The Don College

The Don College is located in Don, a suburb of Devonport on the North-West coast of Tasmania. "Don", as it is commonly known to residents of Devonport, is the only college where one can study year 11 and 12 before attending University at least 50 kilometres away. Hellyer College, located in Burnie which is further West than Devonport, is the only other public school possibility for North-West Coast residents. There is a private school in Devonport, just up the road from Don, called St Brendan Shaw College. In 2005 an incident occurred involving numerous Don College students in which, the words "Don college" appeared on top of the St. Brendan Shaw College sign. This is just one example of the rivalry that occurs between the two schools.

It is blatanly obvious to anybody who has studied at, taught at, visited or even just seen Don College that the architect hired to design this college was a lunatic with a passion for concrete and stairs. It is rumoured that the design of Don is the cause for many hip, knee and ankle joint injuries. There are many circular staircases, which when first climbing may give a slight thrill, as circular staircases are uncommon in North-West Tasmania, but after a week of constantly walking up and down and up and down it becomes very tiresome, expecially when you have two folders full of school books in a bag strapped to your back. The only students who are free from this mulish behaviour are those who exclusively study languages; all have classrooms conveniently located in terrapins with sweeping views of endless bush and the occasional(occasional being an understatement) pot smokers. A common complaint heard throughout the corridors, is the lack of mobile phone reception due the the excess amounts of concrete used in the building. It is lucky that cement is stored in large silos at the port of Devonport as the costs required to move such large amounts in from anywhere further away would be enormous, and then Don would have even less funding than it does at the moment. All in all, Don is a great school. Great atmosphere and a place for everyone; with two common rooms, a wall for the sportos to sit on and play with their tennis balls, a pit for the slightly more alternative students to sit in, some grass to sit on in the summer(with many Northern Common Roomers migrating during this period), the grassy knoll occupied by smokers, the gym and the music room.

The two common rooms; northern and southern, are two very different environments. The southern common room started out in the late 1970's as the "smokers" common room. Over time, this has gradually led to todays reputation of the southern common room being the common room for "out-casts" (even the vending machines use to be 10 cents cheaper). The northern common room is named so because of the windows facing the north which fills the common room with light creating a happy environment. Northern common roomers are typically friendly people.

Don College also includes what is commonly known as "the pit". This is located directly outside the music rooms, opposite the northern lawn. The pit contains a variety of sub-cultures. The most popular being emos and goths. On a Friday afternoon you may find a lot of the "pitters" slightly under the weather. Be sure to maintain constant vigilance whilst walking through the pit, so as not to be injured by a knife gone astray, although most pit dwellers keep their knives concealed unless it's absolutely necessary. Because of the mirrored windows of the music room out to the pit, a subject of amusement for the music students is when a "pitter" inspects themselves in the mirror without realising a whole class of students is watching them.

[The Don also has a computer lab where you will always find two guys hard at work in their scheming ways. They thrive on watching people have a crack at something and fail, then posting comments about it online. They will however, never try anything themselves that could result in losing as they are unwilling to commit, due to their online dating partner cheating on them many years ago. You will now find them gathered around a computer on their lonely nights, contemplating their next scheme in an effort to forget their own misdemeanors.(2007)]

[http://www.don.tased.edu.au The Don College Website] DEFAULTSORT:Don College [http://www.get-tasmania.edu.au/doncollege.php Government Schools: Don College]