Manakon Eammano (2011).
Sydney and Montreal, Canada
Since finishing IGS in 2011, I went straight into a Bachelor of Applied Chemistry, completing that in 2014. I went on to work for UTS grad research school for a few years where I decided to do a Bachelor of Paramedicine and now I work on road for NSW Ambulance as a Paramedic based out of Haberfield station for over a year now.
I’ve pretty much have stayed local to the area and even have the pleasure to work with Hidemi Shishido, another IGS alum from 2005 on road. We even got a cheeky visit past the famed pink wall a few weeks ago.
Other than that, I never left the aquatics scene. I was swimming for leisure until I discovered Underwater Rugby back in 2015, where I got to play and travel around Europe training with various teams for two years and even competing for Norway at a club championship in Berlin.
I was selected for the Australian National team back in 2019, where I got a chance to play at the World Championships in Graz, Austria. Australia came 9th out of 17 teams which was Australia’s best result since joining the world stage.
I am currently on a trip in Canada where at the beginning of July I’ll be completing in my second world championship for Australia in the lovely city of Montreal!
Editors note: This was written in late June. Australia came 7th in the Mens behind Columbia! In the Womens, Australia came 4th behind world underwater rugby superpower, Columbia!
Dyon Leddie (2016)
Europe
I’ve been up to a bit since graduating from IGS in 2016. I’ve lived, studied and worked in Shanghai, the US, France and Morocco and of course have spent some time in Sydney’s inner west for good measure.
After a few years working in private equity, I realised the industry wasn’t for me and pivoted towards the wine industry, recently completing a double diploma in wine management at Le Cordon Bleu, Paris.
I now work as a wine importer which has allowed for some amazing trips around Europe, meeting some of the most incredible, talented and kind people in the industry. It’s something I look forward to continuing over the coming years.
I move back to Sydney in a couple weeks time, but for the moment I’m closing in on the end of a month-long hike through the north of Spain, having walked close to 1000km along El Camino. My next few years will be spent between Sydney and Europe, which is quite the dream.
I’m also incredibly lucky to say that most of my best friends are friendships that were formed at school. It’s nice that my year group is still so close. It’s not something I’ve seen in many other schools or places.
P.S. Shout outs to Ms Alonso. Incredibly grateful that languages have allowed me to live and work around the world in a way that wouldn’t otherwise be possible. I mightn’t have been the best student, but hey, thanks for putting up with my ****.
Ved Kamat (2001)
Tokyo, Japan
Hey IGS! It’s been quite a while — I left IGS, and Australia, in 2001 — moving back to my native India for a few years, and then to Japan where I live currently. I spent my childhood moving around a lot, from Mumbai to Auckland, Sydney to Singapore to LA, and went to about six or seven different schools. I did have the pleasure of going to IGS not once or twice, but on three separate occasions — so it was in a way the only school that made a lasting impact on me! Learning Japanese back in Year 3 was what ultimately set me on the path to living in Tokyo since 2013 — for that and many other things I am grateful to IGS!
So what have I been doing? I fulfilled every Indian parent’s dream and first became an engineer in India. After being a developer for a couple of years I packed it in and moved to Japan to study business, learn the language and start working in consulting. I then decided I disliked consulting and became an English teacher, a freelancer in tech, tried to start a business, and ended up working for various startups in Tokyo in product management.
I spend my days traveling in Japan, visiting onsens and getting my ramen and yakiniku in, with my wife who I met in Tokyo. Although I haven’t been back to Australia in 20 years, I would love to visit some day. If anyone is ever in Tokyo, or Japan, drop me a line. I have a lot of free time!
