Just like the moral behind the popular children’s story, ‘We’re Going on a Bear Hunt’, VICSEG New Futures student, Hawa Dahir (left) understands what courage is made from.  

She's committed to do those things that stretch her wings and take her outside her comfort zone - even if that means carrying around a few butterflies in the tummy.  

Studying the CHC33021 Certificate III in Individual Support (Ageing & Disability) at New Futures Training’s Werribee campus, Hawa can hardly sit still as she thinks of the unchartered waters ahead; the transition from classroom-based studies to a real-world student placement at a residential aged care facility in St Albans.  

“I’m a bit afraid, if I’m being honest!,” Hawa said. 

“Because it’s like a workforce that I’ve never been into. It’s like I didn’t know what I’m walking into. But at the same time, I’m ready to walk in and do whatever it is that needs to get done, because I’ve studied everything and done all the practical classes as well. It’s something where I think, ‘Oh my god, I don’t know if I can do it.’ But them I’m like, ‘No, I can do it!’ I’ve got that self-belief. I’ve got the motivation,” she said.  

As much as Hawa feels a little trepidation as she thinks of the placement she’s about to commence, bigger challenges have been overcome before.  

Soon after completing high school in 2014, Hawa found her dream job as a flight consultant. Things couldn’t have been going better when, suddenly, COVID19 arrived on the scene, grinding global travel to an almost complete standstill.  

“It was really, really hard. I went from working every day, loving my job, to barely having shifts and not really knowing how I’m going to get through each week,” Hawa said. 

“Practically no one went anywhere for two years or more. I took a bit of a break (starting a family), and then went back again (to work) in 2023 – but there was still barely anything out there in the tourism industry. Things had changed. There was not much roles that I’d really like to do,” she said.  

With this, Hawa thought outside the box.  

“That’s when I said, ‘You know what? Let’s just go over to the health sector’. I’ve got family members that are in the health field, so I said, ‘Why not?’ I wanted to go back to Uni and study something that I did like, or something that I wanted to achieve more in.” 

Her younger sister’s own experience provided that tiny bit of encouragement needed to take the leap and enrol.  

“She actually did aged care as well with VICSEG in Braybrook. So that’s where I came across it. She just kept saying to me, ‘Enrol! Just do it! You can’t be at home forever. Since tourism’s went down, you might as well start a new career. Something you might enjoy because you do love caring for people’”. 

While feeling the understandable nerves we all sometimes do when stepping out into the unknown, does Hawa think she’s making the right career move?  

“One hundred percent, I do! I feel like I made the right choice,” Hawa said.  

She says the experience has even shifted the way she looks at herself, life, and everything around her.  

“It’s changed my views on a lot of things (doing this course). Like coming to class and everything. At first I thought, ‘I can’t. I can’t do this. It’s scary dealing with old and fragile people’. But now, I’m actually like, ‘You know, I can do it! If I can raise babies, I can care for other people who need caring as well,’” she said.  

“Honestly, I also thought about what happens when my parents get old, who would look after them, how would they be looked after. That was the mentality that I had. And I said, ‘You know what, since I do care for people, since I love to care for people, and I’m friendly, then I might as well do it’. That’s what changed my mind, honestly!” 

Hawa says her classroom-based learning experience, including her peers and trainer Rajni (right), has ticked all the boxes! 

“It’s been good, because I haven’t been back to class since 2014. I hadn’t been a student for a long time. It’s been a bit of a roller coaster, but I Ioved the bunch I’ve been studying with. We’re all there to help one another out. I couldn’t have chosen a better bunch of people to do this with, honestly”, Hawa said. 

“And I had the best teacher as well! Rajni, she’s just lovely. You know, I said to her, ‘If I had a teacher like you growing up, I I think I would have behaved myself more in class!’ All the teachers and staff here (at Werribee campus) are lovely, and so patient,” she said.  

Practical classes in VICSEG New Futures’ simulation lab at Werribee campus have also left Hawa well prepared for her placement experience, she says.  

“I’m a visual learner,” Hawa said. 

“So for me, simulation was a lot more important, because it’s a way of me actually understanding what to do. I can read about things, but practical wise, I have to see what is being done in order for me to remember how to do things. So it was a lot better for me to have the experience that the simulation lab provided. It was a great set up for me,” she said. 

With the final hurdle to completing the Certificate now at her feet, Hawa already has big plans for when she reaches the other side of the mountain.  

“From there, I’ll do enrolled nursing, to get further knowledge, further experience and all of that. As soon as I’m done with this course, I’ve already enrolled myself in university, going straight into enrolled nursing. I’ll be starting in July hopefully!”, she said.  

But not before getting through the placement challenge in front of her.  

For now, she’s just got to go through it.  

“I’m hoping to surprise myself!”, Hawa said.  

“It’s up to me to prove that I can do this,” she said.