Work So Far

Do not get confused by my Instagram pictures! I am working full-time while i'm in Australia. It's actually the reason I came here, and one of the best experiences I have had in a work place.

As you probably know, who you work with makes an incredible impact on job satisfaction. I work with the Indigenous Policy and Impact team, who are a bad-ass couple of women who I look up to a lot. Working in "the Indigenous field" can be taxing at times, but the work that is being done at RMIT inspires me to make some significant changes back in Canada. Infiltrate the system, and change it!

I feel very at home in the Office of Indigenous Engagement and Education and will be sad to go. I work on projects related to research, industry engagement, student engagement, and investment frameworks. My supervisor values my time and what I get out of this exchange which I am so grateful for.

A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to lead a group of Maori and Aboriginal students as they visited RMIT. They were all in grade 11 and had many questions to ask me about Canada. They loved the session we had in the Virtual Experience Lab at RMIT. The VR was so cool!

On Valentine's Day, I had the best surprise at work. My lovely partner, Lukas, had some flowers delivered to my office. His timing was perfect, because I had to head directly to a staff meeting after and got to show them off. Beautiful, right?

Last week we had a busy time in the office! We had our Reconciliation Kick-Off 2019, where the reconciliation community of practice joined together to kick off the year. It was awesome. Martin Bean (Vice Chancellor), Stacey Campton (My boss!), and Mark McMillan (DPVC of Indigenous Engagement) spoke with words of encouragement and it was a very successful event.

I also had the opportunity to attend the ANZSOG, "Re-Imagining Indigenous Public Policy" conference last week. It was interesting to listen to speakers from Australia, New Zealand, and USA. There is a common experience across the world for Indigenous people and it is becoming so clear throughout this exchange. We are far more connected than we may think.

Any who, that's a brief catch up so you know what I'm up to when I'm not adventuring throughout the outdoors. :)

I am feeling excited to come home in just over a month, but sad to leave all of the people I have met here.

I will probably be known as the Canadian intern who was always at the food table during meetings and conference but I wouldn't have it any other way.

Xoxo

L