“ I was born in Blacktown and moved to Tabulam when I was four years old. Both my parents were in the Police Force. My dad is still in the force and is 35 years in. My brother works at the station as a Police Officer too. My Mum has left the force now and my sister works for the Council. I’m 30 now and for the last 20 years I have lived in Casino.
I went to St Mary’s Primary School and St Mary’s High School. Living in Tabulam I had to catch three buses to get to school because we lived so far from school. Academically I wasn’t a top student, I was average but I just worked the best I could. In 2011 I went to Italy for a month with the school. I was very nervous but I had a great time and met a lot of people which was good.
Throughout my life I’ve always had social anxiety so I’ve been having issues with that. I’m on the autistic spectrum so social skills were not really my forte. I met some people who do full exposure therapy, which helps being able to talk to people, helping you to go to interviews and just supporting you with things like that.
I worked at The Hotel Cecil from 16 until I was 21 as a kitchen hand so I mostly washed dishes through those years because I was so nervous talking to people. I met some people who helped me bring my skills up and I looked at what careers I wanted to do beyond that. I didn’t want to be a kitchen hand my whole life. I did a test when I was 23 with a career advisor and one of the things that came up was Nursing. I was still in hospitality but I started getting better at talking to people and taking meals out.
I did the Cert 3 course for AIN in ’20 to ’21. It wasn’t always easy with the talking side. I was going to aged care homes and learning. I was a bit confronted at first because it was a setting I wasn’t used to but over time it became easier.
I left the Cecil and got a job at an aged care home as a Nurse. During that time I also went overseas to Europe by myself for three weeks on a tour. I was terrified the whole time, like getting on the plane, getting off the plane, all that stuff…but I did it.
I came back and got a job at Lismore Base Hospital as an AIN and I decided to do the Diploma of Nursing which was free at the time because we were short of Nurses and the Government were subsidising the course. That course was a hurdle as well. I had very supportive teachers which really helped. The good thing was I had that exposure to the hospital and aged care before I did my placements.
I graduated in November last year and I was nominated by my teacher Mel Ramsay for two awards. I won the award for the Wellbeing and Human Services student of the year and I was also awarded TAFE NSW Student of the Year out of 400,000 students. I was so stoked but at the same time I was hoping I didn’t have to talk (laughs).
I was in a new graduate program and I got a job at the Lismore Base Hospital in the Haematology and Oncology ward and it’s a very heavy ward. For me it’s not just about the patient who comes on the ward but it’s also about their family who are dealing with their loved one. It’s a very fast, unpredictable ward at times. My job is to make sure the patient and the family get some comfort. It’s important to give every single patient and their family members comfort and support. It’s a good ward to work on and the staff are very caring.
I want to develop further as a Nurse but I want to build more confidence before I do that. I have my license so I drive to work and Casino to Lismore is a pretty nice drive.”