Alumni Spotlight: Stephanie Calabrese

I graduated in the class of 2011 which is crazy to think that 15 years have passed already. I was Priory Leader for Senario in Year 12. For my WACE (ATAR equivalent today), I studied Human Biology, Chemistry and Drama and I feel like each of those subjects had a role in developing who I am today. Human Biology and Chemistry planted the seeds for my career and Drama helps me execute it, as it definitely helps my confidence when speaking in public.

I was most inspired by Ms Goodwin, Ms Carrier, Mr Lehman and Ms Scaffidi in my time at Servite. Each one of them was so encouraging. My favourite subject was Chemistry for sure.

Some of my favourite memories from Servite was from when I participated in the school production of Bats and when I was on the dance team for Rock Eisteddfod and Catholic Performing Arts. It was a lot of fun and gave us the chance to be creative.

I went on to study Pharmacy at Curtin University and completed my degree in 2015. I worked as a Pharmacist in Tuart Hill for a few years before the traveller in me needed to get moving.

Currently I am living in Rome, Italy and I have been since 2019. I moved there as Italy has always had a place in my heart, coming to visit relatives here as a teenager, I fell in love with the lifestyle and knew that someday I wanted to make it my home. What started off as a year of travelling, perfecting the language and experiencing the lifestyle without ‘vacation goggles’, quickly turned into 7 years and counting.

I survived the Italian bureaucracy and was able to have my Australian Pharmacy degree recognised in Italy and since 2020 I have been working as a pharmacist (Dottoressa) here in Rome. The timing was convenient as the pandemic was in full swing.

Being a native English speaker is also helpful as a lot of tourists come through the pharmacy and it’s nice to see the relief on their faces when they can receive the help they need without the language barrier.

I also work in a High School as an English Language Assistant. I help students complete the CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning) which is a program designed, not to teach the English language, but to have students study their subjects in English. For example, currently I am teaching Science, Geography, Art History and Philosophy in English. I work with the teachers and am accompanied by a teacher to give a lesson on their current materials with 100% of it spoken in English so students can hear the vocabulary and pronunciation.

I still touch on some of my memorable learning experiences with my students. For example, the chemistry songs Ms Goodwin used to play us have definitely made an appearance when I was teaching Ionic and Covalent bonds!

I enjoy going to the gym and I like hiking as the mountains in Italy are beautiful. I like to travel and take advantage of free weekends to visit places around Italy and Europe.

The advice I would give to a student in 2026 is to try everything. Don’t feel restricted by boundaries or the status quo. If you are passionate about something, nothing can stop you from perusing it. It’s hard at 17 to decide what to do for the rest of your life so try different things, find your passion, work hard at it and be kind.