Where are they now? Clarissa Auffermann (2009)

Thanks to Facebook, I saw our 15-year reunion invitation which seemed to be a perfect opportunity to reconnect with Pymble girls. Having loosely been in touch with a few friends from back then, I have, though, never made it to a Pymble reunion in Sydney since our graduation as living overseas and scheduling made it difficult. This year, the timing was perfect. We had an afternoon filled with laugher, shared memories and we all felt this bond which has never faded. Fifteen years – a mix of “we mostly still look the same” and “nothing much has changed” paired with we have greatly developed, girls had travelled the world, worked overseas, while some bought houses, were married and had kids. I later walked around the Pymble grounds, a trip down memory lane, while admiring the astonishing new buildings on the beautifully developed campus. Immediate gratitude and pride accompanied me.

I became part of the Boarding family at Pymble in 2007, when I was in Year 9 after having begged my parents to enrol me at Pymble. My mother, Dina Waldthausen, and sisters, Johanna, Helene and Pauline Auffermann, spoke highly of their time at Pymble. I longed for the same opportunity because school being described as enjoyable was something I had not experienced until then. Coming from Germany where education was incomparable to Pymble, I tried to make the best of the ample of opportunities during my time on campus. The music, sports, community service and hikes linked to Duke of Edinburgh were things I loved at Pymble, and I still do.

Having had the opportunity to learn at Pymble certainly shaped me in my teenage years and still accompanies me in my current daily life as a primary school teacher; Pymble was to me the source of inspiration to educate others. After graduating from Pymble in 2009, I volunteered with Antipodeans in Peru teaching at a rural primary school near Cusco. This eye-opening experience further encouraged me to become an educator as I came to realise how fundamental education is. I then studied at the University of Education in Heidelberg, Germany and received a scholarship to learn and teach in Bandung, Indonesia. I am now pursuing a career in education encouraging students to be curious, take risks and strive for their highest. I love seeing them grow and take on challenges whilst sharing knowledge and guiding them in their personal development.

In recent years, I completed a sabbatical, during which I taught at an NGO in Varanasi, India, the internationally renowned Green School in Bali, Indonesia and worked in school development in Hanoi, Vietnam while specifically looking at their leadership and school values. I am now based in Zürich working at a bilingual international school teaching grades 3 and 4.

I am extremely thankful for the great role models that my Pymble teachers set for me and try to teach by their example.