Heather - Dream Big: How One Step Led to a Future

While at school I had a dream of becoming a vet, and I’d bring my stuffed animal toys in to ‘show and tell’ to prove it. But I was bullied quite a lot and left in year nine because of it. Then I asked myself whether it was realistic for me to work with animals. I decided, no, it was never going to happen. And so that is how I ended up working in fast food.

Again, I was bullied. The manager did not seem very concerned about staff welfare, even refusing us toilet breaks. ‘You are here to work, not take toilet breaks.’ One day, during a nine hour shift I had a mishap that required a change of clothes. That was humiliating enough; but then I was fired.

This led me to fall into a severe depression. I lost hope, I stopped eating. I stayed in bed.

Fortunately, since 2022, I have had the support of Flourish Australia’s Disability Employment Service at Maitland. Flourish Australia has been the most incredible place. It is not just another ‘job-net’ outlet.

When you experience bullying you have to talk to someone, or it will fester and you might lose hope. There is such a big power in hope. Talking can be scary, but being scared is a completely OK emotion to have if it can be used to urge you to keep fighting.

I could not have had a better consultant than Sean.

He helped me to see that you sometimes have to fight for things, and at the end of a storm comes the rainbow. Sean would encourage me to visit my GP and my therapist and help me keep on top of things.

Best of all, talking to Sean about my employment interests and priorities made me rekindle the dream that I had previously given up on. Why not work with animals? My mother has worked with cat rescue and I have always had animals around me including wildlife. Mum taught me to feed the wild kookaburras with worms.

I have a one-and-a-half-year-old Jack Russell called Violet, a nine month old dachshund called Sadie, and a four-year-old Kelpie Border-Collie cross called Benji.

I decided the first thing to do was to work on my mental health, then continue my education through TAFE, then find a job working with animals.

I am now working on a Certificate III at Kurri Kurri TAFE and I love it. Through this course I have met my two best friends and supporters.

Another door that opened for me was at the RSPCA animal shelter. I persisted and now I spend my Tuesday mornings with cats doing health checks, feeding and changing the litter. The best part is in the afternoons when I help ‘socialise’ the cats for adoption.

I plan to expand my volunteering to include dogs and pocket pets (like guinea pigs)! My friend is doing a Certificate IV in Vet Nursing. I’ll take one step at a time, but I would really love to do that too!

Look at me now! I’m in the Animal Care industry. For Volunteer Week advertising on Facebook I appeared in a short film they posted! It is OK to have a dream!

Take the reins and don’t settle for less. You are worth so much more than a bully would realise.