I am a proud  Indigenous Wandiwondian Yuin man of the South Coast of NSW that has been blessed with the opportunity to grow up on my country and form strong connections to my community. I have a solid support network within my family and my community, and this allowed me to develop a strong sense of self and comfort in my identity, and it also gave me a solid sense of responsibility towards my people. While I come from a community with a high Indigenous population, I was the only Indigenous male in my year to finish their HSC. My family always supported my endeavour into further education, and with their support I was able to live out this dream completing my first degree, a Bachelor of Public Health (Health Promotion) at the University of Wollongong in 2020.

I chose to study in the health area because far too many of our people are dying early from preventable disease.   I have made the choice to break this cycle and do everything in my power to help our mob break their generational traumas.

While my journey to my first degree showed me the importance of developing and implementing prevention strategies to address the inequitable health outcomes our mob face, I struggled working isolated in an office and not face to face with our mob. I believe this is my strongest quality, I draw my inspiration and determination from my people, and I believe I would be better suited in clinical treatment.

The decision to study Optometry came after I had troubles with my own vision. At the time I was scared and genuinely thought that I was going to lose vision in one of my eyes. The optometrist was very dismissive and treated me as though I was silly. It left me furious and the thought of our Elders experiencing this, was painful. I know I can provide better care for mob than what was offered to me in my time of uncertainty and I felt as though I had a duty to obtain this qualification and serve my mob.

My vision is that in 5 years’ time I will be a qualified optometrist that will be able to treat mob in a culturally safe way. My 10-year plan is to give back to my community by helping establish/promote pathways for mob thinking about a career in health. Then when I have established myself, I want to open my own Allied health clinic, along with other Indigenous Allied Health professionals, to deliver a range of culturally appropriate health services.

My second semester at flinders was challenging as I was figuring out my role as a first-time father while also attending to my studies, although I am proud of my results. I did 3 subjects for the semester. They were HLTH1304 – Interpersonal and Interprofessional Communication, HLTH1306 – Understanding Health, Illness, and Health and Social Care in Australia, and OPTO1001 – Introduction to Vision Science.

Interpersonal and Interprofessional Communication was focused on improving students understanding of the principles of communication in health, disability, and human services. This was to be done by developing foundational skills in interpersonal and interprofessional communication, highlighting the importance of empathy, respect, cultural safety, and examining ethical considerations in interpersonal and interprofessional communication. I found the subject to be interesting and worthwhile for an introductory level subject at university.

Understanding Health, Illness, and Health and Social Care in Australia was focused on developing an understanding of the conditions that shape health experiences and examining the health and social care system in Australia. The subject was intended to help students understand our role as both a consumer and a provider of health care in the Medicare system, while also developing our existing skills in appraising evidence-based health literature and policies.

I found this subject to be easy with my public health background. Although, I had issues with some of the assigned tasks, which I found to be written in a confusing manner. After having a meeting with the topic Co-ordinator, we were able to come to a better understanding and I completed the subject. It is important for all Australians to know the content we covered in this subject pertaining to Medicare and what we are entitled to, this is particularly important for anyone in the healthcare industry to ensure they are providing the best care for consumers.

Introduction to Vision Science was my first Optometry specific subject at Flinders university. During the topic we examined refractive errors like myopia and hyperopia, the changes that come with aging, and how various factors affect our vision over time. The science behind phototransduction and how our eyes adapt to different lighting was interesting, as was learning about visual acuity, contrast sensitivity, and how the brain processes visual information. Overall, this topic has helped me appreciate the complexity of vision and the role our eyes and brain play in how we perceive everything around us.

Looking forward the 2^nd year at flinders and further examining the science of vision.