Felicity Race

"Yarra always had opportunities."

Felicity Race spent the last two years of high school at Yarra Valley Grammar and those years left a lasting impression on her.

Finding her way into the school had been a challenge – her two sisters attended a girls’ school that Felicity felt wasn’t the best fit for her. So, she began a campaign to convince her parents to move her to Yarra.

“I still remember the night I did a ‘PowerPoint’ presentation for my parents on why they should move me to Yarra. I did my research and even looked into second-hand uniforms and offered to do extra shifts at the newsagency where I worked to help buy the uniform,” recalls Felicity.

Her research paid off and Felicity spent Years 11 and 12 at Yarra. She remembers stepping up to tackle any opportunity that came her way, including joining the debating team and the magazine committee.

“My older sister was super smart and my younger sister was athletic and creative and I thought ‘what will I be?’ Yarra always had opportunities and I wanted to try things. I even went on the surf camp for some reason! Whatever it was, I was in!”

While Felicity says her grades at her previous school weren’t ‘great’, she improved at Yarra – one of her proudest moments was earning an A+ for an English essay.

“I smoothed out that piece of paper and kept it for some time. I’ve never forgotten that,” she says.

When she left school, Felicity had no clear career in mind. Her Mum had been a nurse and it was a career that had allowed her to travel, so Felicity decided to follow the same path.

But a year into her studies, a serious back injury forced Felicity to retrain as a cardiac technologist. After a few years, she then began a career in medical equipment sales and now manages the commercial team for a German medical company.

“I think I’m probably the only person in senior management in my company who doesn’t have a degree. But I’ve thrived. I’m a firm advocate for the idea that there are so many pathways and a degree is not the be all and end all,” says Felicity.

Her three sons have also completed their education at Yarra and Felicity is enjoying watching each of them make their own way in the world.

“I love the interactions and the experiences I share with them. My boys are each very different but they are grounded and Yarra helped to make them good men.”