2020 Annual Review

Valedictory Address Wednesday 18 November 2020

MS SOPHIE MATTERSON (2006) PHOTOGRAPHER AND SOLO TREKKER

At the School’s Annual Valedictory Dinner, alumna, Ms Sophie Matterson (Head Girl, 2006), reflected on her solo adventure across Australia with her five camels, and the lessons she learned from the solitude of her trek in outback Australia.

Don’t get me wrong—I love planning. A huge amount of planning was essential for me to embark on my trip. I spent more than four years working with camels, two years dreaming about doing my own camel trek, and over a year actively preparing and planning for my adventure. As you can imagine there are no degrees in ‘camelology’ or lonely planet guides on walking across Australia with camels, so experience itself became my teacher, and I soaked in all the knowledge that I could from new situations and the people I met along the way. Two years ago I ended up at that large, beautiful and sacred rock in the centre of Australia, Uluru, working with camels. It was from there that I went mustering wild camels and from these I chose five camels to break in and train to carry my equipment, food and water for the trip. Not only did I have to learn to train these camels but I had many other preparations to make before I could even set off on my trip. For example I spent hours learning to make my own camel saddles. I also got my truck license to transport the camels to Western Australia (WA). I bought rifles and learned to shoot, in case I had to deal with an aggressive wild bull camel coming into camp. I learned to build a shelter, cook on a fire and general bush skills. I then contacted station owners, Indigenous communities, applied for a sponsorship from Australian Geographic, and organised five months’ of food to be dropped at intervals along the trail as well as making endless calculations of the amount of water I would need to carry for both myself and my camels. I was as ready as I could be to set off from the turquoise blue of the Indian Ocean. As I set off from the WA coast, I remember being wracked with anxiety in those early days that I would do something wrong and either endanger myself or my camels. But slowly that anxiety faded and my confidence in my ability grew as I settled into the rhythm of the trip. But then, just when I thought everything was starting to go right, I experienced the most terrifying day of my life.

The last time I stood on this podium was when I gave my final speech as Head Girl in 2006. I knew that I was not destined to become a doctor or lawyer, as that just was not me, so I had resigned myself to believe that I would never be invited back to the School to talk about my career path. Never in a million years did I think I would be addressing the Graduating Class of 2020 speaking about camels, of all things! So thank you to Principal, Ms Jacinda Euler, President of the Old Girls Association, Mrs Julie Caton, President of the P&F Association, Mrs Susan Playford, staff, parents and Year 12s for the honour of speaking tonight. And thank you particularly to the parents for trusting me to not advise your daughters to quit their paths to university, buy a couple of camels, and wander across the most remote regions of the country alone. I know full well the anxiety it induced in my own parents and I would not wish it upon you. To this Graduating Class of 2020, I would imagine that 99 per cent of you sitting here right now are not thinking of a career in camels. Well, neither was I back then when I was in your position. I was imagining that I would have a career in Film and Television, and I did for a while, but then life presented me with a fork in the road and I decided to choose the path less travelled. For some reason camels sparked my curiosity. I fell in love with them, and by pursuing what I loved, it expanded my world, taught me many new skills and introduced me to new people and new places. This bizarre path that I had decided to take made no sense to my friends and family, and initially I thought it would just be a temporary deviation from my media career. But as I delved further into the world of camels, opportunities to learn more kept presenting themselves and I kept saying yes. I had no idea where this was leading me but I trusted in my gut instinct and it has led me to embark on the most amazing and empowering adventure of my life. So do not worry if you don’t have a plan for your life and don’t worry if you do have a plan, because even the best made plans don’t always go according to plan.

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Brisbane Girls Grammar School Annual Review 2020