Become a Clemente student

My past is seen as something rich not dirty. I feel I am treated as an equal, there is no patronising paternalism, just respect and humility.

Being part of Clemente has taught me many things. Yes, I’ve studied some amazing units, but my biggest lessons I have learnt are that I am capable of anything that I set my mind to and that I should never underestimate myself.

People see that I have a brain because I have done a university unit. I am back in society. Everything here is provided for us. Access to a computer, learning partners, general help, you can ring someone up, you know it’s all there for us, this place here we can use as a base if we don’t have one … so when the inevitable question comes, oh what is it exactly you do, I can be more than just a carer for my son. I can say also well I’m doing a course up at Mission Australia.

Being a single mother of three, it is difficult to study. I joined the Mt. Druitt Thrives Program because I attempted to study online last year and failed my first essay and oral presentation quite miserably. This course allows me to return to tertiary study with all the support that I need. The time slot, in the middle of the day, is perfect. I also get to meet new people.

All up until that time period of being 38, I’d struggled with jobs, courses and didn’t know why I wasn’t achieving things. When I first came here, I didn’t have a voice, not because people had made me like that but I had lost my voice through the mental illness… And as every week went on, my confidence just grew.