Charles Muirhead grew up on a farm in central-west New South Wales, leaving school at the end of Year 10 to work on the property. His uncle and aunt, who had attended Avondale, spoke enthusiastically of the College, as did the Avondale students who came each summer to work on the harvest. An Avondale lecturer who paid yearly visits would also tell Charles, “You’ve got to go to Avondale.”
Charles Muirhead receives Avondale’s most prestigious prize, the Award of Excellence, from Julie Praestiin, Corporate Communications Director, Sanitarium. Credit: Ann Stafford.
When Charles’s younger brother was injured in a car accident and confined to a wheelchair for life, Charles wished he could give professional help. So he decided to go to Avondale to study nursing.
After graduating he worked initially at the Sydney Adventist Hospital, then moved west to help care for his brother, with concurrent employment at the Dubbo Base Hospital. After further studies in intensive care and administration, he rapidly progressed to management, and was then head-hunted as manager of the day surgery unit and operating theatres at the Dubbo Private Hospital, including responsibility for recruiting medical staff.
A turning point in Charles’s experience came when his brother passed away in 2003. Charles had previously married, and he and his wife now decided to move to the coast. For some time he had contemplated studying business to extend his professional skills, so in 2007 he enrolled in Avondale’s Bachelor of Business, majoring in accounting. He also gained a part-time position at the Gosford Private Hospital with responsibility for managing the eight operating theatres and, when on duty, supervising the entire hospital.
Charles graduated in 2009, receiving prizes for excellence in accounting and for overall excellence in the Bachelor of Business degree. He also received the Award of Excellence, Avondale’s most prestigious prize awarded for high achievement, Christian qualities and leadership potential.
“I am exceedingly grateful to a loving Saviour,” Charles said. “Without my Adventist Christian background and my upbringing in a loving family these achievements would not have been possible. I am also grateful for incredible support from the lecturers who minister at Avondale.” Charles is now employed as an accountant at the head office of Sanitarium.