NDP alum Eric Leen (’13), after marching at a recent Chief of Defence Force Parade, which marks the passing of initial training and induction into the Australian Defence Force Academy.Eric Leen lived in Rochester Hills and graduated from Notre Dame Prep in 2013. But he had come far just to get to NDP. Very far.
Leen was born in the United Arab Emirates, immigrated to Australia where he lived for three years and then moved to the Rochester Hills in 2011 when his dad was transferred by General Motors to company headquarters in downtown Detroit.
In terms of schooling, prior to Notre Dame, Leen attended Marcellin College from seventh to tenth grade in Melbourne, Australia, after spending second through sixth grade at Cambridge International School in Dubai. He started school at Modern Academy, also in Dubai, up to the first grade.
He started at Notre Dame in the 11th grade, but progressed very far and very fast at the school. One of NDP’s 30 valedictorians in 2013 with a grade-point-average of 4.438, Leen also was NDP’s senior representative of the National Chinese Honor Society, a member of FIRST Robotics and the National Honor Society and was part of the Fighting Irish varsity tennis team. He also spent many hours volunteering at his local church in the Detroit area.
Currently he is studying at the Australian Defence Force Academy/University of New South Wales (ADFA/UNSW) in Canberra, the capital of Australia. He plans to remain in the Royal Australian Air Force after school as an electronics engineering officer.
Leen took a few minutes away from school and the air force to answer a few questions from IRISH magazine, a publication from the Notre Dame Alumni Association.
Leen is pictured standing outside the front entrance of the Australian War Memorial in Canberra, Australia.
ERIC LEEN: After graduating from NDP, I definitely continued to develop and use my leadership skills. During my six months in a civilian university (Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology), I led a group of seven people in a couple of engineering projects, which helped us earn really good scores. I also used my leadership skills at my air force officer selection board, which helped get me selected by the Royal Australian Air Force as an electronics engineering officer and to study at the Australian Defence Force Academy. I continue to develop my leadership now at ADFA by doing small roles within my division as well as on the playing field.
IRISH: Tell us about your experience in the air force? Do you believe your education at Notre Dame prepared you for success?
LEEN: So far my experience in the air force and at ADFA has been great. I have made a lot of friends who have interests similar to mine, and these are relationships that would last for a life time. The initial weeks of training were a great experience. It was a shock at first, but as the days progressed, I got used to the military environment and was keen to learn new skills such as effectively operating a rifle, navigation, fieldcraft and more. The education at NDP helped me prepare not only for university but also develop the thinking and leadership skills that helped get me into the air force.
IRISH: What has been most influential in driving your aspirations toward your career? What skills and strengths do you possess that will make you successful in this field?
LEEN: My love for science, engineering, technology and aircraft drove me to choose this career in the Royal Australian Air Force. In order to be successful in this role, you are required to communicate effectively, lead by example, know your job role and the details of the tasks assigned to your team and be able to think effectively. All of these are attributes that I developed during my time at NDP and will continuing to develop at my time at ADFA.
IRISH: Do you have a favorite memory and favorite teacher from Notre Dame?
LEEN: There are a lot of things I will treasure from my time at Notre Dame. Irish Week, the Senior All-Night Party, being a pit crew member of the Killer Bees during their best season to date, and of course graduation day. If I had the opportunity to relive every moment of it, I would. All the teachers at NDP were awesome, but my favorite teacher has to be Ms. Yaroch, my IB biology teacher. She is funny, smart, trustworthy and overall a great role model not just as a teacher, but as a person. Even though IB Biology was a hard class, it was a class that I always looked forward to. I miss all the good friends I made during my two years at NDP. It’s especially hard when you live halfway around the world, but I definitely keep in touch with them.
IRISH: Any other takeaways from your tenure at Notre Dame?
LEEN: Definitely! I changed as a person ever since I attended NDP. If I did not attend Notre Dame, I believe that I would not have been able to make it into the air force. The school made me open up to society and utilize the skills that I had as well as develop new ones. For that I feel obliged to support the community through any means—the community that helped me get this far in life.
Follow Notre Dame on Twitter at @NDPMA.
About Notre Dame Preparatory School and Marist Academy
Notre Dame Preparatory School and Marist Academy is a private, Catholic, independent, coeducational day school located in Oakland County. The school's upper division enrolls students in grades nine through twelve and has been named one of the nation's best 50 Catholic high schools (Acton Institute) four times since 2005. Notre Dame's middle and lower divisions enroll students in jr. kindergarten through grade eight. All three divisions are International Baccalaureate "World Schools." NDPMA is conducted by the Marist Fathers and Brothers and is accredited by the Independent Schools Association of the Central States and the North Central Association Commission on Accreditation and School Improvement. For more on Notre Dame Preparatory School and Marist Academy, visit the school's home page at www.ndpma.org.