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 first semester at Flinders University has been a journey. I moved from Sydney just before the semester began so I did not have time to waste getting accustomed to life in Adelaide. I joined a local soccer team, and it felt great getting into my childhood sport again. It’s been a big change, but I have thoroughly enjoyed my time here so far. Transitioning from UNSW also brought its challenges, yet I found myself becoming more comfortable in the new environment around the third week or so, after getting used to the new campus.

This semester I completed 3 subjects, HLTH1004 Human Bioscience, HLTH1010 Research and Study Skills, and HLTH1012 Strengths-based Approaches to Health: Working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples.

Human bioscience was focused on providing a foundational understanding of the anatomy and physiology of the human body, with focus on the concept of homeostasis. The subject was broken down into modules focusing on the 11 bodily systems with each week’s content focusing on a new system. It was particularly interesting how all the body systems work together to balance the state of homeostasis and reinforces the idea that holistic approaches to health are best.

Research skills was a basic unit teaching students how to become active and competent learners. I am quite confident in my existing skills, so the subject wasn’t too hard, but I did pick up some new skills along the course which I appreciated.

Strengths-based Approaches to Health: Working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples, was my favourite subject of the semester. I received the best mark in any university course I’ve completed, and it was nice to see this implemented in the first year of health science degrees at flinders. I think it’s important to have these subjects early in the degree because it is very important to have health practitioners that are aware of cultural differences and for them to have a good understanding of why they ever wanted to do such a degree in the first place. I am very happy with my results this semester securing a great average mark in my courses and I look forward to semester 2.

Reflecting on the past few months, I am grateful for the opportunity to spend time on Kaurna country, my family is happy and healthy, and I am looking forward to the new challenges this semester will bring as I take on my studies alongside my new role as a father.