Dr Sally-Anne Richter (2006)
Queen’s College was a great experience and helped me settle into uni life. Not only did I have a wonderful network of friends at Queen’s who I could catch up with at uni, but the social events at Queen’s (musicals, chapel choir, cell group, formal dinners, turns, swot vac scones with jam and cream and down ball in the quad created great memories). Spoons in the dining hall to celebrate the winners of college events, watching our battle of the bands band win while smashing a guitar on stage, and raiding ‘Savers’ for costumes were some of the fond memories I have of being at Queen’s.
It seems crazy to think that 15 years have passed since I sat in Queen’s College. But during that time, I know a lot has changed. It is wonderful to see brave women running small, medium and large businesses; taking on senior executive and operational roles within start-ups and long-established companies; women in leadership roles. Many doing this while juggling relationships, families, friendships, charity work and more.
Roles that were traditionally only male, are now open to all people regardless of gender, and based on skills, talents and experience. I do believe however that this has created the perception that “women must do it all because they now have the opportunity to do it all”. There is equal value in a woman or man who stays at home to raise a family, decides to travel the world for self-development and learning, or who decides to pursue a high-performance based career. If all genders can see their roles as part of a team, working together, then this will help breakdown previous biases and strengthen all sexes.
I finished my Bachelor of Veterinary Science with Honours and moved to Launceston in Tasmania working in mixed practice first, before moving into small animal practice and buying Mowbray Veterinary Clinic in 2018. In my spare time I still play the bagpipes and have been lucky enough to play for some wonderful events including the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo in Scotland, Basel Tattoo in Switzerland, Festival Interceltique de Lorient (the biggest celtic festival in the world in France), Andre Rieu, John Farnham, and the late Queen at Balmoral Castle in 2018. I am also an avid hiker, trail runner and mountain climber, and have climbed 94/158 Abels in Tasmania (a set of published mountains over 1100m high with varying remoteness and difficulty.