Let’s face it, there’s no map for a road that hasn’t been built yet.
That’s what makes entrepreneurship both terrifying and exhilarating for DESS alumni stepping out of the familiar rhythm of school or college into the wild freedom of business creation. No timetables, no syllabus - just you, your idea, and the world.
Here's a truth that will save you years of frustration: being good at your job is not enough.
You can be the most talented analyst, the sharpest designer, the most thorough researcher. But if you cannot communicate your work clearly, confidently, and in a way that makes people want to listen, you will watch less capable colleagues overtake you.
Roddy Bascaro
College 2008-2015
Roddy Bascaro left DESS College and flew to Rome to study medicine in English while simultaneously learning Italian. Just like any other Guatemalan teenager trying to become a doctor!
Cydnee (CJ) Howard
Saarah Karim
Oud Metha FS2 - Year 6 | College Year 7 - Year 13 | Head Girl 2022
From FS2 at Oud Metha to Head Girl at College, Saarah Karim spent fourteen years in the DESS family. She left with hundreds of memories and a set of standards that continued to sustain her as she navigated the early stages of a career in medicine at Oxford University.
Chelsea Nichols
Oud Metha 2007–2013 | College 2013–2021
The shy girl in the ankle-length red and white striped dress who walked through the Oud Metha gates into FS2 in 2007 was nowhere to be found in the confident young woman who left as Head Girl and Rugby Captain in 2021.
Anthony Drayson
College 2016
When Anthony Drayson opened MotoZone's doors in January 2020, he had a clear vision. He wanted to create a base for people who love the desert and the machines that move through it.
Maisy Baker
Oud Metha 2010–2017
It's hard to avoid referring to Maisy Baker as anything other than one of our true highfliers.
Especially now that she's almost completed her pilot's licence training back in her native Australia.
At the heart of our new DESS Direction strategic plan is a simple but powerful ambition: to create great people for life.
If you’d told Melina Johnstone back in Year 12 that she’d end up teaching in the same art room she used to escape to at every opportunity, she probably would’ve laughed. Not because it sounded impossible, just because, back then, she was more focused on making it through the week than mapping out a career.