When Sophia Pierotti (Fr 24) arrived at Wesley College in 2024, she was stepping into a world far removed from the one she had known in Griffith. Having grown up in rural NSW and attended her local high school, Sophia was new to Sydney, university and residential college life, with little sense of what lay ahead.
Three years on, as she prepares to complete her studies at the University of Sydney and her time at Wesley, Sophia can look back on an extraordinary chapter - one that has taken her from rural NSW to College leadership, and equipped her for what promises to be an adventure-filled future.
Finding her way to Wesley
Sophia is in her third and final year at Wesley and USYD, studying Project Management with a major in Construction. Her pathway to university, however, was not entirely conventional.
After finishing Year 12, Sophia decided to take a gap year – giving herself some time to pause before university, while also saving for the move to Sydney.
The idea of studying at USYD had fully taken hold during Year 12, when she attended an Open Day with her mother. Having never considered an on-campus residential experience and knowing little about her accommodation options, Sophia visited Wesley where she was shown around by a friend of the family. Touring the College and encountering a succession of warm welcomes and smiling faces, Sophia quickly found herself imagining a future there. On applying, she was thrilled to receive a place at the College. But before she made the journey east, Sophia packed an extraordinary amount into her gap year.
A year of adventure
Sophia’s first stop was the Barossa Valley, where she worked as a cellar hand during vintage. Moving into a house full of strangers was something of a shock for a teenager from Griffith - but it was an interesting experience, providing valuable preparation for communal living.
"I didn't know anyone, and suddenly I was living with seven people from all over the world," she says.
Back in Griffith, Sophia worked in her family's business selling mattresses before taking on a role as an electorate officer for a local MP. The experience culminated in a week working at Parliament House in Sydney, giving her an early taste of the city she would soon call home.
Then came the Young Endeavour: a ten-day voyage around the Australian coast that Sophia describes as an experiences that completely shifted her outlook. It was the first major adventure she had undertaken entirely on her own.
"The Young Endeavour opened my mind to adventure," she says. "The Young Endeavour and Wesley have been two of the most character-building experiences of my life so far."
By the time she finally arrived at Wesley, Sophia had already developed a considerable sense of independence and resilience. Even so, the reality of moving from Griffith to Sydney was daunting.
From country kid to College leader
Arriving at Wesley with her mother in 2024, Sophia remembers feeling overwhelmed. She was hundreds of kilometres - and a world away - from the familiarity of home. Feeling like a fish out of water, Sophia recalls "looking for the most country people we could find."
Fortunately, it didn't take long. Sophia found her feet through the people around her, helped by the openness and friendliness that had attracted her to Wesley in the first place. "Everyone was so outgoing and friendly," she says. "Before long, I felt right at home."
From there, Sophia threw herself wholeheartedly into College life. Alongside her studies and part-time work, she has helped run the College Shop with friends (where their homemade sausage rolls and brownies became particularly popular), served as an analyst on the Wesley Investment Committee, and taken on one of Wesley's most significant student leadership positions: College Treasurer.
The Treasurer role has been a natural fit for someone whose university studies and professional experience have given her a strong grounding in project management, as well as an appreciation for the practical realities of running an organisation.
Sophia’s experience outside Wesley has continued alongside her studies, too – working in construction for two years, and now remotely as a Project Administrator for Flavourtech, a manufacturing company near Griffith. This arrangement allows her to contribute during university semesters from Sydney and return to work in person during the holidays.
Making the most of every opportunity
As Sophia reflects on her time at Wesley, she is conscious of how far she has come. She credits her rural upbringing and high-school experience with helping develop the resilience, resourcefulness and determination that have served her well in Sydney. But she is equally proud of what she has done with those qualities once the opportunities presented themselves.
"I was excited to come to Wesley, but I didn't realise just how much I would get out of it."
Her Wesley experience has been about much more than accommodation. It has given her the confidence to step forward, take responsibility, meet people from vastly different backgrounds and try things she might never otherwise have considered. Most importantly, she has learned to embrace the opportunities in front of her.
That spirit is perhaps the defining feature of Sophia's time at Wesley: not simply being willing to try something new, but being prepared to see where it might lead.
What's next?
Sophia's university chapter may be coming to an end, but she is in no hurry to settle into a conventional next step. To bookend her university experience, she has planned another gap year, before diving into full-time work - although, true to form, it is less a gap year than an ambitious itinerary.
First comes a road trip to Perth with her mother. Then a 50-day voyage aboard the Bark Europa, sailing from Namibia to the Azores. There will be a trip to London to visit her brother and, all going to plan, a backpacking adventure through South America. Work will be woven through it all, with her current employers keen to re-engage Sophia between adventures. It is a credit to her capabilities, and a fitting next chapter for someone who has spent the past few years learning to embrace the challenging and unfamiliar.
Sophia is, in many ways, the epitome of the Wesley experience: curious, courageous, and willing to give things a go. From Griffith to Sydney, with many adventures in between, she has built a remarkable collection of experiences - and as she casts off from the familiar shores of Wesley, we suspect her greatest adventures are still to come.
