Kaitlyn Schurmann – Class of 2017
I graduated from Clonard in 2017. I had a slightly different end to my high school studies as I completed year 12 over two years.
Clonard provided me with some great opportunities including leadership roles, going on an Indonesian language trip to Malaysia and studying a variety of subjects, including Indonesian and Accounting, which I then majored in at university.
Although I have some fond memories from my time, I also struggled a lot with my mental health. I will always be grateful for the support I received at Clonard. Particularly, Ms Anticev, Mrs Power and Mrs Riddle were big supporters who I leaned on a lot. Nothing was ever too much for them to work through and they and all the other teachers believed in me when I couldn’t believe in myself. I cannot understate the role they played in getting me through school and setting me up for life after school.
After I graduated, my life took a different path to what I had planned. I was accepted into the university course that I wanted – Bachelor of Commerce (Accounting) and International Studies (Indonesian), however I also started cycling again and went on to represent Australia for the next six years.
Throughout school I had been cycling and had competed at some state and national level races. Unfortunately, when I started to struggle with my mental health in year 10, I lost interest in most things including cycling and ended up stopping riding. During my last year of year 12. I slowly started riding again. Towards the end of the year, a cycling coach reached out to me to see if I was interested in being coached and possibly trying to make an Australian team. This was very out of the blue and something that I had never considered as a viable option after school.
I have worked hard to achieve in both my careers. After finishing Uni, I moved to Adelaide and got a job at Deloitte as an auditor. Unfortunately, I soon realised that the culture at Deloitte didn’t suit me and after a year I landed another job as a finance officer at the Office for Recreation, Sport and Racing- conveniently where I was also an athlete as part of the South Australian Sports Institute. I balanced this career with my cycling training and racing. I have been able to travel the world and see some amazing places while representing my country on my bike. So far, I have won ten international medals and after a year break in 2024, as I write this I am travelling to Belgium to race in a World Cup.
What I have learned from my experiences so far is to not be afraid to ask for help and speak up when you are struggling (I’m still mastering this though) and that there is no timeline that life has to happen at – you can take a year longer to do something or take a break when you need- you are in control of your own timeline.
