Preston joined MOB in 2022 as a Year 11 student.
He wasn’t doing badly at his old school, just drifting. He knew he wanted more, but he didn’t know how to get there. The change in energy at MOB hit him right away.
“The teachers here actually care,” he said. “They’re the best part. They want to see you do well. Not just finish school, but do well in life.”
It didn’t take long for things to shift.
“I don’t think I would’ve finished school if I stayed where I was,” he said. “I just didn’t really care there. I didn’t want to be there. Here, I actually wanted to show up.”
Preston started showing up early and staying late. He trained in the gym every day, stayed on top of his work, and built strong relationships with his teachers.
“Honestly, if I stayed at my old school, I probably would’ve dropped out halfway through Year 12,” he said. “At MOB, it felt like everyone actually wanted me to finish.”
He could feel the difference.
“The teachers push you to be better,” he said. “They want you to get stuff done, but they care about how you’re feeling too. They don’t just want you to pass, they want you to do well.”
By the end of 2023, Preston had graduated. He walked out proud of the effort he’d put in, and proud of who he was becoming.
Then everything fell apart.
“My mum passed away,” he said. “It just wrecked me.”
The grief hit hard and everything stopped.
“I stopped going to work. I stopped going to the gym. I didn’t want to talk to anyone. I just stayed in my room,” he said. “I didn’t care about anything anymore.”
For weeks, he stayed hidden. Until one day, he came back to visit MOB.
“When I came back, everyone was just happy to see me,” he said. “They all came up and hugged me. It made me feel like I was still part of it.”
That moment pulled him back.
“Coming here again made me realise how much this place means to me,” he said. “It gave me a reason to get up again.”
He started dropping in more often, sitting with old teachers, catching up with the boys in the gym, and slowly rebuilding the routine he’d lost.
Alongside rebuilding his routine, Preston kept accessing MOB’s psychologists and seeing Kirra, who supported him through his grief. It gave him space to talk, and reminded him that he wasn’t on his own.
“Being back around the people who believed in me made me want to believe in myself again,” he said.
The gym became a turning point.
“I’d stopped going to the gym completely,” he said. “When I started again, it made me feel good. It reminded me what I’m capable of.”
Now, Preston’s working again and looking forward.
“MOB taught me it’s okay to fall,” he said. “You just have to get back up.”
“I’ll always be a MOB boy. Always.” 🖤
