Palladian of the Month
The Palladian Student Reps are excited to introduce a new initiative for Mac.Robbians, Palladian of the Month! This initiative hopes to help students gain insight into the eventful lives of several Palladians and allow students to obtain perspectives on different career paths. We are fortunate to have Dr. McPherson as our first Palladian of the Month! Dr McPherson has had a very interesting career path and currently leads the well-being team at MacRob. Click the link below to view the interview!
Mannat B, Palladian Student Representative
Palladian of the Month
Dr. Bridget McPherson
What do you think are your greatest accomplishments?
My life has featured a lot of accomplishments that have felt great and meaningful to me for different reasons. A few things come to mind when I think about accomplishments that have brought me a lot of joy and pride.
I was Captain of a soccer team that I loved for many years, and we finished second in our league one year, which was a huge accomplishment for us! Plus, the speech I gave to my team at the end of that season is mentioned in Ellen van Neerven’s new book, “Personal Score” - that’s probably about as famous as I’ll ever get, and I’m very happy with that!
Professionally, I have established myself as something of an expert in student wellbeing, and I’ve spoken at a lot of conferences and schools about how educators and parents/carers can function in a way that sustains the wellbeing of young people. A highlight of that part of my life is that I developed a wellbeing framework for schools called Holding Modelling Mentoring - this is the framework we’re using at Mac.Rob. A few years ago, I presented a seminar with my colleagues about the framework at a national conference in Hobart. It just so happened that Steve Biddulph, who is a very well known Psychologist and author, saw our presentation and was giving a keynote speech straight after us. During his speech, he spoke about our framework and said he was impressed by our intelligence and clarity, and that all educators should listen to us! That was pretty amazing and exciting!
But perhaps I would say my most significant accomplishment to date is that I’ve surrounded myself with people who are fundamentally good, and who are striving to make a positive contribution to the world. I choose to invest in friendships with people that fit that criteria, and I’ve built a family with my partner, who also fits that criteria. Together, we’re raising our son to be kind, emotionally intelligent, curious, and interested in the world around him. That’s an ongoing process that’s filled with little accomplishments!
Could you share a notable challenge or obstacle you encountered along your journey and how you overcame it?
As with accomplishments, my life has featured many obstacles and challenges, as most lives do! But the thing that I have found most challenging across my life is patriarchy. The patriarchy that we live in means that all women, including me, are still confronted with a raft of explicit and subtle challenges that stop us from being our best selves. Because of the messages that women receive about how they “should” be, I am often challenged by perfectionism, self-criticism, worry, guilt, self-sacrifice, and self-doubt. I am aware that I am also fortunate to hold a great deal of privilege, and my challenges are fewer than those of others. But as a society, we have not yet overcome the challenge of sexism and misogyny, and I am not completely free of this obstacle.
However, being a Mac.Robbian taught me that I can choose to reject patriarchy. When I was at school here, we were taught that being a woman was a wonderful thing, and that womanhood was not something to be embarrassed by, but something to embrace and celebrate. I learnt that I can be motivated, ambitious, demanding, and assertive, and people will respect and love me for that.
I am still often frustrated and challenged by the patriarchy, so I haven’t overcome this fully, but I am proud of being a woman. I’m a feminist, and I always demand more than what this patriarchy offers. Sometimes that is exhausting and difficult, but I am sustained by this knowledge: I am never going to be liked by everybody, and I don’t need to be liked by everybody. I have family, friends and colleagues who love and care about me, exactly as I am, and that is more than enough.
Why did you decide to return to Mac.Rob to work in the wellbeing team? Was there any change you felt needed to be done when you were a student here?
After I left my previous job at a different school, I set up a Psychology clinic and a consulting business for schools, and I vowed that I would never work in another individual school again, unless it was Mac.Rob! And then, literally a month after opening my clinic, this opportunity at Mac.Rob arose, and it was something I couldn’t allow to pass by! It’s been a dream of mine to lead a whole school wellbeing approach, which is what I’m doing here. But more significantly, I am a strong believer in the value of single sex education for girls particularly, and I believe that Mac.Rob provides a unique educational opportunity for young women and gender diverse people. My work here now was not so much prompted by a desire to see change from when I was a student here, but more so that this school was such a life-changing experience for me, and I wanted to contribute to that being true for other young people. There is so much potential in the students that are part of the Mac.Rob community - our students are interesting, hard-working, funny, curious, empathic, kind, loyal, trustworthy, and clever. I want to play a part in making sure that our students love their time here, and that they go on to enjoy fulfilling, contented lives. So that’s why I’m here!
What's your favourite (silly?) memory from your time at MacRob?
I have lots of brilliant memories from my time as a student at Mac.Rob but this is my favourite one. When I was at school here, we didn’t have mobile phones or the internet. So, if you wanted to buy tickets to a concert or event, you had to line up at a ticket agency in the morning, or jump on the phone at exactly 9:00am to get tickets before they sold out. Tickets always went on sale on a weekday, so fans had to be creative in trying to get tickets while they were at work or school. I used to LOVE the band Oasis (I even went on exchange to Manchester when I was at uni because Oasis was from Manchester), and they announced that they were coming to Melbourne for a concert. Of course, tickets were going on sale during class time on a school day. So, at 8:55am, my friend and I asked to leave class, and we bolted to the public phone at school (yes, we used to have a public phone, under the stairs in Kingsway) to scramble to get tickets. As we panicked, inserted our coins to pay for the call, and dialled the number, the Principal at the time, Ms Blood, walked past, saw us, and stood and stared at us. My friend and I freaked out - we didn’t want to get in trouble and we didn’t want to miss out on getting tickets, and we were also not thinking straight! So we both just turned our backs to the Principal and continued trying to get our tickets. And Ms Blood simply walked away!! To this day, I have no idea if she was just thinking about something else and didn’t even register that the halls were silent and we should’ve been in class, or whether she perhaps knew that whatever we were doing was more important than being in class at that time. I like to think it was the latter, and that she was right - I have no idea what class or content I missed that day, but we got tickets, and I remember that Oasis concert and it was awesome.
How do you find that your time as a student at Mac.Rob has influenced your personal/professional growth?
Before I was a student at Mac.Rob, I was often nervous and unsure of myself. Being a student at Mac.Rob provided me with immense confidence and self-belief. Through all of the experiences that I had here, I became convinced that I was worthy, that I could do anything that I wanted, and that I shouldn’t let obstacles stop me from being who I want to be. I learnt that my authentic self would be loved and valued. This has had an immeasurable impact on all aspects of my life. I couldn’t possibly list the ways that this has affected my growth as a person and a professional, but I think there are two key aspects. Firstly, Mac.Rob taught me that I am a worthwhile human. And secondly, Mac.Rob taught me that there is nothing more valuable than a lifelong love of learning. These two things mean that I am in healthy, respectful relationships, and that I am always looking for opportunities to explore and learn, from experiences and people. Thus, I am always evolving and growing. This means life is interesting and there’s always something to be excited by. I am very grateful to Mac.Rob for these lessons.
Any final words of wisdom for MacRobbians?
I am full of wisdom for Mac.Robbians! I could go on for hours! But here’s a few important points.
Enjoy your life now. Don’t wait for what might come in future.
Even when things are really hard, they can, and do, get better. As you grow and become an adult, you will gain independence, resilience and power. It might not seem possible now, when other people control a great deal of your life, but your life can be anything you want it to be, even if you have to wait a little while for that to be true.
Your future will not be defined by the grades you attain now. It will be defined by your experiences, your explorations, and your relationships.
You are enough. You do need to be more than who you are right now. Everyone at Mac.Rob wants you to be exactly who you are.