Mick sets goals for students

Joel Peterson | Bendigo Weekly | 31-Aug-2012

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ABOUT 200 students at Bendigo Senior Secondary College were taught a lesson in goal setting and overcoming adversity on Tuesday, by legendary AFL coach Mick Malthouse.

The three-time premiership winning coach spoke to a group of students about the importance of goal setting, before having lunch with a number of indigenous students.

After finishing his tenure as Collingwood coach last year, Malthouse accepted a position with La Trobe University to be its first vice-chancellor’s fellow.

As part of the role, Malthouse regularly travels to schools throughout Victoria and addresses groups of students, using examples from both his professional and personal lives to illustrate his points.

“I’ve been working with kids all my life as a coach, so I find it’s easy to relate to them,” he said.

“Being in football taught me discipline, and that’s something I try to pass on to the students.

La Trobe University’s regional schools partnership co-ordinator Catherine Farrell said the program has been extremely well received.

“It’s been very well received, the students certainly take his message away and he offers his time for photos and autographs after the talk, which helps the students to take his message away,” she said.

“There’s an enormous amount of students who aren’t thinking about university, thinking that it’s not for them, and that it may be beyond them.

“Mick’s is out there showing he’s an everyday guy, who wasn’t a particularly good student, but has had a lot of success in his life because he worked hard and dealt with the adversity that he faced.”

The 59-year-old Malthouse challenged the audience to think about where they want to be in five years, and reminded them to set goals all along the way. 

“Life keeps going on and gobbles people up and spits them out on the other side. Unless you plan for that you will be swamped,” he said.

“The message I try to give them is that what we do with our future is determined by ourselves – that everyone has their own timeline, the important thing is what you make of it.”

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