Alum gives inspiring speech at LGS Scholars’ Dinner
On 6 February we were delighted to welcome Harry Brunton (LGS 2010) back to campus as part of the LGS Scholars’ Dinner. The Scholars’ Dinner is an opportunity for pupils who are excelling academically to come together with fellow scholars for a special dinner to celebrate their successes, but to also hear from an alum as they share their wisdom and career journey since leaving LGS.
Harry, a scholar during his time at school, left the year before the Scholars’ Dinner was introduced, and so he was thrilled that he was finally going to experience the dinner, even if it was 14 years too late! More importantly though – he was excited to be surrounded by so much young talent.
Pupils were able to chat with staff as well as friends over a delicious three course meal before they heard from Harry, who gave a truly inspiring speech.
Harry talked about what it meant to be a scholar – having a desire to learn and develop, being inquisitive, being able to listen, respect and value others and to seek support when you need it – but he also reflected on his time at the Grammar School where he worked hard to get the grades he needed to go to Cambridge. But he also shared with the boys that school is about much more than just academic achievement. In fact, it’s the experiences outside the classroom that are often the ones they will draw upon the most in future life. Harry spoke about the importance of making the most of the opportunities available to pupils whether that was the Duke of Edinburgh Award, CCF, drama productions or film club. For Harry, sport was the opportunity he seized – playing a big part in him growing up. And although he has many fond memories of playing rugby, tennis became his main passion.
Harry also spoke to the boys about things not going according to plan and the importance of realising that there will undoubtedly be some unavoidable bumps in the road, and it is how you manage and respond to these bumps that is important. Harry shared his own setback when he wasn’t accepted into his first choice of Cambridge college and instead was placed into a pool. He fortunately got a second chance and was invited back for another interview later, and then was offered a place. The process had, however, planted an element of doubt in Harry’s mind as to whether Cambridge was going to be the right place for him.
Any reservations quickly dissipated, and he again encouraged pupils to make the most of their time at university, as the skills he learnt through being on the Chair of the College Students’ Association helped him secure his first job and progress his career. Harry noted that as important as developing skills are, he realised he was building friendships and relationships that would last beyond his time at university, a place where he would also meet his wife!
Harry then shared a snippet of his career journey where, having completed his Masters project on Crossrail, he became hooked on ‘all things underground’ and started his career as a tunnel engineer. Now a Chartered Civil Engineer, he has had the opportunity to work on a wide variety of projects from High Speed 2 to Hinkley Point C and Brunel’s famous Box Tunnel to the Thames Tideway. Harry noted that working on these projects required more than a good understanding of engineering – it also required managing programmes, controlling budgets, delegating tasks, managing risks, and sometimes even negotiating contracts, and ultimately, being able to work well in a team. He stressed that these were not skills that feature on an academic curriculum – they were the important skills that you developed outside the classroom through sports and societies.
One particular anecdote was used by Harry to make his point:
‘One of the first projects I worked on was the construction of a large office building above a mainline railway tunnel. My task was to advise Network Rail on whether the risks to the tunnel were acceptable and whether the proposed tunnel monitoring system was suitable. Everything was going well until one evening the monitoring equipment triggered an alarm, resulting in the tunnel being closed, and leading to significant train disruption. I was promptly summoned to a meeting at the Network Rail offices. Fortunately, there had been no actual damage to the tunnel. So, the question quickly turned to how to prevent the same thing from happening again. I listened to the points that were raised, went away, did some research, and suggested additional measures to prevent a reoccurrence. I persuaded the various parties that these new measures were the right way forwards and I’m relieved to say the works continued without further incident. Perhaps it was skills that I first learned at debating society that came to the rescue in this case’.
And whilst Harry shared the importance of working hard and taking opportunities, he also noted the importance of recognising your limits, looking after your health, and prioritising what is important to you as an individual. Harry went on to share that during a particularly busy time in his life where his resilience was being tested and he was burning the candle at both ends, he ended up being rushed into hospital with viral meningoencephalitis, an inflammation of the brain. He was placed in a coma and spent three days in intensive care. The impact on him was immense, and it was a year before he was back at work. He noted that during the challenging, and happy times in the boys’ lives, it would be the friends they made at school and university that would be beside them. The life-threatening experience made Harry reassess his priorities and changed his perspective on life – he still works hard and wants to be successful, but he has learnt to recognise his limits, focus his energy, and prioritise his time.
To round the evening off, Harry challenged the boys to think about what being successful looked like to them – whether it be a well-paid job, being famous or being the best in your field – knowing what success meant to them would help them ensure they had a goal to aim for and allow them to feel fulfilled when they achieved it.
No doubt the boys went home with lots to think about and feeling inspired with Harry’s words of wisdom ringing in their ears!