Mr Tristan Swanwick

Entrepreneur

After his senior year, Tristan went on to study and work across a range of professions, both in Australia and overseas, in industries such as music, multimedia, film and television and journalism. He worked as a newspaper reporter at The Courier-Mail for almost ten years before leaving to become an entrepreneur. Tristan is the founder and CEO of an innovative health-tech company that optimises sleep, performance and productivity with advanced blue light-blocking eyewear technology.

Tristan and his family have strong connections to BSHS with an uncle, aunt, brother and two cousins all attending the school and his mother, Jill Swanwick, teaching English and Drama there for more than 25 years. His memories of the school date back even longer than the years he studied. Rather than attending after school care, he and his brother, Edward, would spend afternoons with Jill in the old BSHS assembly hall, where she produced the State High team's rehearsals for the 1988 Rock Eisteddfod Challenge.

He looks back on his time at State High with great fondness and gratitude and enjoys very close friendships with dozens of his former school mates to this day. This strong network paid off when he organised and hosted the class of 1997's 20 year reunion.

He credits the broad diversity of the student population in ethnicity, socio-economic status and world view for helping him to become a successful global citizen, capable of relating to people from all walks of life.

When asked for tips and advice for current students, Tristan says "If I could say one thing to current students, it would be to get involved in as many extracurricular activities as possible and develop as many relationships as possible, especially outside your core friendship circle. You never know when those contacts will come in handy."