At the end of the College’s Quatercentenary, we thought it would be interesting to follow the lives and careers of the Class of 2019. Their stories continue here.
PAGE 33
JAMES BARNETT I don’t think settling down suits me very well. Six years ago, I decided I would leave the comfortable slice of south London that I had grown up in for 18 years for the bright lights and bustle of the East Midlands. I bought a house, built a shed (questionable structural integrity – it would not pass a critical design review) and trained to be a nuclear engineer with Rolls-Royce. But life moves on, sometimes unexpectedly so, and I have some sad but exciting news: this year will be the last update from me at Rolls-Royce. I have decided to pursue a new opportunity and, starting in February 2026, I will be working for ASC (Australian Submarine Corporation), Australia’s submarine builder, to start work on their next generation of nuclear-powered boats. It will begin with two years at BAE’s shipyard in Cumbria, where I’ll have time to appreciate the breathtaking views of the Lake District, before making a move (in March 2028) to Adelaide, nestled between the vineyards of South Australia and the Indian Ocean. It is certainly a massive change for me
HARRY GOODWIN This year has felt like ten years. On January 3rd, I was ‘banged out’ of my newsroom and headed straight to the pub and from there began my freelance career. I can’t say it has been plain sailing. There have been many false starts over the past year. Projects which I thought would be a breeze have turned out to be a dire slog. But though I often find myself raging against Fleet Street – to the point of writing a book, mercifully unpublished, about it – I am not sure I could work anywhere else. I now have a gig shifting as a late news editor at The i Paper , a refreshingly well- behaved and well-meaning title among the class clowns of the British press . It is great fun, though lethal for my social life. For the first time in a while, I feel like I am shuffling, inch by inch, towards the kind of journalistic career I want. I shall have to report back next year. The privations and setbacks of freelance life are not for everyone. I fear I have been grumpy, tense and self-involved company at times, though my Dulwich College friends might say this is nothing new. I have not travelled much at a time in life meant for travelling. But I am just back from Kraków, stuffed to bursting with pierogi, and have more expeditions planned next year. And occasional workless spells have, at least, allowed me to read almost as ravenously as during my Wodehouse Library days. Just before the new school year began, (September still feels like a beginning and an end to me, despite the shapelessness of the office calendar) I saw Mr Ó Siochrú for a pint at The Rosendale. I chuntered at him for hours about History books. Some things never change. NICHOLAS HWONG More than a year has passed since I graduated from university and joined the working world full-time (* gulp* ). I’m still working in sports sponsorships at Wasserman, a US-based sports agency, and this year I’ve been fortunate to work on the Formula 1 account. It has given me the opportunity to learn more about the sport and travel to various Grands Prix across the globe – Japan and Mexico being the highlights. I am working within the partnerships team that connects brands and rights holders within sport. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed the experience so far and look forward to finding my niche, which I hope will eventually lead me into the world of Football. My weekends mainly revolve around Football, playing for the OAs in the mornings and watching Fulham in the afternoon. I’m now excited for 2026. I really enjoyed a break from Football and work, as well as the many festivities with family and friends, many of whom are my closest friends from the College. It has been nearly seven years since I left Dulwich College (* another gulp *), but I still have a strong core group of school friends whom I hope to travel with as much as possible next year. Trips to Chamonix, Croatia and the US are on the horizon.
but an opportunity to be part of something brand new. However, this doesn’t mean I will be giving up the hobbies and adventures that I’ve begun in the UK. I will be making the best use of our easy access to Europe while I can (particularly the ski slopes) and of course will be showing the new arrivals from Australia all the fantastic things this place has to offer – and will be telling you all about it next year! NATHAN SPARKES Six years since I left the College, which must mean I’m 24! Eagerly anticipating my quarter-life crisis I thought I’d give myself a head start by investing heavily into my golf career (occasionally I shoot under 100) and acquiring a convertible car which is one breakdown away from qualifying as a financial mistake. I finally committed to booking a trip to combine the two in October – catching the last of the Indian (Welsh) summer in the Brecon Beacons and fulfilling my Top Gear fantasy on the Monmouthshire B-roads. It occurred to me on my way over there that the annual Year 7 team bonding field trip to the same area likely coincided with my stay. I caught the ultra-running bug recently and I believe there’s a possibility that the slow plod up Pen y Fan 13 years ago may have had a part to play in my ‘love for the outdoors’. The prospect of peaking the local mountain for sunrise, however, wouldn’t have sat too well with me back then. This time, I excitedly scampered my way up only to find the cairn at the summit shrouded by thick cloud with zero visibility of the valleys or the sun, I wondered at that point why I’d bothered with the 5am rise. One surreal and highly rewarding 60km loop around the Black Mountain range later, I felt a little less aggrieved having had a few more hours to appreciate the beauty of the rural Welsh landscape. Disappointingly I did not bump into any Dulwich College folk whilst up on the trails – they must have been back at the activity centre reciting poetry and revising. When I’m not running around hills or hitting golf balls in the wrong direction, I’m working in software development for a commodities trading product. Despite what I was told by my smug friends reading Economics, it seems you can go into careers other than ‘crayon artist’ after graduating with a Human Geography degree. As a Business Analyst I spend my time eliciting requirements from the trading floors and managing a team of developers to make sure new features and fixes are implemented accurately. One of the most challenging tasks is trying to explain what I do without it sounding like run-of-the-mill vague corporate jargon, but I’m aware this is not an uncommon struggle as I have zero idea what any of my oldest OA chums do day-to- day, other than being titled as <insert generic industry term> Analysts. I’m still living with and regularly tolerating the boys I met at the College, and I sometimes wonder if reminiscing on our glory days will ever become old, if there’s a point at which a £7.50 watery lager accompanied by anecdotes about the 2014 Barbados Cricket Tour doesn’t quite cut the mustard. Fortunately, I don’t think those days are near, and I have the 2015 Biarritz Rugby Tour to move on to anyway…
Made with FlippingBook flipbook maker