​I began my Bachelors of Arts degree in 2017. That same year, it was also my second year employed by the City of Greater Geelong as a Youth Activities Officer at The fOrT Youth Centre. The fOrT Youth Centre is a safe place where young people from different cultural groups come together as one community to have fun, relax, socialise with each other, enjoy free programs and develop their skills and interest. As a Youth Activities Officer, I was fortunate enough to create and implement projects in and outside the centre that was also inspired by my studies at Deakin University. Examples of these projects include;

​

• Member of the Multicultural Youth Leadership Committee – 2017 to 2020.

• An event planner for (Refugee Week, Harmony Day, Cultural Diversity Week, Ramadan, Multicultural Pako Festa) – 2017 to 2020.

• Community consultant (interviewing 100 Culturally and Linguistically Diverse people) – 2017.

• Human Library – 2019.  

• Professional development opportunities (Child Safe Standards, Event Management & Conflict Resolution Training) – 2020. 

• Safe streets project in partnership with Barwon Community Legal Service – 2020 (currently involved). 

• ‘Adopt A Grandparent’ project (cross-cultural programs with local Aboriginal young people) – 2020. 

​

Being part of these projects has enabled me to positively influence young people from different cultural backgrounds to develop relationships within groups that will educate them to do a more positive thing within the community. Deakin University’s values of inclusiveness, diversity and inclusion and excellence has also allowed me to gain more insight into bettering myself as a leader. For example, as a member of the Multicultural Youth Leadership Committee, I was able to implement my personal story in a film with other Leadership committee members. The purpose of our stories was to educate other Australians who are not refugees to understand the life experiences and challenges faced by refugees within the Australian community. Another example is the project that I was recently involved in called Human Library but had to put on hold because of COVID-19. This project was extremely fun to organise. I was a living book and people had to borrow me to listen to my story. The purpose of this project was to contribute to the development of people within the community to break stereotypes and challenge the common misconceptions they have about other people’s cultures. Finally, I would like to comment on my recent involvement with Safestreets projects with Barwon Community Legal Service. Being part of this project enables me to address legal messages on the rights and responsibilities young people have with Protective Service Officers (PSO). Young people need to understand their rights when dealing with law, especially during COVID-19. This was a very eye-opening experience to learn more about the law and rights, but also learning about current youth attitudes that exist towards the legal system. This allowed me to then develop my own communication processes that are understood by the young people which I will then use later in my professional career. 

​

The second leadership experienced I would like to comment on is being a peer project leader with Western Edge Youth Arts and North Youth Theatre. My passion for drama all started back in high school. I carried that through to my University years. In 2017, I was in my second year working as a project peer leader with Western Edge. My role as a project leader was to help young people in the program to engage in drama and develop the skills and abilities needed to create a play. The plays we make as an ensemble has enhanced my skills and also the skills of others to explore, express and gain an understanding of the similarities and differences between cultures and the issues surrounding the current world we are living. The units I have been studying at Deakin University have allowed me to further develop and improve my skills in storytelling, performance and narrative such as: 

​

• ACP280, Major Performance Project: Page to Stage - Develop production skills and understanding in dramatic language, play-structure and theatrical styles and the ways in which these work together to create dramatic meaning. 

• ACP 109, Improvisation Principles in Action - Explore cultural and historical contexts through improvisation and apply information as part of performance making. 

 

Without Deakin, I would not be able to successfully portray stories into the community that are deep, meaningful and impactful. I have performed in numerous places such as GPAC, Geelong After Dark, the Court House and at the fOrT Youth Center. This experience with the Youth Theatres developed my leadership qualities as I was involved in the narrative and character development, followed by the conversations with key stakeholders to support the performance group by promoting and hosting the events. The majority of plays we do are to educate people within the community on issues relating to racism, climate change, discrimination, and youth awareness. Looking back at all the performances I have performed within the community, I am now able to transfer that knowledge in a classroom setting, where I can now educate my students to respect, value and love themselves and the people around them. 

​

In 2018 I received the most amazing opportunity that I will forever hold dear to my heart. I was asked to be a Multicultural Education Aide (MEA) for the Geelong English Language Center (GELC). As an MEA, I had to support newly arrived students who speak English as their second language with integrating into an English-based classroom. I created a Swahili dictionary that was able to guide students when working through class tasks. Having a small class dictionary written in their language enabled the students to improve their speaking and writing skills. I also had fun participating in numerous class activities with the students, such as dress-up days. Students had to dress up and say something about the clothes they are wearing. These dress-up days allowed these students to be proud of the cultural heritage, and to enable conversations to happen around cultural engagement. The skills I was learning in my degree were able to be tested and then improved upon through real-life examples. Learning the theories and knowledge about how students learn best has allowed me to shift my method of support to best encourage young students to grow into leaders. It was great to see the students communicating and showing development in understanding the English language. I was also able to sit one on one with the students, mentor them and build trustworthy relationships.

​​

Later that year, I received another opportunity to be an MEA at Northern Bay P-12 College. I was working across all five campuses whenever help was needed. At Northern Bay, I was able to work closely with the students who have finished GELC and are transitioning to a mainstream learning environment. I supported these students together with their families not only in the classroom but also at after school family meetings. I helped teachers together with other MEAs to set up college events. The support I provided for the students and their families enabled them to have a smooth transition to the school and build connections with other families and the school staff. Being a past EAL student and working as an MEA, I understood the importance of having someone supporting me to understand the language. Now looking back I am proud to say that the skills I gained from being an MEA are that in my future teaching career I can implement lessons for EAL students and have support in place for the MEAs. They would potentially be in one of my class one day working closely with students to translate lesson content, and so this was a valuable experience to help with me in the future.

​​

In 2019 I was selected to be part of City of Greater Geelong's STREETFACE project. STREETFACE is an exhibition that transforms 13 prominent buildings into murals celebrating young people form the Geelong region. The primary purpose of the project was to advocate for young people to talk about workplace health and safety. These were my words on the STREETFACE. 

 

“Having safety keeps you alive. It’s living. Safety to me means that everything taken care of, my safety is guaranteed. Having that reassurance in your mind, that there’s protection. Safety is in us, but sometimes we ignore it. If I see someone struggling, I’m not going to sit there and wait. It’s a gut feeling. I would ask “Is this safe or not?” Everyone has the ability to know what is right and what is wrong. You need to be open-minded. Every institution and organisation already has a regulation like ‘no bullying’. So I reckon it’s your duty as a person to follow that and to be able to look after each other. If it’s not right, you need to do something. If I have fear and I’m scared, I still do it, I’d still ask them “Is this safe or not?”. Believe in yourself. Having good safety, and feeling safe gives you opportunities to do things like this STREETFACE, to influence other people and feel good about yourself and the people around you.”

 

Workplace Health and safety is paramount. Having my image and story displayed publically and knowing that someone who will walk past and stop for a minute and read something that would change their thoughts and behaviours is inspiring. It is definitely a change I want to make in our community. ​

 

Towards the end of 2019, I was featured in Humans in Geelong article and website. Humans in Geelong is a not-for-profit with the aim to connect, inspire and strengthen the Geelong Community through the power of storytelling. They published my story because I am someone who makes a difference in Geelong through my art, performance, and involvement in the community. Having my story shared on Humans in Geelong showcased how my leadership abilities have developed the awareness of myself. There was a great response to my story with many people liking, sharing and commenting on the Humans in Geelong social pages. Having the event held at the Deakin University Waterfront Campus allowed me to truly represent the true leader I can be, sharing how proud I am to be a student at this university and the interpersonal skills that come along with being a student. I have been able to further develop my confidence, a passion behind my voice, and meaning to the stories that I share. Through Humans in Geelong, I was also offered the opportunity to share my story at the Humans in Geelong Expo where people from the broader Geelong community attended to witness and meet the change-makers of Geelong.​

​

This year I received another opportunity to work closely with students and families at Big Childcare. Big Childcare prepares children to showcase what they have done in the program and contribute to decisions affecting their lives and contribute to the community. I helped run the program and implemented exercises for students to build strong relationships with their peers. Children join in a wide range of cultural, artistic and other recreational activities that would make the children happy and safe. At the same time, they interact with friends, practice social skills, solve problems, try new experiences, and learn life skills. As Vince Gowmon says "Education begins the moment we see children as innately wise and capable beings. only then we can play along in their world". 

​