gap year after 3 semesters to do a season working in Meribel – a French ski resort. At the end of the season, two of my best mates from IGS, Sebastian Matthews and Julian Gutierrez, joined me for a summer season working on the Spanish Costa Brava, before we all returned to Sydney to finish uni. I transferred to a Bachelor of Arts with a double major in History and Psychology, before getting my first corporate job in a project management consultancy, working in admin.
From there, I found my passion for projects – more specifically, helping people learn how to use project management tools and techniques to achieve whatever goal was before them. I stayed in that consultancy for seven years, working my way up to Office Manager, then General Manager, and completed a Master of Project Management in the process. This took me from back-of-house admin to front-of-house consulting on projects and training project managers. The best part was getting to work across industry, with private, public and not-for-profit organisations – delving into projects as far and wide as defence, aerospace, transport, software development, environment, health, justice and Indigenous outcomes. I became a tourist of industry and I loved it! In 2012 I started my own training and consulting business, specialising in project/program/portfolio management – Elemental Projects.
Along the way, I moved to Curl Curl on the Northern Beaches with my husband, Dave, our three kids, Ethan (22), Olly (14), and Lexie (11), and our two dogs, Malinche and The Queen. Olly and Lex went to IGS for a couple of years (before the commute became too much for us) and loved their time at the school as much as I did. Seeing how IGS has grown in size but held onto its core values of inclusion and creativity, and anyone-can-do was very special.
These days, I’m still obsessed with projects. As CEO of Elemental Projects, I lead a team of twenty fabulous people who, like me, love to support ‘good work, done well.’ I’m often back at the University of Sydney, either lecturing in the Master of Project Management or as a member of the Industry Advisory Board for the School of Project Management. I also sit on the board of an international standards organisation for project management, which takes me all over the world a couple of times a year, chatting about projects with government and industry leaders, academics and other specialists. But I’m just as happy ferrying my kids to playdates and walking the dogs at Curly.
Looking back, I think the lessons I learned and the people I met at IGS had a massive influence on where my life has gone. I was only at IGS for my last two years of high school, but those years profoundly changed me. I learned to accept myself as I am and to have a real go at the things I want, because life is long, success is in the eye of the beholder and there are many paths to happiness.
NINO MOLINARO 2018
After school, I decided to take a gap year and had the incredible opportunity to live in South India. I spent time in Pondicherry, where I immersed myself in the city’s unique blend of French and Tamil culture, and later in Bangalore, a vibrant hub of history and culinary experiences. That year opened my eyes to different ways of life and taught me the value of adaptability and curiosity.
After my gap year, I moved to the United States, where I pursued a double degree at the University of Arizona in Business Management (Bachelor of Science) and French Literature (Bachelor of Arts), which brought amazing opportunities to travel and meet lifelong friends.
However, when we think we have it all figured out, the unexpected can bring enormous joy and newfound purpose in our lives. During the final year of my degree, I reconnected with theatre, first as a hobby on weekends, then as a rekindled passion that had lain dormant, completely transforming my outlook on life and giving me an everlasting drive.
I remember the NIDA courses I took as a child in Sydney, which were paramount on my weekends and after school, and the happiness that acting would bring when I grew up. This reconnection with my younger self while performing on stage gave me a sense of freedom, inspiring me to fulfil a higher purpose.
Upon this realisation and after graduation, I decided to prepare for Drama school MFA auditions, dive into Shakespeare, and hit the ground running in building my confidence as a performing artist.
I’m over the moon to say that today, I’m based in London, pursuing my MFA in Classical Acting at LAMDA (the London Academy of Music & Dramatic Art). My life now revolves around storytelling, collaboration and constantly pushing myself to grow as an artist and a person.
Looking back on my journey so far, my biggest takeaway is this: I firmly believe we must step out of our comfort zones and be bold when making decisions. My drama teacher and mentor in Tucson always used to tell me that “fortune favours the bold if the hard work sets the precedent”. Had I not picked up a copy of Richard III in college out of sheer curiosity, who knows where I would be today.
IGS has a great sense of community, which I have continued to honour by being present for people, and I am inspired to make a difference in the world.
