Andrew was born in Perth in 1990 and has always lived in Perth, happily. He went to Carey Baptist College in Canning Vale and was head boy in 2007. This was also the year that a young girl was sexually assaulted and murdered in the Livingston Shopping Centre and her sister was a student at the school. Providing support for her was an experience Andrew will never forget.
He wasn’t sure what he wanted to do when he finished school, but he knew if he took a gap year he might never go to university so when he got a scholarship to do Law at Murdoch, he grabbed it, and enrolled in Law/Commerce (Finance major). Having a lawyer for a father seemed like a good way to get good marks but the first assignment Ron helped him with ended up being the lowest mark he had ever received.
Andrew took vacation jobs to keep him grounded in the ‘real world’ but a laboring job before first year at Murdoch indicated that a desk job was quite attractive! He also discovered that being a casual waiter was not for him after he accidentally tipped a tray of drinks over the bride’s mother, followed by telling a guest in a sponsor’s box at the WACA that he had no idea what a shandy was, but could he get her a drink.
Andrew’s first job as a lawyer was with Corser and Corser, but he’s been with Solomon and Hollett since last year. It’s obvious he just loves it there, for lots of reasons – one is the chance to be a David to a huge Goliath, such as the state government, or taking on Centrelink and winning a pension for an elderly person. He can do probono work as well, and the firm has a fixed fee policy rather than charging by the hour, reducing the likelihood of “Bill Shock” when the job is completed.
And speaking of community service, Andrew is an Elder in the North Perth Seventh Day Adventist Church, and rose in the ranks from laboring in the ‘soup kitchen’ for Manna, making pasta and mashed potato for the homeless in Perth, to chairing the Board.
Andrew loves tinkering with old cars, and he currently has 10 of these including a 1960 FB Holden. But he has no desire to take over his father’s old Ford Prefect. The last time he rode in it as a passenger they got a “speeding ticket” for driving so slowly as to be a traffic hazard on the freeway.
What’s next? Andrew says he plans to marry Jess – and we were all hoping (in vain) that he was about to drop on one knee right here and then, but no! And he plans to keep fit playing Ice Hockey.
Past president Lesley Combes says she loves these presentations as they tell us so much about our members that you wouldn’t otherwise know. It was a coincidence but the fact that three prospective members were there to hear Andrew speak, must have indicated the quality of the members we have, as well as their (relative) youth!