Old Boy George Sourrys (1997) discovered his love for writing in his grade 11 English class at Churchie with teacher Mr David Edwards. Below is George’s recollection of his journey from Mt Isa to Oaklands Parade and onto modelling, finance, mortgage broking and now published author.

I started Churchie in year 8, 1993. The boarding community was larger than it is now, and I was in the now defunct Strong house. We lived in an old wooden building close to where the principal’s office is today. It was nothing flash - twelve beds were all laid out in an open plan room and we were the only dormitory to still have communal showers.

Coming from the small outback city of Mount Isa, I found adapting to Churchie life an interesting affair. When I first arrived, I didn’t even hold a spoon correctly, let alone know how to tie a tie. But I embraced boarding life. I loved being surrounded by my mates twenty-four hours a day. Furthermore, I was excited to be living in a big city full of possibilities. It felt like I had more freedom, which may seem contradictory considering we had regimented times for almost everything.

As boarders, we were the unofficial caretakers of the school. And we were armed with the feeling of strength that came from the hardships we endured in the boarding house, whether it be the compulsory early morning cross country run or swimming training. We carried this strength with us as we went about our daily activities amongst the school.

When it came to the actual classes, I instantly discovered that the standard of education at Churchie was much higher than the state school in my hometown. I wish I could say that I excelled at Churchie. But to be honest, I was average at pretty much everything I did. The only thing I seemed eager to excel at was being a class clown. But there was a problem with this. Detentions. This problem was exacerbated by the fact that whenever I did something wrong in class I couldn’t help but give a cheeky smile afterward. Some of the teachers caught onto this and soon enough I was getting detentions simply for smiling in a certain way. It became my normal and I remember one term I had more detentions than I could possibly fulfill in a term.

But there was one teacher who changed everything for me. That was Mr David Edwards, my grade 11 English teacher. I was almost failing English before taking his class. But David taught in such a way that made all the students laugh. He also encouraged humour in his students. It felt like I had finally found a class where I could be myself. And with this, I discovered my love for writing and my marks began to reflect this. Perhaps I had finally found something I could excel at.

After high school, I read a novel that further solidified my desire to write – The Celestine Prophecy, by James Redfield. It gets a lot of critics these days for being poorly written, but at the time it was a huge deal. It was unlike the novels I had read previously. It was visionary fiction – a genre where the story is not only written to entertain, but also to impart deep wisdom. It resonated with me as I generally felt that reading novels was a waste of time. I preferred to be enjoying the present moment, socialising and getting outdoors. But if I could learn something insightful as I read, then suddenly I found reading novels worthwhile. I was so inspired that I decided at this point that I wanted to write a novel like this!

I just needed the wisdom to write it. This journey took the course of almost two decades. I read everything I could about almost every subject. I did a bachelor of psychological science. I took notes of every great thought, every idea I had. I read other great books in the visionary fiction genre such as The Alchemist, by Paulo Coelho. And I travelled the world looking for wisdom. All with the vision to share a novel with the world, one filled with insights.

And of course, in the meantime, I still had to make a living. I engaged in two careers which I did concurrently. One was commercial modelling. I found this to be an easy job, as it was simply smiling at a camera. It is ironic that something I used to get detentions for in school was now allowing me to earn such great money. I felt like I was cheating in a way, because the truth is I would have done these advertisements for free. They were a lot of fun and I met so many people through it. In a few short years I did over 40 advertisements including Samsung, Qantas, Roger David, Qld Tourism etc.

I also worked in finance. First in financial planning and now, in mortgage broking.

And as the years passed, every single day I also worked on my secret passion - a novel. Over time, deep philosophical insights developed. Eventually, I finally uncovered all the wisdom I needed and I was ready to share it with the world.

Now, The Synchronicity of Ulysses is published. Inside this book are the deep insights I have uncovered, condensed into an entertaining story. I really believe it will help you to live the life of your dreams. And it can be found in most good bookstores.

You can read the blurb here: www.amazon.com.au/dp/0645078387