I recently arrived back in Columbus and it is definitely bittersweet to be back on the Eastern Time Zone. I have been so accustomed to Aussie living that I am fully awake and alert at 3 AM and by 6 PM and am ready for my morning tea/ brekky). In fact, when we got to the airport I eagerly went to pull out my Myki Card to “tap on” and take the train to the next terminal. This was my first reality check that I was no longer in the Land Down Under.

This program and the interactions throughout this program have greatly influenced my career goal of becoming a pediatric Occupational Therapist. The agency visits granted me the opportunity to gain knowledge about the socioeconomic impact upon Australian children’s mental, emotional, and social development. I do not have a social work background, so I was unaware of the differences in policies for child welfare and mental health that exist between Australia and the United States. Nevertheless, by learning about the challenges that Aussie children are currently facing with mental health, I was able to learn about youth in a new setting and place, and also view childcare from a different lens.

VACCA was our first agency visit and I cannot imagine having started at any other institution. Their presentation set us up for the remainder of our trip. Every time we entered an Aboriginal facility there was a sign of “acknowledgement of traditional owners” to show respect to the Aboriginal People. In our time at VACCA we learned about the “stolen generation,” where aboriginal children were stolen from their families and brought to other “states” in an effort to remove their dark pigment and rid the “aboriginal” from them gradually. There is now a day of apology that takes place every May to say “sorry” to the Aboriginal People for all that was done to them. I found it fascinating and strikingly similar to the history of the Native Americans within the United States. I respect Australia’s government for putting forth the effort to reconcile with the Aboriginal People because our country has not made any effort to apologize for how our predecessors treated the Native Americans. I love how the focus of Australia has been shifted from the practice of the removal of children based solely on their culture and race to transferring their attention towards child safety and best interests. Being surrounded by various diverse populations has taught me that “culture is a means to heal” and it is important that everyone respects each cultures practices within their families and the community.

My main career goal as a future pediatric occupational therapist is to help kids gain independence while also strengthening the development of fine motor skills, sensory motor skills, and visual motor skills that are necessary for them to function and socialize. I was amazed to learn of all of the resources that the various agencies have available to provide support for youth. In addition, I admire how well the agencies partner with each other to offer the best possible support for their young people.

Being that I am a psychology major, I loved the connections that the “Lighthouse Institute” made when discussing trauma neurobiology. Directors of the agency discussed how children who’ve experienced complex trauma are in a constant state of flight or flight. Because our brains work off of experience, these children have hyperactive amygdala’s that result in the exaggeration of warning signs. This happens because their brains were continuously exposed to threatening environments. The impact of trauma affects all aspects of a young person’s daily life by making him/her deprived of experiences necessary for growth. It is so amazing how different each child’s scenario can be viewed, depending on the expertise of the person who is explaining it. Also, it was quite refreshing to hear about child development from a biological standpoint. The information that I learned at this agency can aid in my facilitation of occupational therapy by broadening my understanding of anatomy and the developing brain. I now know that there may be multiple reasons that a child may be experiencing difficulties with daily living.

My time at all of the agencies really increased my overall mindfulness of childcare and mental health. One agency in particular, “Young& Well Cooperative Research Center” supports youth who are tackling challenges with their mental health. They provide universal support through a series of apps that promote a positive well-being and guide their youth in being safe, healthy, and resilient in the workplace. Young people all around Australia know how to connect with the agencies services if they were to ever feel vulnerable to the stigmas of mental health. Incorporating these innovative ideas into my field will aid in one of my roles as a therapist; to enhance the self-esteem and sense of accomplishment of the children I work with. My favorite app of theirs is named “@ppreciate a Mate.” With this app, young people are able to utilize technology to send kind messages to their friends as a means to promote positive reinforcement. Their program appears to be taking great strides in increasing children’s overall awareness of mental health in Australia, and their services have definitely influenced my life’s work.

It is very clear that Australia has created a culture where it is okay to begin conversations about mental health and talk about traumatic events that may be troubling a person. There are “Beyond Blue” signs everywhere and it appears that Australian’s have an overall increased awareness of what a healthy well-being constitutes. Mental health is a vital part of Occupational Therapy and health care so I am extremely blessed to have learned so much about the topic throughout my study abroad experience.

Other experiences, while, in Australia that made an impact on my goals and me were the weekend adventures that we took to Phillips Island and The Great Ocean Road. Since our trip to the Great Ocean Road, I have definitely grown more observant and appreciative to the smaller things in life. For the first time ever I went glamping! My study abroad experience was full of discoveries and leaping into the unknown. Everyone in our group had different levels of fitness so it was so exciting to watch people push themselves to new limits on our hikes and I really loved how well we encouraged each other to involve ourselves in new experiences. My life goal is to work with children and uplift their spirits in any way possible. I hope to inspire and mentor youth as my peers, professors, and our amazing tour guide Katie did for me.

The greatest lesson that I take away from my trip is that the world is way too beautiful to not explore every inch of it! The memories I’ve made in the Land Down Under are everlasting and I am so thankful to have been blessed with this once in a lifetime opportunity. My study abroad experience was incredible.

(Jaine)
This past week we went to three more agencies. One of the organizations that we had the pleasure of visiting was the “Young &Well Cooperative Research Center.” This Youth Center is currently taking incredible strides towards bringing together resources for youth and tackling challenges for mental health, well being, and Australia’s leading cause of death, suicide. The center mostly provides programs for more targeted, marginalized groups through clinical services. Nevertheless, their programs are available to all youth and they offer universal support through a series of apps. The apps are geared to keep young people engaged in the importance of a positive well-being and to encourage youth to begin conversations with family members regarding their mental health. It is amazing how efficiently Young & Well CRC campaigns their services to the public! Young people all around Australia know how to connect with either their website, hotline, or apps, if they were to ever be vulnerable to the stigmas of mental health. I strongly believe that the US lacks in the “campaigning” aspect of Mental Health. It appears to me that Australians have an increased overall awareness of the topic, and services available are a lot more known to the public. I suppose that if I were to look at it from a population perspective, the total amount of people occupying Australia is equivalent to that of just California. Although it may be more difficult to increase mindfulness throughout our country, I still believe that a lot more can be done to make sure that our young people are informed about possible outlets that can aid in their Mental Health and Well-being.

I love the ways that this organization utilizes technology to campaign their services. I find it pretty cool that this program has the capability of gaging how much their technology is improving youth’s well-being over time. While talking to the directors of the agency, I could tell that their usage of apps has really turned out to be successful! They have come up with various apps regarding positive reinforcement after relationship breakups, drinking responsibly, nice messages to send to friends and family, and my favorite, an app to navigate a person’s playlist to enhance their mood. “Music eScape” can be found on iTunes and it basically categorizes an individual’s music library into songs that are happy, sad, angry, and various other moods. Then, if a person is feeling down they can simply open the app and play a song in the “happy” category to uplift their spirits…Genius! I personally love the idea of this app because I am constantly listening to music throughout the day and I have realized the effects that genres of songs can have on my mood. Once I download this app, I will for sure keep my playlist on “Super Happy Nae” so that I can blissfully dance all of my worries away!

(Erin)
Looking back on this past weekend, I cannot believe how many activities we fit into a short three day trip to the Great Ocean Road and the Grampians. I have to give a big thank you to our tour guide Katie for planning a perfect weekend full of natural beauty and meditation. After this weekend, I am a changed person, much more in touch with my emotions and appreciative for the world around me.

On day 1 riding along the Great Ocean Road, we made frequent stops at the finest Victorian attractions. The weather was quite cold and rainy, but thankfully it was very hard to focus on the rain when we were experiencing such incredible sights. One truly beautiful moment was walking through the rainforest with the rain trickling (or pouring) down on us as we got about half way through the walk. While most times in life I have detested the rain, in this moment, I felt at peace with nature. The rain had a way of glistening so brightly on the indigenous ferns. It made me stop to think about how lucky I was to be experiencing something so unique to where I was in the world. I had many of these moments along the Great Ocean Road where I was able to embrace the opportunity that I have been given to travel to Australia with such an amazing group of people. Another special moment from this day was a walk through an alley where wild Australian birds flew down and gracefully landed on all of our hands and heads. We could have spent hours walking up and down that alley. At one point I had four birds on me at once…thankfully none of the birds had any accidents, if you know what I mean!

Early in the morning on day 2, I was happy to have gotten out of bed early for sunrise meditation with our tour guide Katie. We walked to a spot near the 12 Apostles where the sunrise could be seen in the distance, coupled with a few wild kangaroos hopping along as they woke up and stretched their legs. Meditation is a very new thing for me, but I was able to feel its power right away. It set me up for a day full of mindfulness and “creating my own energy,” as Katie says. We stopped at many different places on the Great Ocean Road, and even had a barbeque and my very first “shrimp on the barbie”. At night we stayed in cabins at a Grampians caravan park, which was a very different experience for a lot of us. My favorite part was when we circled around the campfire at night and shared what we had most enjoyed about our Australian adventure thus far. I have always had a love for campfires, but this experience added a special twist to a typical night at the campfire. We shared things that made us feel closer as a group and appreciate all of the amazing things we have seen and done in the last few weeks.

Unfortunately, the Great Ocean Road trip came to an end on the third day, but not until we had made a few more unbelievable stops. We walked down what seemed like a million steps to a breathtaking waterfall and again had a mediation session led by Katie. What was even more amazing was the hard work that each person put into walking up and down the steps. Everyone comes from different backgrounds of physical fitness, so to see everyone able to accomplish this was incredible. It highlighted Katie’s guidance to use other people’s energy to create your own energy, allowing you to push yourself to limits you never thought were possible.

Overall, this second week was nothing less than spectacular. Although our trip to the Great Ocean Road has come to an end, these are moments I will hold onto for a lifetime. I look forward to what next week brings. I am excited to finish out the last few agency visits and see what new insight they have to offer!
Erin and Jaine