Suzan Dickson - People of O-town

“My parents migrated here from England, I was born the following year. I grew up in East Orange and I was lucky enough to be one of the first students to be at Canobolas High. I went to NSW Uni as a teaching student, I spent three years in Sydney schools and we then moved back to Orange due to my husbands job, I spent 11 years at Orange High and another 15 years at Canobolas, I then moved to Sydney as a lecturer, then a Deputy Principal, then Principal, I was busy.

We moved back to Orange because you’ve got that big circle of people that you know, and although you might not see them all of the time, you’re part of a community and it’s a wider community, it’s really important and that’s what made us come back, it’s a community that we feel a part of.  I’m now in my fifth year of retirement, I decided I needed to do something, I needed my brain to be working so I began volunteering here at the Cancer Council and I also volunteer at the Orange City Council Museum.

I guess if you’re in education you’ve always wanted to help people, that’s part of what I like to do, as a Principal I had to make decisions, here - I can make decisions but I don’t have to, it’s a nice change. *laughs* Its nice to be helping and supporting others.

I enjoy travelling and have been on a number of overseas trips which, apart from learning about other countries, cities, peoples and cultures, enable me to visit many of the places I’ve taught about such as Egypt, Turkey, Europe and the UK, and to visit family in England and Scotland.

I’ve got a reasonable garden that keeps me busy, and I’ve got veggies in there, they take ages to grow, the heat isn’t helping. I’m very interested in history and that has led me to family trees, there are quite a few family trees, that takes up a fair amount of time and it’s really quite interesting to see where people have come from and where they are at now with their lives.”