VET students breaking the mold

We asked three students, Rory, Christian and Unzia to share their experiences with the program.

Christian is one of the program's newest recruits and the first trainee in hospitality. He is due to start at Devon Pixies Tea House in Kingston, although the 16-year-old might not be typical tea room fare.

"I play rugby league. Winger, centre and fullback," he said.

Like many young people, Christian had found it hard to find employment, but he found the traineeship thanks to the school's VET program.

"I was looking for a job over the holidays and I was struggling at first," he said.

"But when we started online school, I saw Miss post in our [Microsoft] Teams that a job site was looking for a worker."

Hospitality was the obvious choice for Christian, who has his sights set on travelling and hopes his newfound skills will allow him to work wherever he may end up.

"I saw that hospitality opens a lot of travel opportunities and that's something I want to do," he said.

Alongside a trip around Australia, Christian plans to visit Japan, Europe and the United States.

He's yet to start in his new role, but Christian was looking forward to working at the Tea House alongside his new bosses, as well as taking his first steps into the industry.

"When I went down to Devon Pixies, I loved the owners of the shop. They were nice," he said.

"I'm mostly just looking forward to experiencing how the workforce works and getting to work alongside a group of people."

Rory and Unzia have been involved with the program for some time and both work in nursing, Rory at Vacenti Marebello and Unzia at Logan Hospital.

Both felt that the classroom wasn't for them, preferring a more practical approach to learning that also allowed them the freedom to work at their own pace.

"School's not for me. I can't sit down in a classroom and actively learn. So I wanted something a bit more hands-on," Rory said.

"The vocational pathway is very hands-on and a lot of the assessments you can just go at your own pace, whereas here [at school] it's hurried. So I just feel like that's the best way for me to learn," Unzia added.

For Rory, the decision to do nursing was personal.

"I ultimately want to become a midwife because I've been told I wouldn't be able to have children myself, but I still want to help bring children into the world," she said.

Nursing wasn't necessarily Unzia's first choice, but she's welcomed the chance to experience another side of healthcare.

"I've always wanted to go into the medical industry more towards the surgical side," she said.

"I learned about nursing from people in my family who are in the industry and it's shown me a different side of healthcare that I never saw."

Both students spend one day per week at their respective job sites, where they shadow senior employees.

"I'm a carer, so I follow my AIN [Assistant in Nursing]'s footsteps and help care for people," Rory said.

"Similar to Rory, my typical day is just regularly checking up on the patients and helping them where they need," Unzia added.

Working in healthcare during the COVID-19 pandemic did present complications, but both young women could take these in their stride.

Rory said she had to be very careful around her elderly patients as an aged care worker.

"Working with older people, the risk for them is higher, so you need to be more considerate," she said.

For Unzia, the pandemic meant that the start of her training was delayed, but she was looking forward to making up the lost time.