Our Year 9s benefitted when Tom Braithwaite, an Old Flinderian (Class of 2019), returned to Matthew Flinders Anglican College in the first week of Term 3 to generously share his expertise and guide their exciting Year to RISE Fusion Subject, the Sound of Art.
As the name suggests, the subject fuses visual art and music, inviting students to share their unique stories and perspectives through original artworks.
Tom guided the students in how to create artworks that are digitally augmented to add time and movement, and compose music to complement or contrast the meaning created by the artwork. To begin with, this involved gathering sounds from across the campus for an original "Sounds of the College" soundscape.
Tom worked alongside our Head of Music, Cade Bonar, and our Head of Art, Mrs Ros Braithwaite—who just happens to be Tom's mum!
In this Q&A profile, we ask Tom to share what he's been up to since graduating and the life lessons he’s learned along the way.
Tom, what does life look like for you now?
I finished my Bachelor of Senior Education and Bachelor of Fine Arts in Music at QUT in 2024. After that, I pretty much walked straight into the classroom as a relief teacher. Since graduating uni, I’ve also been working as a music mixing and mastering engineer. This year I've also started working as a private music tutor at Just Sing Out Music Academy, where I teach guitar, bass and songwriting to anyone from primary school kids to people studying music at university. I'm also in the middle of a Masters of Philosophy at QUT, where I’m researching ergonomic guitar design, anthropometrics and instrument scaling.
What’s a favourite moment from your time at Flinders?
When the Stage Band won the Eisteddfod (I think it was in 2019?)
Do you have a role model from your time at Flinders?
My mum (Mrs Ros Braithwaite, Head of Visual Art)! I’ve watched her pour countless hours into her work for the benefit of her students and colleagues. She’s an incredibly hard-working teacher and an outstanding mother. Someone I will always aspire to be like. She’s going to be a hard act to follow if I go down the classroom teaching route!
How easy was it to decide what to do in life?
Incredibly difficult. I’m still figuring that out.
Did your further study or career go exactly as you had planned?
Absolutely not. I went from wanting to be some kind of industrial engineer in high school, to studying to be a Music/English teacher, to being a relief teacher, to being a mixing and mastering engineer, to being a private music tutor, to studying a Master of Philosophy. Now it's looking like I might have a job at a recording studio. I'm taking every opportunity I can get my hands on.
What’s your advice for current students?
Metacognition is the brain’s way of upgrading its horsepower. If you plan on going to university, spend some time using metacognition (figuring out how you learn most efficiently), especially if you want to do a postgraduate degree or postgraduate research. I suggest you test out a heap of learning strategies and see what works best for you. Some school subjects or university degrees may seem out of reach for you now, but if you use metacognition effectively, you can open the door to endless opportunities. I never really understood how to use metacognition to my advantage until the last year or two of my undergraduate. I've still got a lot to learn though. Metacognition is a never ending process of refinement.
For those wanting to pursue a career in the creative industries, figure out what you love to do and master it. Don’t stop learning until your brain hurts. Then, go learn some more. It’s an incredibly difficult industry to get into, but also the most fun. Speaking from experience, people will poke fun at you and judge you for your decision to pursue a career in such an industry, but don’t take it personally. A music degree won’t get you a job. Nor will it make you a good musician. Hard work will make you a good musician and a degree will give you more opportunities to get rewarded for your hard work. There are plenty of opportunities out there, but the real question is, have you worked hard enough to earn them? The odds are against you, but if you really love it, nothing will get in your way.
