Nursing cadet, Tamarla: Hi, I’m Tamarla Smith. I’m a young, proud Aboriginal woman. I was born in Armidale. My family is from Burra Bee Dee Mission near Coona. Gamilaraay Country. I’m in my third year of my Bachelor of Nursing at the University of New England. When I was in my last year of high school I applied for early entry and I go tin for nursing, and I didn’t know if I wanted to do nursing until I did my first practical, and I just fell in love with it. Yeah. I love it. I was just scrolling through Facebook and I found this ad for an Aboriginal Nursing and Midwifery Cadetship and I had recently just found out that I had got into nursing at The University of New England. So I applied for it, and I got an interview, and I got the position. So I’ve been working at Armidale Hospital for about three years. Some of the challenges working as an Aboriginal cadet and studying at university was that it was hard to balance everything. But there was support at the hospital, at university and at home to help me through it. Some challenges and difficulties when you’re working at the hospital is that I do see very sick people, very ill people, vulnerable people. Tamarla’s colleague: There’s a new Aboriginal cadet starting at Tamworth. Tamarla: As an Aboriginal cadet I have a lot of support from my cadetship coordinator, clinical educator. Everyone is very approachable, and I can ask them any question. As an Aboriginal nurse looking after Aboriginal patients, I feel I have that connection. I can make that connection as soon as I walk into the room. One of the main things that has really supported me through my degree is the financial support that I get from my Aboriginal cadetship while I’m at university. So, I get a fortnightly allowance plus tweleve weeks paid work on top of that every year. So, yeah, it’s really good. After I graduate this year I’ll still be supported throughout my nursing journey. So next year I’ll do a New Grad program where I’ll transition into practice and work as a registered nurse in a hospital. What I’m passionate about and what motivates me every day is making a difference. Making an impact on people’s lives. So in the future I want to work in remote communities with Aboriginal people to contribute to closing the gap to improve overall health for my people.