Alumni Profile
Alumni Profile Dustin Gold, an Old Boy from the Class of 2009, is an Australian Public Servant based in Washington DC. Dustin recently chatted with Director of Alumni and Community Relations, Mandy Loomes about his career. What was the highlight from your time at Barker? There are so many great memories from my time at Barker, it’s really hard to choose a single highlight. What I loved was the variety of any given week or term. Barker really had something for everyone. For me, some really strong highlights were Swimming, Stage Band, Saxophone and Cadets. However, I also remember fondly Public Speaking, Surf Lifesaving, Mock Trial, Duke of Edinburgh, and Stage Crew. Was your time at Barker instrumental in your career direction and choices? Certainly. I vividly remember my disinterest in Cadets when I was in Year 7, but at Barker there’s an environment that encourages you to give everything a go. Some found incredible sporting talents but my friends will tell you that wasn’t the case for me. I couldn’t catch a cold – let alone a footy. In Cadets and Surf Lifesaving I found a sense of satisfaction through service and leadership, which I hadn’t experienced before. This led me to the Australian Defence Force (ADF) and subsequently to the public service. My experiences
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in Public Speaking, Mock Trial and Debating, shaped my ability to communicate and led me to study Law. I have no doubt my time at Barker has been instrumental in my career to date. (That combination probably also accounts for my love of Sorkin’s The West Wing!) Have you had a mentor who has guided you along the way? In the early years, I was so fortunate to be guided by Barker staff who had previously worked in Government or the ADF, as well as friends who were a few years ahead of me at Barker. I fondly remember an ANZAC day about five years after I’d finished School. I was catching up with this diverse group of former Barker students, some from five years before me, some from five years after me as well as a few in my year group. We’d all joined the ADF in some form or another. It was so interesting to discuss our experiences, some shared, some different and talk about our goals and ambitions. I think we’re lucky to have access to that sort of mentoring, from a common base where we all had at least one common experience – Barker.
What has your career journey been? As a child I wanted to be a Qantas Pilot. I remember the careers team at Barker were fantastic at helping me choose the right subjects in my final years. I was really excited as I started the process with Qantas, in Year 12. But 2009 was the depth of the ‘global financial crisis’ and it would be several years before the aviation industry would bounce back. I also didn’t enjoy Maths or Physics, no matter how hard I tried. People told me to do what I loved, so I started reflecting on all those highlights from Barker. I realised my favourite moments were in Cadets and Surf Lifesaving. There were few similarities between the two, except both gave a sense of satisfaction when leading a team that was doing something for others. This experience led me to the ADF and from there the public service. Along the way I studied Law and spent some time working in the New South Wales public service before making the move to Canberra.
