SWEET FINALE: Flanked by apprentices Josh Osmand and Julie Kettyle, Geoffrey Michael donated this decadent spread to Year 12 students at Albury High School, where he was a former student. Pictures: ELENOR TEDENBORG

ALBURY patissier Geoffrey Michael has urged students graduating from Albury High School to follow their passion.

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Speaking at the Year 12 graduation assembly on Tuesday, the former Albury High School student said there were many different pathways to landing a dream job, which for him was not the one he had imagined for himself.

He confided he was not a model student because he was focused on a rugby league career.

“Due to non-attendance I had to repeat Year 9,” he said.

“I finished Year 10 but I just scraped through.”

Having moved to Brisbane with former Murray High student and now his wife and business partner Jenny Nicole, Geoffrey worked as a salesman and roof tiler until he realised his rugby league dream would not stack up.

He gained work at the luxury five-star Stamford Plaza Brisbane, which fed and housed the likes of royalty and Justin Timberlake.

“That led to a four-year job in a French patisserie,” he said.

“I worked 14 to 16-hour days, starting at 10pm and finishing at 2 or 3pm the next day.

“It taught me workflow, speed and passion.”

Having worked on Hayman Island and in Melbourne, Geoffrey and Jenny returned to the Border when Jenny was expecting their first son three years ago to establish Geoffrey Michael Patissier.

“If you’ve got a passion for something, you go for it; your ATAR score is not the end of the world,” Geoffrey said.

“If you love what you do then you never work a day in your life … and that’s true for me.”