My country means culture basically to me
I originate from Murray Island, or known as Mer, in the eastern part of the Torres Strait region
My country's Palm Island I was born there
It's very dear to my heart
Very critical and central to the work that I'm doing
While I was employed at the Murray Island Primary Healthcare Centre and during that
time, I was employed for seven years, but during that time
I saw the diabetes epidemic sweep through
the Torres Strait and I saw how, poorly-managed diabetes,
can have an impact on a population
You know, I grew up with a whole social, psycho-social climate on Palm Island, the political climate
Seeing things that I believe needed changing
It was really a teething year For me I was bring my life experiences in
as well as I had a really strong idea of what I wanted to do
I think writing a proposal was probably sort of the challenge at the start
Because you sort of got to find out, ok, what methodology you're going to use and
how you're going to implement it within the community
and that was sort of a bit of a challenge but
the guidance of my supervisors sort of tailored it
The advisory panel was a strong team of people who made the journey somewhat easier
Without them I wouldn't be here
The next steps were making sure that I was connected to country because
one of the crucial parts of my PhD was to have a connection with
the Bwgcolman storytellers
My thesis was very narrative so it tells a story
Things aren't easy in a PhD The journey is an uncertain journey
And I think the difficult part is it also has an impact on your personal life
It's a team thing It's the friends
These are your friends and the advisory panel is essentially your family that gets you
towards the end of your PhD
Our interactions were around educating each other sometimes
But also taking direction from them as a supervisor
And I think that's really important for indigenous scholars that are coming in
Your supervisors might not know indigenous knowledge
and this is your opportunity to teach as well
So don't be afraid of that
Being away from your personal life to just focus on your doctorate
I think that was one of the biggest challenges that I had
within my whole candidature
The biggest challenge to me was the emotional uncertainties
of what would happen at the end of your PhD
It is important to start planning
six months prior to your intended conclusion of your PhD
the work that you will be doing at the end of your PhD
The biggest challenge was telling myself that what I was doing was valid
The knowledge that I brought It wasn't second best to academia
I had a different kind of knowledge that would enrich the academia
So my whole research was looking at improving diabetes care and management
in the remote primary healthcare centres of the Torres Strait
And what I contributed to was trying to improve a workflow.
The whole research was about bringing a different perspective
from a strength-based, stance or platform, to look at families that way
because we've had so many negative things said about aboriginal families
I wanted to turn it around
For me I had to keep my eye on the prize which is finishing and why I started the journey
because I wanted to bring about change in community
I set out to gain so much knowledge around diabetes
Little did I know you could gain a research degree
Or an honours degree that could lead into a doctorate
and to where I am today
I wish I had known at the start of the degree exactly,
because I'm a very structured person and I like the plans and I like sticking to plans
but I wish I had known how flexible things would turn out