DEBATES – Tuesday 18 October 2016 33 in 1994
DEBATES – Tuesday 18 October 2016 In 1994 my parents made the decision to move from the comfortable life of Batchelor so my older sister, Jocelyn, could complete her final senior years in Darwin at St John’s college. In 1995 we moved to Darwin and I attended the local primary school of Malak. I then attended Sanderson High School and completed my grades 8, 9 and 10. I picked up a love of soccer in high school, and joined the school team and got into club soccer, which kept me busy on the weekends. I moved to Casuarina Senior College for grades 11 and 12, and in both years was selected to represent the NT at the national schoolgirls competition. One was in Gosford, New South Wales, and the other in Perth, WA. In Year 12 I was also selected as a Northern Territory representative for the National Youth Roundtable, which was made up of 50 young people around Australia. Whilst in my senior years of grades 10, 11 and 12, I participated in a program called the Aboriginal and Islander Tertiary Aspirations Program, better known as AITAP. This program focused on developing self- confidence, public speaking—which has come in handy—performing skills, getting over the shame-job factor, and having a go. People like Tanyah and Joanne Nasir made us students believe in ourselves and rise up to challenges in both the program and our personal lives. Through AITAP I participated in three annual Northern Territory challenges and one Queensland AITAP challenge, and attended various development workshops. AITAP was also how I first connected to the YMCA Youth Parliament.
[Show full text]