My name is Mollie Scofield and I am starting my second year in a dual degree in Nursing and Public Health at Queensland University of Technology. I am a proud Mardigan woman, who grew up and is still growing up on Jarowair and Giabal land. I have been extremely fortunate to have the support system that has allowed me to become the first person in my family to attend university.

In the past four or so years I have been lucky enough to learn more about my history which has given me a drive to learn more about Aboriginal history and work in a health field which I believe will benefit Indigenous Australians. I chose to study two degrees as I believe it gives me the opportunity to gain the most amount of the education as possible to give back through my career.

I was initially intrigued to undertake the public health degree as it has an Aboriginal health component. I hope to work in the area of youth education, and alcohol and drug prevention and rehabilitation. This is a part of the health field I am extremely interested in and believe I can make a difference in to close the gap.

Nursing is a line of work that I have always wanted to undertake. I believe nursing is a rewarding career and is suited to my attitudes, values and beliefs. Nursing skills can be used to uphold physical, emotion and mental components of health, which ultimately affect the well-being of a person and their way of life. I would love to be able to give every person I come across the help they need to become the best version of themselves and reach their goals.

After the completion of my two degrees, I hope to undertake post graduate study to become a midwife, as this is my dream career. I believe that this will give me even further knowledge to be able to give back to the community. I hope to be able to use traditional birthing methods in conjunction with appropriate western medicine practice and culturally safe practice to better help and support mothers and their babies.

I hope to work regional or rural during the duration of my career and I have a goal to work in an Aboriginal community possibly even one near where I grew up or on my traditional land at Charleville. This will allow me to directly give back to those who have influence my line of study and my career choices.

Semester 1 of 2024 was a semester I was extremely excited for. I received news that I would be attending my final 8-week placement of my nursing degree in Chinchilla. I was pleased with this as attending a rural placement was my first choice in preferences. I personally feel as though I excelled during this placement. I enjoyed the experience of being a rural nurse and gained valuable clinical experience. I received very good feedback from my clinical supervisor and the nurse unit manger which has confirmed for me that I have the skills and caring nature to be a good nurse.  I am confident that I can persevere through my last semester of challenging theory subjects to successfully complete my degree.

In terms of my grades, my goal this semester was to pass all my classes, which I am happy to say that I achieved. However, I was disappointed that on two of my classes I was very close to achieving a distinction which would have been amazing. I have always placed a lot of academic pressure on myself, and although I have convinced myself that a pass is all I need, I am determined to do my very best in all subjects. I have worked extremely hard this semester on my time management skills, and I have tried very hard to get the best grades possible for me.

I have started a new part-time job with Blue-care Toowoomba which has been beneficial for my basic nursing skills, as well as community engagement. I have an incredibly strong support system in the form of my family who have supported me through my personal and university journeys.  I am excited to have begun the next step of my career by beginning to apply for graduate programs and jobs.

I am becoming extremely excited for the prospect that next semester is going to be my last semester of university for these degrees. I have made sure to have a strong resource in place such as a personal tutor and a tutor through the university to ensure that I will have academic support in place to be successful. I am also in regular contact with the QUT Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander academic lead Mary-Claire who has been a huge support for me throughout my university degree. As I reflect, I can’t help but be thankful for everyone who has supported me through my academic, financial and health journeys over the course of the last 3 ½ years.