Laura - July's Blog Post

Hi there Pinnacle people,

I will try and keep this short and sweet.

Sorry I have been off the radar for a while - I have been extremely busy doing my course work, placement, looking for work and everything else in between. However all this hard work is starting to finally pay off. I recently got my first job in the community service sector as an agency residential care worker. This job has given me the opportunity to work with youth, refugees and homeless women. Not only am I increasing my experience but my confidence as well.

Yes I work crazy hours and travel long distances and at times it does take its toll on me but it is very safe to say I love my job and the challenges it comes with it. Being a residential care worker gives me a sense of purpose. I often get thrown in the deep end however I surprise myself.

I am starting to feel more like a young adult and more independent. I have a place to call home, I have a lovely girlfriend, I’m still studying, I have a job that I am happy with, and a driver’s license. It doesn’t get much better than that. Things are falling into place. I owe it all to my partner Alex, The Pinnacle Foundation, my mentor Lauren, Latitude Directions for young people, and past and present lectures/ teachers and many other’s for supporting me and not giving up on me. I cannot thank you all enough. Finally I would like to thank Welfare Personnel Australia for taking a chance on me and giving me an opportunity to prove myself.

Laura

Wear it PURPLE

If you ever read one of my blogs, I urge you to make it this. It is about an organisation that is doing great things for rainbow youth around Australia and the world.

Wear it purple (http://wearitpurple.org) is all about telling young people that they have the right to be proud of who they are. On their website it says "Wear it Purple exists in order to support sexuality and gender diverse (rainbow) young people at risk. Run by students, we aim to stop the ignorance, bullying and suicides." They are based in NSW however they are gaining popularity around the country and a number of people around the world have started to notice the group.

Wear It Purple came to existence in late 2010 as a tragic circumstance made it clear that things needed to change for LGBTIQ kids. In late September an 18 year old male in New Jersey took his life due to being 'outed' as being gay by his roommate who video streamed footage of his sexual encounter with another man on the internet without his knowledge. After this incident was highly reported on, numerous other stories of teenagers taking their lives due to bullying and homophobia were brought to light. Ellen Degeneres then made a public statement on her talk show about the incidents: 

"Something must be done. This month alone, there has been a shocking number of news stories about teens who have been teased and bullied and then committed suicide; like 13-year-old Seth Walsh in Tehachapi, California; Asher Brown, 13, of Cypress, Texas; and 15-year-old Billy Lucas in Greensberg, Indiana. This needs to be a wake-up call to everyone: teenage bullying and teasing is an epidemic in this country, and the death rate is climbing." 

Katherine Hudson and Scott Williams came up with an idea: for one day, they would encourage people everywhere to “wear it purple” in order to raise awareness about homophobic bullying and youth suicide. They wished for WIP to be a world-wide student led movement that annually expresses support and awareness to potentially save thousands of lives and change countless minds. 

The Wear It Purple Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/wearitpurple) is always posting inspirational photos and quotes that bring hope to all who follow the page's activity. However the biggest activity of the organisation is Wear It Purple Day where everyone in schools, workplaces and the community are encouraged to wear purple for a day to show their support for students all over the world. Wear It Purple has also had a stall at Fair Day (which I volunteered my time at this year) which is helping build its reputation. This year we sold t-shirts and water bottles, had a lolly guessing competition, handed out flyers about WIP and made a few new friends. They have also been able to secure a place in the annual Sydney Mardi Gras parade for the last three years. I have marched with them all three times and loved every single moment of it! Better than Christmas! 

From now on, Wear it Purple day will be the last Friday in August so this year - AUGUST 30! You can pop it in your diary for years to come.

Get your school, uni workplace and friends involved and let everyone know how proud you are to be who you are and WEAR IT PURPLE!

 Get planning your WEAR IT PURPLE DAY for 2013! 

By DIBS

Miss Extra-Curricular

So I have always been one to put my hand up and participate in anything and everything that was thrown at me. If it's exciting, if it's for a good cause, if I'm learning or helping someone out I like to be involved. A quick summary of my extracurricular activities include; public speaking, dirt bike riding from the age of about four, karate when I was about 6 years old, netball from ages 8-10, tap dancing for a couple years after, baseball, debating, drama (TV, Film & Theatre) classes for three or four years, football (soccer) for most of my high school years, musical theatre, music (I play a couple instruments well and try to play many more [I even have a trumpet that I have always wanted to perfect but never stuck with it]), being on the Student Rep Council and probably a few more things.

Being a part of all of these little communities and social groups led me to many great events. From hosting my drama school's annual 'Silver Screen Awards' to shaving my head and helping organise other fundraisers as part of the SRC to performing with my band (that was formed at school) at the grand final of the Mounties 'Battle of the Bands' competition. I have performed at Fairfield City Council's annual youth festival 'Bring it On!' as well as volunteered there helping out the NSW Family Planning stall which was taking photo's for the This is Oz campaign (http://www.thisisoz.com.au/). By performing a pantomime titled 'Jungle Jack and Jill' I was able to entertain audiences at the Cancer Council's Relay for Life, McHappy Day and the Teddy Bear's Picnic. I do these things because they are fun, rewarding, a great way to socialise and build experience and valuable communication and performance skills. 

The extracurricular activity that has brought me the most joy is being a big part of the CAPA faculty at high school. I still miss my drama class to this day. The students and my amazing teacher Pat. I miss the music rooms, the fancy instruments I got to use and just collaborating with so many talented and creative minds. Drama took me to participate in the annual Manly festival. My class was lucky enough to make massive lanterns shaped as saxophones and double basses. We got to march with them down to the beach in the parade. For my major group project I became very close with the two other girls I was working with. We performed in assembly in front of hundreds of students. None of the drama students wanted to perform in the senior assembly and they chose to perform to the year 7's and 8's & 9's. On the day, the M.C. announced that it was time for our performance and the moment came for us to walk into a packed school stadium. As we took our positions we were all hoping not to embarrass ourselves. After the first couple of lines the audience reacted better than we could have hoped for. The moment of joy and relief when they understood our performance and laughed and clapped was a moment I will never forget. I love performing. The rush. The adrenaline. The way I can evoke so many emotions from the people watching. 
Being actively involved in music at school brought me so much happiness. The teacher that made my high school experience so much more enriched is Teresa. She believes in so many young musicians and encourages everyone to perform, no matter what their skill level is. As a result of having this lovely woman around, I participated in numerous little gigs at school, numerous assemblies and in the annual music night at our local club. I was placed in a myriad of ensembles and worked my way up to the 'elite ensemble'. From this group we formed 'G62' (named after the classroom we spent the majority of our time practicing in during our spare time and even during school holidays). Being in G62 brought so many opportunities. From band competitions to recording our original songs in a studio and being interviewed on Hope 103.2. I also got to sing the song I wrote at the grand final of the Battle of the Bands. I assisted the woodwind ensemble, the vocal ensemble and other groups in their performances because I was the go-to drummer and I loved it! 

I take advantage of everything that is offered to me. Before university started, I participated in activities for 'future students' like 'Macquarie in a Day' and open day. During the first week of uni holidays I attended a careers workshop that focussed on resume writing. I take as much information in as I can when it is offered to me... as long as it doesn't involve reading journal articles because they are boring 99.9% of the time. I'm supposed to be doing my first assignment that is due first day back at the moment but I am writing this because I love the Pinnacle Foundation and I love the blogs! 
In summary my drama teacher left our class with some advice on our last day. She told us to participate in life. To be proactive and be involved in as many things as we can. To take life easy and to do what makes us happy. Everyone started crying. She was so right. Thank you Pat D.W. 

By DIBS

Lending a Hand

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