Brenton Collins 20th
August 1979
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Hi, my name is Brenton Collins, and this
is my story: I was born on August 20th, 1979. The eldest of 5 children. I was
gifted, and set a standard of excellence that became the benchmark for my brothers
and sister. I enjoyed a short, but eventful childhood. Like most 4-8 year old
kids, I enjoyed playing games. Mah-jongg, Monopoly and Canasta were a few of
my favourites. Games and activities that didn’t tickle my fancy were Snap,
Hide & Seek and playing in the sandpit. |
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I started Primary School in 1985 at St. Jude’s in Scoresby. That’s 7
years I’ll never see again. To this day, I still insist I could have
comfortably knocked off the 7 year program in less than two years. I completed Secondary School at Aquinas College in Ringwood. Years 7
and 8 were fun. The curriculum was easy. We played with a globe of the world
in Geography class, conducted experiments with Bunsen burners in Science, and
watched movies in Media Studies. I loved going to school. Suddenly Year 9 rolled around. This is when things took a sour turn.
Maths was no longer addition and subtraction, English was all about
Shakespere (I wasn’t allowed to write footy stories any more), and I was
forced to learn how to throw a javelin in sports class. I soldiered on, and completed my VCE. I had no idea what I wanted to do
after school, so I chose subjects that would assist me later in life in
calculating the cost of trifectas, and completing my own tax returns without
having to see an accountant. During these years, I played a variety of sports, including football,
basketball, tennis and golf. I enjoyed sports so much that I tried out for
the school soccer team………I wasn’t selected. |
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A tragic run of broken bones ended what could have been a brilliant
sporting career. I remember approaching my 100th game in junior
footy. I was so excited, looking forward to running through the banner.
Unfortunately, there was no happy ending to this fairytale. During my 98th
game, I broke my collarbone, diving for the impossible mark. This ended my
season. But I kept my chin up, put in a solid pre-season and was ready to
launch into my 99th game. It was during this game that I broke my
leg. To this day, I’m teased about my frail body, and that I was never strong
enough to play a man’s game. I don’t care for these claims. It was courageous
acts like these that helped our team to one win over two seasons. Good times! I continue to play golf. I don’t get to play anywhere near as much as I
would like, but when I do play, my scores fluctuate between 1 under and 5
under. I also play pool for The Pool Room Pool Club. I play competition there
3 nights a week. I’ve recently participated in the Victorian State team
selection trials. I made it through to the top 80, but missed out on
progressing to the top 40 by one frame. I’m in training already for next
year! |
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I studied at Swinburne University in Lilydale straight after VCE. I was
enrolled in a Business Marketing/Management course. I was enrolled for 18
months, but found it far too time consuming, as it was eating into my
drinking and sleeping-in time. I then joined the workforce with Telstra. I was employed by a
recruitment agency to work at Telstra, so I wasn’t ‘actually’ a Telstra
employee. This became frustrating, as I was not eligible for holiday leave,
sick leave, etc. So after 2 years there, I hung up that hat, and began a new
chapter of my life. I applied successfully for an Account Management position with Pulse
Energy, an energy retailer in Victoria. My resume at this time would have
suggested that I was not qualified for the role. So I glossed it up with some
exaggerated truths, and what do you know…..I got the job!! I got on really
well with everyone there, and was performing well above my set targets. After 2 years with Pulse Energy, the company was heading down the
gurgler (no fault of my own), and we were bought out by AGL, another energy
retailer. I was fortunate in keeping my job, and went on to become a Business
Development Manager. I decided I needed to gain experience in the development
side of sales, so that I could become a more rounded sales manager, and
increase my worth to AGL and to future employers. After a successful stint working in development, I’m now back in an
account management role. I enjoyed the development role more, but it was
difficult to be successful within AGL because our product is more expensive
than other retailers, and most customers tend to be only interested in the
$$$. I think I’m ready for a change, but I’m not sure what I want to do. I
am currently accepting offers though, so feel free to e-mail your job
descriptions and salary packages to me at collinsp at collinsplus.com (PS:
must have company car)!! (…..3 years later) Well here I am – well and truly buried in what I’m calling a mid-life
crisis (27 wouldn’t normally be considered “mid-life”, but I’ve been told on
good authority that I won’t make it past 40 at this rate!!) I resigned from my position with AGL in October 2006. It was a big
decision because at that time I hadn’t found (or had even been looking) for a
new job. I took an extended vacation from all work and I still have no idea what I want to do next, so I’m working casually at
the factory where Dad works for now. I’m still playing pool for The Pool Room every week. We have a
sensational team. We haven’t lost a game this year, and are on track for our
3rd consecutive premiership.
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Last updated by Brenton Collins 8 July 2007
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