At Albany Senior High School (ASHS), we believe that success looks different for everyone – and our alumni prove just how far curiosity, resilience, and creativity can take you. From law and engineering to business, healthtech, and beyond, our graduates are making their mark across Aotearoa and the world.

What connects them all? The foundation they built at ASHS – a school that encourages independence, critical thinking, and a passion for learning.

Global Thinkers and Innovators

ASHS graduates are innovators, problem-solvers, and bridge-builders – just ask Claudia Epskamp, who took her dual passions for science and business from ASHS to Sweden, and now works with Callaghan Innovation to grow New Zealand’s healthtech sector. “ASHS gave me the freedom to be creative, independent, and curious in ways I hadn’t experienced before,” she says. Christopher Fordyce took his top-scholar success at ASHS and carried it into global security studies. With a Master of Conflict and Terrorism Studies nearly complete, he’s exploring how nations approach the governance of outer space. Reflecting back, he credits ASHS for teaching him resilience: “It was those skills that helped me manage deadlines, push beyond my comfort zone, and achieve three consecutive years of academic success.”

Engineering Futures

Designing solutions for the challenges of tomorrow, our ASHS alumni are also engineers – Vienna Brooks began her ASHS journey as a quiet student and is now thriving in Mechatronics Engineering. She has presented science shows with Nanogirl Labs and completed an internship at Fisher & Paykel Healthcare. “Impact Projects were at the core of what ASHS was about,” she says. “They promoted curiosity and the ability to apply learning to real-world problems.” For Sarina Todd, now a Systems Engineer in Melbourne, ASHS instilled the confidence to dream big. From leading STEM initiatives to moderating panels in New York during UN Global Goals Week, she reflects: “If you are passionate about something, you can just do it. If you want to see something happen, you can make it happen. My life would be very different if I didn’t go to ASHS!”

Sarina Todd.

Future Leaders in Law and Business

Amy Borton, in her final year of a conjoint Bachelor of Laws and Bachelor of Arts majoring in Criminology, is already working in family court and criminal defence. She credits ASHS with shaping her independence: “ASHS definitely shaped my personal growth and contributed to the independent person I am today.” Her brother, Noah Borton, also carried ASHS’s collaborative spirit into his studies in Business Analytics and Information Systems. Soon to begin a graduate role at KPMG, he reflects: “The focus on critical thinking, practical skills, and building strong relationships gave me an edge as I moved forward in my career.”

Zach Kirby, about to join the Technology Law Team at MinterEllisonRuddWatts, is a Kupe Leadership Scholar, award-winning student leader, and international competition finalist. Looking back, he says: “ASHS taught me to ask ‘why’ – to think critically about everything. That spark has empowered me to make the most of every opportunity.” Callum Maxwell, pursuing Finance and Accounting, is already securing internships with top firms and heading to Sydney for a role at KPMG. He says ASHS prepared him well for success: “I learned that your success is dependent on your willingness to learn and apply yourself. ASHS gave me that mindset.”

Zach Kirby.

Together, these alumni show that ASHS is not just a school – it’s a launchpad. The independence fostered, the real-world projects encouraged, and the collaboration championed all help shape graduates who are ready to thrive in academic, professional, and global arenas.

As Claudia puts it: “ASHS was such a unique place to learn. It gave me freedom, creativity, and the chance to be myself. What I value most looking back is how the school encouraged individuality, innovation, and a love of learning.”

From classrooms at ASHS to world stages, from law courts to laboratories, our alumni are achieving incredible things – and we can’t wait to see what they, and future ASHS students, will achieve next.