Inspiring Indigenous Careers Expo

On Friday 2 August, a few Catherine McAuley College Bendigo (CMCB) students headed down to join their peers at Bendigo Senior Secondary College (BSSC) for the annual Central Victorian Indigenous Careers Expo for a valuable day of inspiration and information to support planning for their futures.

A memorable highlight was a performance and presentation from the one-and-only proud Gamilaraay man, Mitch Tambo, beautifully described in this extract from the BSSC article:

An incredibly engaging and inspiring speaker – and not to mention outstanding performer – Mitch brought an electric energy to the Ulumbarra Theatre.

He spoke of candidly of past struggles but focussed on the importance of holding to your own path regardless of what your friends were doing. He began to make positive choices.

“It was really all about saying ‘yes’ to good things and ‘no’ to bad things,” Mitch says.

He shared the powerful impact of his teenage realisation he was part of something huge – the world’s oldest living culture – and began to share, understand and respect that Culture.

“That young man saved my life, because he fell in love with his Culture,” reflects Mitch.

Distancing himself from things holding him back, his choices led him towards a life he hopes his ancestors would be proud of.

Culture was central to everything.

Congratulations to Stephen Korp, CMCB’s Koorie Education Worker, who joined Hayley Mansfield, Director of Bendigo and District Aboriginal Co-operative (BDAC) as a member of the panel of First Nations people discussing their pathways and lessons.

Congratulations also to CMCB and BSSC past student Leroy Miller, who was one of the MCs for the day.

After the presentations, students walked around Ulumbarra to engage with different employment agencies and government stakeholders to discover their interests for the future.

Thank you to BSSC, all the stallholders, students, staff, presenters and special guests for making Friday such an awesome event for our students.