2025 Gerdy Jevtic Medal Recipient Dr Brooke Mason: Building Resilience and Embracing Discomfort

In Fahan’s 90th year, the annual Travers Morphett Lecture offered a powerful reminder that courage often grows from challenge. This year’s guest speaker and recipient of the 2025 Gerdy Jevtic Medal, Dr Brooke Mason (Class of 2012), returned to Fahan to deliver an address titled Building resilience and embracing discomfort: The importance of adversity in growing into a kinder, wiser human.

 

A medical practitioner, competitive surfer and advocate for mental health and gender equality, Brooke spoke with warmth and honesty about her journey - from co-founding Fresh Faced Friday during her medical studies to volunteering in healthcare and surf-education programs across Fiji and Central America. In 2024, she was nominated as Tasmania’s Young Australian of the Year for her advocacy and community impact.

Drawing on her experiences as a doctor and on her father’s recent life-altering accident, Brooke invited students to rethink what strength really looks like. She spoke about how discomfort and adversity, while deeply confronting, can also strip away fear and reveal what truly matters.

“Life is extremely fragile - I’ve learnt this acutely recently,” she said. “My dad and I love the journey in life rather than the destination. What I want to explain is that life right now, where you are right now, is life - not the end point. You need to be living for the right now.”

 

Brooke encouraged students to see challenges as opportunities for growth rather than obstacles to avoid. “This too shall pass,” she reminded them, before adding, “Question the status quo - it’s there to be questioned. Just because something has been, doesn’t mean it’s always right. Your opinion is valued.”

Her message was both uplifting and grounding: leadership and impact come not from status, but from the way we treat others and show up every day. “You can have a huge impact on people just by the way you behave,” she said.

 

Students described Brooke’s talk as inspiring, authentic and deeply relatable.

Year 8 student, Amelie Dobson, commented, “You don’t have to be the best in your class or the best at everything - you can just be someone observing from the sidelines and still go far in life. I found it really inspiring to hear how she embraced discomfort and kept trying new things - it showed me that stepping out of your comfort zone can take you a long way.”

Year 11 student, Pia Abberton, added, “I really appreciated Brooke’s advice to focus on today, and to make the most of life as we live it. Our lives are so short, and I was really struck by her personal stories that showed how important it is to cherish the people and experiences around us.”

 

Many students said Brooke’s honesty and openness made her message especially meaningful, noting how much they related to her reflections on uncertainty, courage and finding purpose in everyday life.

Throughout her presentation, Brooke challenged students to think about what they value most. She spoke of her father, whose first words spelt out after his accident were, “I would not change a thing,” and asked the audience to consider whether they, too, were living a life they wouldn’t wish to change.

Her closing words captured the essence of her message - a call to live bravely, connect deeply and embrace the present:

“Go and risk being embarrassed, say the things, have the difficult things, commit to things, go in with your whole heart, avoid things like procrastinating, being distracted, wasting half your life on social media on your phone with your eyes down. Look up, connect with humans in the street, don’t be a commitment-phobe and don’t just spend your lives being busy, but live in the moment. There’s always brightness somewhere.”

 

In addition to Brooke’s inspiring address, the event also celebrated the presentation of the Pride of Fahan Alumni Award to Year 11 student, Tiger Somerville, supporting her ambition to captain a Tall Ship. The Award was presented by Fahan School Alumni Association President, Lisa Brown, further highlighting the wonderful connection between past and present Fahan students.