Australia was an experience that I will never forget. I have always wanted to go to Australia, so when I heard about this program I was excited to apply. I was nervous to be on a flight for 15 hours, but when we landed in Melbourne it was well worth the wait. I have learned so much about Australian culture, their child welfare system, and their mental health services.

This program has further pushed me into wanting to become a school social worker. A school social worker has always been my goal since I entered the social work program in 2014. This program has made me want to continue that goal. All of the programs that Australia has and all of the research that they are doing in the child welfare system and mental health has motivated me to learn and dig deeper into what programs the U.S. offers. A lot of the programs that Australia has are amazing, they are immensely ahead of us in mental health programs. Beyond Blue had many great programs being offered in the school systems that a lot of ours need. This program has made me want to be more interactive with youth and dig deeper into social work. This is going right along with my career goals because I want to go for my masters in Social Work, and getting a job in a school setting I will be able to work with youth daily. 

I was eager to learn about the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, after watching the Rabbit Proof Fence. VACCA, Victorian Aboriginal Child Care Agency had an amazing training that they prepared for us. The training was filled with great information about the aboriginal people the training was taught by Rob and aboriginal man, who was emotionally attached to teaching us as much as possible. The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are the oldest known population that is still living. Rob talked about the invasion of the British and how the aboriginal people could not fend them off due to lack of weapons and tools that they had available. As the British continued to take over the land the Aboriginal people were forced to leave their land a migrate. The Aboriginal lost many people while fighting for their land, they lost a lot of their language and culture by having to move to other areas and having multiple different tribes living amongst each other. Eventually they lost their children as the British tried to eliminate the Aboriginal people. They took the Aboriginal children, trying to give them a better life by teaching them english and putting them through schooling, especially the lighter skinned aboriginal children. They wanted to eliminate the population as a whole. Now the Aboriginal people have lost hundreds of languages, and some do not know where they are from due to the taking of the children, and the land. VACCA does a lot for reconnecting the children and teaching them about their culture. Learning about this culture has made me want to learn more about our Native Americans. It made me realize how little I know about Native Americans. Being in Australia and seeing all of the importance that they put on the Aboriginal people is great compared to the United States and our Native Americans. In Australia the Aboriginal people are highly recognized, with every agency working to better connect the aboriginal people to their culture by using VACCA and other agencies. Most agencies have a welcome to country sign, there is graffiti around the city with aboriginal people, and in the museum the first people section, these all show pride in the aboriginal people and give them recognition, in the U.S. we do not have a lot of that for our Native Americans. In the U.S. we do not offer a lot of education on Native Americans. 

Australia has pushed me to try many new things, including foods, workouts, and learning new things. This has made a new goal for me to push myself further and engage in things that I usually would turn my head to. Going to all of the different agencies and seeing all of the great work that they do has made me want to go to different agencies around the U.S. I know a lot of the resources available in my county but now I want to look further into different states to see what is available and see what we are doing for child welfare and mental health to further compare it to Australia and all of the amazing programs that they have.

I will be  going back to Australia again at some point in my life. I loved all of the animals. Being able to feed the kangaroos and see the penguins come home at night was one of the best experiences in my life. Going to Australia was an amazing experience and I hope to be able to go again soon to further explore the country.