There is no single definition of success – and there shouldn’t be a single pathway to achieving it.

Albany Senior High School was designed differently from the beginning. A learning environment built around independence, curiosity, strong relationships and opportunities for students to take ownership of where their learning could lead.

Our alumni have taken that foundation in very different directions.

From engineering and technology to business and health innovation, their achievements show that doing school differently can lead to some pretty remarkable outcomes.

Ready to lead

Just a few years after graduating from ASHS, Rebecca Furness has already taken her leadership skills around the world.

Rebecca graduated from Massey University as Valedictorian with a Bachelor of Business, majoring in Management with a minor in Psychology. Along the way, she earned multiple scholarships and international opportunities that took her to Bangkok and China.

Today, she is Chief Operating Officer at chnnl, a role that has seen her travel to Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Muscat. Looking back, Rebecca credits ASHS with preparing her for environments that might otherwise have felt daunting. “I feel that ASHS operates on the premise that students are capable of more than they think for themselves, and that changes everything.”

Engineering a future

For Sarina Todd, that future has been in engineering.

After ASHS, Sarina completed a Bachelor of Engineering with First Class Honours in Mechatronics at the University of Auckland.

Her journey has included leadership within engineering organisations, representing New Zealand at UN Global Goals Week in New York and helping organise a STEM outreach event with NASA. Since we first shared Sarina’s alumni story, her impact has continued to grow – she was named to the YWCA Y25 List 2025, featured on Zonta International’s Remarkable Women, Powerful Stories podcast, and received the Emerging Rail Professional Award from the Railway Technical Society of Australasia (RTSA).

“I’ve always felt encouraged to dream big here.” For Sarina, that encouragement became the confidence to pursue opportunities well beyond the classroom – today, she is a Systems Engineer in Melbourne, working on major rail and infrastructure projects across Australasia.

Connecting science, business and innovation

Claudia Epskamp‘s pathway demonstrates just how far curiosity, independence and a willingness to explore different interests can lead.

After ASHS, Claudia completed degrees in both Commerce and Science at the University of Auckland, followed by postgraduate study in Bioscience Enterprise and a Master’s degree at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden. Her academic and professional journey has crossed science, business, technology and innovation, earning her recognition as a Distinguished Graduate of the University of Auckland.

Today, Claudia is an Advisor at Medtech-iQ Aotearoa, helping connect researchers, clinicians, founders, companies, investors and industry with the people, expertise and opportunities across New Zealand’s MedTech ecosystem.

Her pathway hasn’t been defined by one subject or one career direction – but by an ability to connect ideas, challenge conventional thinking and find opportunities across them.

Looking back, Claudia credits ASHS with helping develop that mindset – “ASHS gave me the freedom to be creative, independent, and curious in ways I hadn’t experienced before.”

That freedom to think differently has stayed with her – from ASHS, to Sweden, and now to the forefront of New Zealand’s MedTech sector.

An edge for what comes next

For Noah Borton, the independence and critical thinking developed at ASHS translated naturally into university and the professional world.

After graduating in 2022, Noah studied Business Analytics and Information Systems at the University of Auckland while building professional experience across Auckland Council, Legrand New Zealand and Fisher & Paykel Healthcare.

That experience helped him secure a graduate role with KPMG in Technology Risk.

Looking back, Noah believes ASHS prepared him for the expectations he encountered beyond school. “The focus on critical thinking, practical skills, and building strong relationships gave me an edge as I moved forward in my career.”

Rebecca, Sarina, Claudia and Noah have followed four very different pathways. And that’s exactly what success at ASHS is designed to look like.

Not producing one type of graduate, but giving young people the confidence, skills and independence to pursue their version of success – whether that takes them into a boardroom, onto a major engineering project, across the world, into emerging industries or somewhere they haven’t imagined yet.

Different by design. Strong by outcome. Because doing things differently isn’t the outcome – it’s what “different” allows our students to achieve.

In-Zone Enrolments for 2027 are still open – discover what ASHS could look like for you at ashs.school.nz/enrol.