Juan Carlos Muñoz (G-1987), Minister of Transport and Telecommunications:  “The school gave me valuable tools and taught me that I could go as far as I wanted”

In this edition of our School News we begin our Former Pupils Success Stories with the inspiring story of Juan Carlos Muñoz (G-1987), who is now Chilean Minister of Transport and Telecommunications.

“I began Kinder at Craighouse School in 1975, back in Manquehue, and I graduated in 1987 from El Rodeo. The school that my brother Gonzalo and I got to experience offered traditional British education and one of its main pillars was sports, mainly football and rugby. It was through sports that they encouraged team spirit, the value of group success rather than individual accomplishment, and the idea that joint achievement depends on the effort of each member.

Thanks to that lesson, teamwork and collective success are key aspects in the way I face life, and particularly work. The work we do at university level and especially in the government often means that we must make decisions that do not result in a personal benefit but in the benefit of other team members or the whole group. And that is absolutely necessary for a group to function effectively and successfully.

While I was at school I was able to take up my first leadership and service opportunities, and I realised that I was comfortable organising, leading, and also serving. I was class president for several years, and in 1987 the school named me Head Boy and captain of the blue team. I was also Vice-President of the Student Council.

Studying at Craighouse School was and continues to be a great privilege, both for its infrastructure and for the quality of its teachers. I received a top-quality education and the teachers who guided me played a key role in helping me acquire abilities that I have used throughout my life, specifically in my role as teacher at Universidad Católica, where I worked for over 25 years.

The school gave me valuable tools and taught me that I could go as far as I wanted. And during that time I made great friends. In Year 12-A, 1987 Generation, we developed comradeship and mutual affection, as well as lasting, intense, unconditional friendships, those that take shape in the playing fields and blossom in hallway conversations, in study sessions or in weekend activities.

I feel very grateful to my schoolmates and to life for the privilege of having studied at Craighouse School, where I learned to face difficulties, become stronger and develop my vocation to the fullest.”