In 2021, 2022 and 2023, we asked our alumni to share their stories with us as part of our 'Imagine your Future at St Margaret's' campaign. Our alumni have gone on to succeed in every imaginable career - from finance, law and medicine through to living out their artistic passions in art, music and on the stage, not to mention our athletes who have represented Australia in world championships and the Olympics. Hear a little of their stories in the video interviews below and in the text career updates, and learn from and be inspired by their journeys.
2023
Since we spoke to her in 2023, Xanthe has been thriving in her PhD research from being named one of Brisbane’s 25 under 25 by the Courier Mail in July 2023 to presenting her research in multiple international conferences including the Global Arts and Psychology Seminar, the Australian Conference on Computer-Human Interaction and the University of Melbourne “Swiftposium”. Xanthe has completed her first PhD study with a paper accepted for publication in the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) Digital Library. Xanthe's paper is titled Would You Tell Spotify How You’re Feeling? Using Design Fiction to Explore the Benefits and Risks of Emotion Regulation Features in Music Streaming Apps. Xanthe has also completed her second PhD study with a paper currently under review for publication. Xanthe is currently preparing to start her third and final PhD study in which she is creating and evaluating a music app that creates personalised Spotify playlists based on listeners’ current and desired emotion to help them regulate their emotions and improve their wellbeing. Xanthe’s ultimate goal through developing this app is to enhance the well-being of over half a billion music streamers around the globe.
A significant milestone in Xanthe’s academic career was receiving the 2024 Australian Music Psychology Society (AMPS) Student Keynote Award, which is a competitive and coveted award, with many graduate students submitting their research from universities around Australia to be reviewed by a committee of music psychology experts. Xanthe had the incredible opportunity to give her first keynote presentation at the AMPS conference in July 2024, disseminating her research findings on the effectiveness of personalised emotion-regulation playlists for the general population.
In addition to her PhD research, Xanthe enjoys teaching music psychology subjects at the University of Melbourne, peer-reviewing academic papers and co-authoring articles for the University’s Pursuit magazine and the Conversation. Xanthe’s research has generated significant media interest including appearances on ABC, RRR radio and Triple J Hack with Dave Marchese. Xanthe is also part of the Australian Music Psychology Society Committee, volunteering her time as a student representative to help organise professional development for early career researchers and to generate outreach for schools and communities.
2022
Since we last spoke to Mel, she has experienced great career highlights including hosting the 2025 Melbourne International Comedy Festival Oxfam Gala, Network Ten television appearances - cast member on season 3 of Taskmaster, weekly segment on The Project, ABC TV - regular panellist on Question Everything, voiced the character of Shaz the Jellyfish in the upcoming children's movie The Pout Pout Fish.
Her stand up special 'Let Me Know Either Way?' has been nominated for an AACTA Award and in 2025 she will embark on a national tour with a brand new live standup show.
Mel still writes a column for QWeekend which is published monthly.
2021
Since 2021, Taryn has been promoted to Partner at the venture capital firm Rampersand and works with the team across the whole business, including investing, strategy and managing the investment team.
She has led investments into several startups including: Hatch, a jobs marketplace for Gen Z's; and Cuttable, which is building a fully automated advertising agency. She continues to spend time looking for early-stage technology businesses to invest in, largely focused on business-to-business software solutions and Artificial Intelligence.
Caitlin shared this update with us since we last spoke with her in 2021: In 2024, Caitlin was recognised as one of the most influential lawyers in Australasia aged under 40 who have had an extraordinary impact on the profession or society given her unique experience as a sixth-generation farmer and strategic legal advisor. Until December 2024, she worked at Australian law firm Clayton Utz as a commercial litigator and environmental lawyer and has extensive experience acting as a non-executive director for several not-for-profit organisations in the Australian agricultural sector, including as Chair of the Future Farmers Network from November 2021 to November 2024.
Utilising her combined expertise in law and agroecology, Caitlin is now responsible for running her family’s intergenerational farming property, Cressbrook Station, which is the oldest identified family business in Queensland and one of the oldest in Australia still run on the original farm. She manages over 500-head of commercial beef cattle on improved pasture, utilising cell-grazing techniques first implemented by her great-grandfather in the 1920’s to maximise soil health, as well as an emerging pastured egg and apiculture operation. Significantly, Caitlin and her father, Christopher McConnel, are also currently recognised as the only primary producers in Australia with dual-axis solar trackers designed to co-exist with cattle grazing.
In April 2025, Caitlin was appointed by the Hon. Dale Last MP, Minister for Natural Resources and Mines, Manufacturing, and Rural & Regional Development as the first female chairperson of the Queensland Rural & Industry Development Authority (QRIDA), which is a specialist provider of financial assistance, advisory support and disaster assistance programs on behalf of state, territory and Commonwealth government agencies throughout Queensland.
Caitlin is also the Subregion 15 representative for grass-fed cattle producers on Cattle Australia’s Regional Consultative Committee, and is a member of the following committees:
- Queensland Law Society - Water & Agribusiness Law Committee,
- Cattle Australia - Sustainable, Resilient Beef Systems Working Group; and
- Department of Primary Industries (Qld) – ESG Working Group.
Considering Caitlin’s depth of experience across the legal and agricultural sectors, she actively contributes to thought leadership on topics including food security and multi-purpose land use in the context of environmental protection legislation as a keynote speaker, panellist, and published academic.
Caitlin still maintains a strong connection with St Margaret’s as a regular guest speaker and past mentor to students through the St Margaret’s+ Mentoring Program; and was recognised as the Young Past Student of Distinction at the 2024 St Margaret’s Past Student Awards.