I’m a city girl born and bred. Hate the traffic, but love watching buskers at Darling Harbour, going for runs without being spotted by the whole community and being able to have a good boogie on more than one dance floor. But last weekend I had my first country girl experience. And I didn’t even spot a cow!
One of my lovely good friends (who will be reading this) is up in Tamworth for 4 months doing her 4th year social work prac for Sydney Uni. 4 months is a damn long time so I thought I would keep her company for a weekend and use the opportunity to breathe in fresh air devoid of pollution.
So you think uni life is tough (well, I’m not quite sure you do except around exam time) – try being a social work student living in the country. It involves working full time, 5 days a week and not earning a cent for your labour for 4 months. Add to that the loss of income from a casual job in Sydney, rent, food, and then travel expenses to return to Sydney every now and then. What right do we have to complain about uni?
Then again, Sim has no right either…..to live in Tamworth was self inflicted! She chose to embrace the opportunity that Sydney Uni offers of doing a rural placement and why not? (besides all the above reasons?) For someone who has lived all her life in Sydney, escaping to the country is a wonderful opportunity.
Sim and her friend Steph go on an excursion every weekend to explore rural NSW. When I visited, we traveled to a small little town called Nundle and had scones and tea at a beautiful wooden inn with a fireplace. I feel like an old gran reminiscing on the good ol’ times, but it was really a lovely little place to visit.
They live in the nursing quarters at Tamworth with all the other allied health students/graduates. Despite being isolated from their usual social crowd, they seem to have a great social life….actually that depends on your definition of social as they seem to mainly bond via Big Brother every night. But they do let their hair down on a Friday night and Tamworth doesn’t know what hit it!
And the work experience…. whilst 4 months is a long time, they do learn a lot and see a variety of cases. They are also exposed to different clientele than what the city has to offer.
Next year I will be a first year physio graduate working in the hospitals and I will have to live in the country for 10 weeks (plus I actually will earn money!). And I can't wait!!
* For those whishing to embark on a unique country experience which I would highly recommend (but maybe not for 4 months!), check out www.nswrdn.com.au/site/index.cfm for more details on scholarships. Sydney Uni also has a club called MIRAGE which is a rural health club which promotes and supports health workers in rural areas, www.mirage.soc.usyd.edu.au/main.html