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.

Coming into this semester I felt incredibly prepared. I studied extremely hard and was very organised. However, after the first few assignments it was clear to me, I was heading in the wrong direction. I did very poorly on a couple of assessments, and I was extremely disappointed and felt unmotivated. Although I felt this way I persevered and continued to study hard and was able to do well on my exams and further assessment and was able to pass all subjects. I also went on placement towards the end of the semester. This was a valuable experience which has confirmed to me that I am pursuing the right career path for me. I am determined to improve my grades next semester…

… I am disappointed in my grades for this semester; however, I am happy I have passed all subjects considering the rough semester I have had. I am looking forward to succeeding more next semester!