Former Corowa High School student Sarah Horne received the prestigious Carpe Diem award at a special assembly at Corowa High School last Wednesday. The award recognises ex-students who have excelled in their chosen field. Pictured with Sarah Horne is Corowa High School Captains Amy Wenke, Lachlan McKenzie, Carter Read, Rebecca Carroll and principal Dr Joanne Bellette.
Former Corowa High School student Sarah Horne has joined the likes of former NSW Assistant Police Commissioner Michael Corboy and Olympian Marcus Fraser after receiving the prestigious Carpe Diem award at a special assembly at Corowa High School last Wednesday, June 29.
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The Carpe Diem award recognises ex-students of Corowa High School who have who have gone on to achieve outstanding results in their chosen field and subsequently becoming positive role models to current students.
To be eligible to be inducted in the award you must be an ex-student of Corowa High School (since 1968) who has ‘seized the day’ by making a positive contribution to the community.
Ms Horne, who graduated in 1998, was acknowledged for her contribution to the armed forces and science.
Upon graduating high school, she completed a Bachelor of Electrical Engineering as a communications systems specialist and served with the Royal Australian Air Force deploying to the Middle East and Banda Aceh.
After leaving the air force, Ms Horne specialised in the operational management and high-level design of satellite communications systems and has gone on to become an internationally recognised Satellite Communications Engineer.
Ms Horne said it was an “honour” to receive such an award.
In her address to the school, Ms Horne said it was a “series of small decisions each and every day” that contributed to the success she has achieved.
Ms Horne said completing four years of study at the Australian Defence Force Academy to obtain her Electrical Engineering degree was just the beginning.
“Each day I would just try and put in that one per cent extra… just like on the sporting field, it’s the difference between a good sports player and a great sports player,” she said.
“It’s the same in the workforce, you put in a little bit extra, pay attention to detail in your work and it all adds up over time.”
Ms Horne said the biggest lesson she learned from the academy is “nothing worthwhile is easy”.
“Whether it’s winning the grand final, or completing year 12… nothing worthwhile is easy,” she said.
In 2003, Ms Horne was deployed to the Middle East as the Iraq war broke out working in communications.
“It was quite a pivotal moment in my career as I hadn’t considered working in comms,” she said.
“I discovered that I really enjoyed working in communications, and that lead me to do further training. 10 months later I was in the Middle East working in combat with a team in 17.
“Twelve months later I was deployed to Banda Aceh for Tsunami relief which was quite an eye-opening experience and very rewarding.”
The two appointments exposed Ms Horne to satellite communications.
“When I returned to Australia I was posted to Canberra and from there and managed to get myself into the satellite communications part of defence,” she said.
“It involved a lot of maths, physics and problem solving. It also saw me become part of satellite launch campaigns. I learnt to write code that today is on the Optus C1, D3 and 10 satellite campaigns. The D3 and 10 satellites both support Foxtel today.”
Sarah Horne addresses Corowa High School after receiving the Carpe Diem award for her contribution to science and the armed forces.
After leaving the Air Force, Ms Horne specialised in the operational management and high-level design of satellite communications systems and went on to become an internationally recognised Satellite Communications Engineer.
She has worked as lead engineer for Australian owned company, Downer Group, on a multibillion-dollar satellite communication project and is currently general manager with Electro Optics Systems, working on a major satellite project called SpaceLink.
“What does this mean for you?” Sarah asked the students.
“As you start to think about what you want to do after you finish school, I offer you the following advice. Our workforce requires highly skilled people more than ever before. When I was at high school a lot of my classmates’ grandparents would pack muesli bars at Uncle Tobys, their parents would pack muesli bars at Uncle Tobys, and today a machine packs those muesli bars.
“The same trend is continuing more and more and more. You need to pay attention and you need to leave with skills.
“The three areas that I think are particular growth areas- artificial intelligence 3D printing and quantum computing.”
Ms Horne left students with a final message.
“I cannot stress this enough. Each and every day nothing worthwhile is easy and those decisions you make each and every day, those one per centers will have an impact on your life moving forward.”
