Back To School With Professor Gordian Fulde

"It is not normal to be always happy," says Senior Australian of the Year Professor Gordian Fulde. Phew!

This post is presented in partnership with ReachOut.

Back to School With invites Australia's most interesting and successful people to share stories from their school days. In each episode, they let us know how they landed their dream careers, as well as how they faced all those inevitable obstacles of teenagerdom along the way.

In the first three seasons, we interviewed Julie Bishop, Anthony Albanese, Shane Jacobson, Dr. Karl, Daniel Ricciardo, Tom Ballard, Janine Allis, John Marsden, Michael Caton and many, many more fascinating peeps.

Wait until you see who we've got in store for Season Four...

In the fifth episode of the new season, we chat with Professor Gordian Fulde, an immigrant who overcame bullying to become the Director of Emergency at Sit Vincent's Hospital and Sydney Hospital for more than three decades, as well as 2016's Senior Australian of the Year. He also has a word for parents who want their kids to be "always happy": "It is not normal to be always happy. You have to learn to live with the ups and the downs."

Check out our chat!

Wondering what to do if you're not happy all the time? Read about 'building better coping skills' at ReachOut.

Come back next week for another instalment of Back to School With!

In the meantime, catch up with every episode:

Season One

Season Two

Season Three

Season Four

Back To School With... Season Four is presented by ReachOut Australia. Visit ReachOut to get support to help you with everything from everyday issues through to tough times.