Page 25 - Luce 2016

College M emories

memories from the
90s & 00s

Chi Li and Sarah Chadwick

Two JCH alumni from the turn of the millennium remember Janet Clarke Hall for hot meals, good company and MSN
Messenger. Here each of them describes where life has taken them, and how they’ve kept in touch with College friends.
Chi Li (2000) was best known at JCH for misunderstanding about palliative care another over the years. I know these
his friendly smile and StarCraft skills. Chi in our community. People often think close friendships will last a lifetime -
is now a palliative care physician and palliative care is about dying and ‘giving they’ve already survived our living in
research fellow working in Melbourne up’, when it’s actually about living as different cities for more than a decade.
and Ballarat. For a kid leaving home for well as possible despite a nasty illness.
the first time, he reflects, ‘Janet Clarke Some people think it’s about euthanising I’ve been working at the Bureau of
Hall was a safe place, a base from which people, even though these are actually Meteorology since I graduated and
to explore, and the people I met there felt very different concepts: palliative care I really enjoy making a difference to
like family. We’d talk for hours in each is about reducing suffering in order to people’s lives and personal safety
other’s rooms, or over MSN Messenger, live, while euthanasia is about ending through my work. We work 24 hours a
debating the meaning of life and all that suffering by hastening death. day, 7 days a week, including Christmas
teenage angst stuff, as if it’d never been Day and all other public holidays. The
thought about before and we were on I still keep in touch with a few of my feel and flow of the shifts can change a
the verge of discovering something mind- College friends. Facebook is also pretty lot depending on the weather. Extreme
blowing. And StarCraft - there was a lot handy for keeping up with the gossip!’ weather such as severe thunderstorms,
of StarCraft. heat waves, outbreaks of fire, or east
Sarah coast lows that bring torrential rain and
I came to College not being too sure Chadwick gale force winds really impact people,
where I’d end up. I’d volunteered at the (née Hicks, infrastructure and Emergency Services.
local hospital in Brisbane and enjoyed 1998) loved Working closely with Emergency
the experience, but really had no idea to ride in the Services is really rewarding, but it is hard
what being a doctor was actually about. luggage lift work. We provide tailored forecasting
I certainly didn’t know that I’d end (shhh) and services for individual bushfire locations,
up working in palliative care. I guess prank anyone monitored around the clock. During the
like many school leavers, I just picked silly enough Blue Mountains bushfires of 2013 I spent
something I thought I might be interested Sarah Chadwick (née Hicks) a few days embedded within the Rural
in, got lucky, and I’m just glad that it all Fire Service Headquarters, working
turned out pretty well! to leave their door unlocked. She’s now closely with fire behaviour analysts who
a senior forecaster based in the Sydney use weather data to predict the rate
My interest in palliative care came later office of the Bureau of Meteorology, of spread and intensity of fire fronts.
on in my studies, when I actually started supervising a small team of forecasters. Forecasting and monitoring the arrival
spending time with patients. I’m helping ‘Maths was always my favourite subject, time and strength of a wind change
patients and families navigate an often so I wanted to study a Science degree accurately is critical to fire fighting
difficult but also potentially wonderful majoring in Mathematics. I decided operations. We also give key briefings
time in their lives. I love my work. The to add Mechanical Engineering for a for events that are not so life threatening,
big reward is the people I meet and the double degree. I was never one who had for example helping fireworks organisers
stories they share with me. a clear path in mind. I have always just set up safe fireworks displays every New
followed my nose, choosing things that Year’s Eve.
Even though I’ve finished my specialty interest me at the time.
training and am now working at three Technological changes are an interesting
different health services as a palliative Living at JCH while I studied made a challenge to the future of weather
care physician and clinical researcher, I’m big difference to how well I settled in forecasting. When I first started work
still learning more about palliative care after moving to Melbourne. I grew up in 2004, we were providing a public
every time I see a patient or spend time in a small town: when I started primary weather service that was a written text
with their family. I suspect I will feel this school there were 60 kids in the whole for a select number of places in each
way for the rest of my career. school. Taking public transport by state. Now we edit graphically a grid
myself was a new thing to me as there of 6 km by 6 km blocks (3 km by 3 km
There is quite a lot of fear and wasn’t even a bus where I lived! So it in Victoria and Tasmania) for multiple
was really helpful to have a home base weather elements such as temperature
where there was always someone to talk and winds on an hourly to 3 hourly
to, a hot meal, and friendship. basis.

At JCH I met many wonderful friends The accuracy of our computer models
who were taking completely different is ever-increasing and available at a
classes to me, and who I would finer and finer resolution. There still
otherwise never have met. I learnt a lot remain very dynamic and hard to predict
from them too. Many of these friends weather systems, and many of these
were from different parts of the state more difficult to forecast systems are
as well as from interstate and overseas, where a forecaster can have the
and we’ve had a great time visiting one biggest impact.’
Chi Li
J anet Clarke Hall 25