A year as Gold Coast Mayor's Student Ambassador

Sun, 05 Dec 2021 23:37:00 +0000

Beginning of 2021, I saw an advertisement on Griffith Mates' social media accounts to become a Mayor’s Student Ambassador (MSA). At first, I wasn’t thinking of applying, but then I have decided to take my chances and apply. I must say, I don’t regret that decision as it showed me the Gold Coast from a different perspective, and as I met the most incredible people. But let’s take it from the beginning.

It all started in January 2021, when I decided to share my journey through social media. This was also kind of the main reason why I eventually submitted my application for the MSA program. The application process involved submitting a video on "day in a student life” topic. I can provide my video for future reference if anyone is interested, but I’m warning you, it is not my best work.

After I submitted my application, I received an invitation for a second round. What can I say, the second round was nothing as I expected. They separated us into a few groups, and our task was to record a video about inviting people to study on the Gold Coast. We were given target country, movie quota, and banana. Yes, you are reading correctly. They gave us a banana to show it in the video. The purpose of that was simple. The company that was helping Study Gold Coast with the second round is called Banana Life. After this, 16 students (myself included) were invited to become 2021 Mayor’s Student Ambassador.

Fast forwards a few weeks, and it was time for our official induction ceremony with the Mayor of the Gold Coast. It was my first time in the Council Chambers, and I must say, it’s an incredible building. Even though our ceremony was held in the hallway and not in the main room (the main room was under construction), it was a lovely afternoon. One by one, we walk to the stage to receive our official certification and a photo with a COE of Study Gold Coast and the Mayor. After the ceremony, we had a chance to talk with some of the school delegates, etc...

After that, we had a first official event each month. Starting with the Jellurgal Indigenous Experience, in which we were able to visit the Jellurgal Aboriginal Cultural Centre in the Burleigh Head and learn more about Aboriginal practices. We had a guided walk through Burleigh Hill, saw their traditional dances, and had a chance to paint our own boomerangs.

Another event I really enjoyed was at the Gold Coast Airport, where we learned more about what is going on behind the scene (including seeing how they control the runway, which was super cool to see). Our July event was cooking with OzHarvest. I won’t lie, I’m not a great cook, so this one was a bit of a challenge for me. But in two teams we cooked the most delicious meal I have ever contributed. The part about this experience is that all the food we did was delivered to local charities, so if you have food at home that you won’t eat, donate it to OzHarvest, and they can make great meals out of it!!

There were few events that I will not go into too much depth, it was mainly a workshops and a meetings. They were great parts of the whole ambassador experience, but there is not much to write about it. What I would rather write about, is the best event we had. We went to SeaWorld. Don’t get me wrong, I am not a fan of keeping animals in captivity, but SeaWorld on the Gold Coast cares about the animals and I was pleasantly surprised that majority of the animals there are rescued and if they are capable to be return to wild, they will be. We visited the turtle rehabilitation program which was incredibly sad to see, and we got a change to snorkel in their tropical fish tank.

Even though we live in a Covid world, this program and this experience show how lucky we are to be studying on the Gold Coast. This year taught me so much, and I certainly enjoyed every part of it. And who knows, this could be you next year!

Benefits of Internships and Volunteering

Thu, 26 Aug 2021 08:52:00 +0000

When I came to Australia to study marine biology three years ago, I didn’t think about the career options after I graduate. But last year, when everything started to move to online mode, it makes me think about career options within marine science, and how can I increase my chances of getting my dream job. And because of that, I did an internship with the Australian Marine Conservation Society, volunteering with Humpback and High Rises and a work placement with the Australian River Institute. All these have two things in common. They are unpaid and experience.

Let’s just shortly explain what exactly I did. With an Australian Marine Conservation Society, I worked with a team that focuses on marine sanctuaries or more common name marine parks. My job consisted of literature search and find the keywords to use for their campaign to expand the no-take zones within those marine parks. For those, who don’t know what marine parks are, they are areas that protect ocean life from damaging fishing practices, climate change, and pollution. The Great Barrier Reef is an amazing example of what Marine Park is. However, there are zones within those parks, and in each zone, you are allowed do to certain things. The no-take zones are pretty much areas where nothing is allowed.

With Humpback and High Rises, I go on a boat and conduct a whale survey. Basically, it’s about recording a whale behavior and take some photos for identification. Pretty easy and straight forward and anyone can do it. So if you are an ocean lover, definitely check their website: https://www.hhr.org.au/ . And if you are not fan of boats, they do a land-based survey as well.

And as a last one, my work placement with the Australian River Institute, where I extract microplastics from a biosolid material. Doesn’t sounds that great like watching whales? I’m actually enjoying being in a lab, and it taught me lots of new skills. A bonus, I get the chance to discuss a topic for a potential honours project, that I would do with them.

As you can see, this may be unpaid work, but it gets you the opportunity to learn so many new skills that you can use in the future, and more importantly, you meet incredible people within the marine science industry that can help you once you graduate, or who knows, maybe you can do your honours or PhD degree for them. You never know, so if you have a chance to do something unpaid and you’re not sure of the outcome. Just do it, it may turn into something great and valuable.

Having a great grade is good, but having experience is important, because you never know where it can lead you, and maybe one day you can get your dream job thanks to unpaid work you did during your student years.

Article was wrote for Griffith University and can be also found on this website: Benefits of internships and volunteering - Explore (griffith.edu.au)

From Two Worlds - Achievements

A year as Gold Coast Mayor's Student Ambassador

Benefits of Internships and Volunteering