Starting at a new University is a lot like starting at a new school. For most kids, this happens when they move from Primary to High School at a time where they are just discovering their own personal identity. During my move to Sydney and my subsequent arrival at a new University campus, the only benefit I had over a pre-pubescent teenager was that I already new who I was and who I wanted to be. Aside from this, my first day at my new Campus was just as terrifying as my first day at High School. I had no idea where to go, where to eat, where the bathroom was or who could potentially be a new friend.
Like my first day at High School, I was terrified that I would receive no help in getting my bearings and that the friends and guidance I longed to find would only be discovered after a lot of work and a lot of time. This fear proved to be completely unfounded! Not only were my new classmates helpful but they were downright friendly and caring! They showed me around, walked me to my classes and reassured me that my new campus would feel like home in no time at all.
How right they were. In what seemed like no time at all, I had an amazingly strong and supportive group of friends who seemed not only happy to both guide me in my last year of Primary Education but also support me in finding my feet in both a new city and a new education system. To my surprise, this support has not faded since the first few weeks of my first semester at my new campus but has continued despite me well and truly finding my feet in Sydney.
Thanks to the new friends I’ve made at ACU, this last semester at Uni has not only been the most enjoyable but also the most academically successful year of my degree so far. My success isn’t just because of my renewed drive and passion for my career but because of all the new friends I have made since my move to Sydney and all the support, time and care they have given me since my first day at ACU Strathfield.
To all these wonderful new friends I offer these words.
“Friendship isn't about whom you have known the longest... It's about who came, and never left your side”.
Like most teachers I find incredible satisfaction in helping children. There is no greater feeling than helping a student overcome an obstacle or realise their full potential as an individual. Assisting a child to overcome sadness or an overwhelming feeling of powerlessness however is incomparable to anything I have experienced in my relatively short career as an educator.
Recently, I learned through a family contact of a young student called ‘Justin’ (not beiber I assure you, I just couldn't think of another suitable alias) that was suffering from a considerable amount of stress and sadness over his recent acceptance of his homosexuality. ‘Justin’ felt totally alone and uncertain over what course of action to take in telling his family about the young man he has always been.
Due to both my own personal experiences and my passion for helping kids I knew it was my duty to provide any and all forms of available support to ‘Justin’; not to mention a pivotal opportunity to hand down my wisdom and unique insight as a young gay man. What I didn't know was just how powerfully ‘Justin’s’ pain and sadness would affect me.
Listening to his story, I couldn't help but relate to the frightened and timid young man who sat quietly opposite me. His sad and innocent eyes were focused so intently on mine, as if he was trying to drag the answers to his seemingly insurmountable problems from the depths of my mind. With all the courage and wisdom I could muster, I looked ‘Justin’ straight in the eyes and told him all about my own experience about coming out; assuring him that like my own supportive and loving family, his too would accept and love him no matter who he loved.
Our conversation ended up lasting well over an hour but once it finished the timid and frightened young man I had first met was replaced with a bright and bubbly teenager with an infectious optimism about his future and family. What’s remarkable about this transformation isn't simply my involvement or even ‘Justin’s’ incredible strength. It’s the fact that out of all the adults in his life, it was a 4th year student Teacher who barely knew him, that was able to remind ‘Justin’ what he already knew; that he was a perfectly unique and loveable young man, who not only deserved a bright and happy future but would one day soon, have one.
It’s facts and encounters like these that remind me exactly why I have committed my life to helping both the LGBT and non-LGBT youth of this country; to provide hope to those that have forgotten who they truly are.
By Matt Russo
Growing up I had a pretty bleak view of my future as a gay man. The world, as I saw it, was one filled with hate, intolerance and death. For those in the LGBT community, these three things seemed to me, to be not only inevitable, but also certain. Despite my large and supportive group of friends and the high marks I received in school, I thought that no one (especially not my family) would ever accept or love me once they knew who I was.
How very wrong I was.
Coming out for me was one of the most loving and incredible experiences of my life and in what seemed like no time at all, I had almost all of my friends and family standing strong by my side. This love gave me an incredible strength and confidence to face the world outside of the one I knew; the one that glitters and dazzles, the ‘gay’ world. Completely out of my comfort zone, I threw myself into every event, club and march possible, desperate to understand and experience a part of myself I had hidden and denied for so long. However, as the novelty of this new world slowly began to fade I found myself longing for more.
Once again my education became my focus and with my renewed passion for the LGBT community I began the second year of my degree in education as an out and proud gay man, determined to make a difference in the lives of LGBT teachers and youth. Unlike my first time coming out, I found the academic community lacking in support and an absence of LGBT peers, who like me strived to make the world a better place. Once again, I felt alone and the hope I once felt for not only my own future, but also others like me slowly began to dissipate.
Now that I have found The Pinnacle Foundation and met my fellow scholars that hope has come back with a force that I haven’t felt since my 80 year old Nanna, held my hand, looked me in my eyes and said (in her very broken English) that she would always love me, no matter who I chose to love. To the foundation I say thank you for your incredibly kind support and unwavering passion for education. To my fellow scholars I say thank you for giving me back my hope for not only my future but for the future of all kids, whether they be LGBT or not. If your passion, commitment and dedication to your careers are any indication for the future of equality in all areas of this country, there is no reason for I or any other LGBT youth to ever feel hopeless again.
