Page 39 - Luce 2023

A l umni News A l umni News

Institutional Responses to Child Sexual handled time management. And yet I’d Everyone else seemed to want me
Abuse. Julia Gillard championed this pick myself up, and believe I’d be better to be happy, and apparently the Law
while she was Prime Minister and it’s for the next essay, the next class and the student version of me was a bit of a wet
one of the legacies of her leadership. next social appointment, convinced that blanket. All this pressure, all these strict
next time everything would go to plan. guidelines for life didn’t matter anymore.
If I could offer any advice to readers And in the warmth of acceptance of the
who are starting out, or looking for a I can’t imagine it will be a surprise, then, new me, I started to learn who the new
career change, it would be to build when I admit that I had a detailed plan me really was.
on your transferable skills. You can for my studies and career, and even less
become ‘a subject matter expert’ in a of a surprise when I state that it didn’t The new me loves the Law, but she
wide variety of topics. The main thing exactly go to plan. Starting with a BA, doesn’t want to be a lawyer. The new
is to show your capacity to learn and I figured if I got an H1 average I’d get me is people focused, not detail-
this is how I have progressed in my into the Juris Doctor. Then I’d crush it oriented. She loves her island home, and
career. as a Law student, get a great clerkship, wants to work there and give back to
graduate, become a top-shelf criminal community. And most of all, she accepts
My contact: charlotte.x.clarkson@ lawyer, solve crime, meet my legal herself for who she is, instead of who
police.vic.gov.au heroes, look cute in the funny wig, and she is going to become.
ride off into the sunset. Simple, right?
So here I am, writing for Luce, 400km
Eleanor McCormack (2018) I made it a few months into the JD away from where I thought I’d be at this
Having a before starting to cry in the library and point in my life, fighting the stereotypes
plan is easy. falling to pieces as I told a doctor how about staying regional as a young
You have my mental health had been. I had my person through participating in the
timeframes, heart set on Law, but I no longer felt like ABC Heywire ‘Trailblazers’ programme,
goals, and getting out of bed in the morning, and with my project entitled ‘Locals’. This
measures the idea of graduating and practising programme challenged the idea that
of success. Law forever made me feel ill. As young people have to move away
Knowing what privileged as I knew I was to have a from their regional homes in order to
you want, coveted spot in Melbourne Law School, ‘make it’. It provided an opportunity for
when you want I knew that I couldn’t keep going. So anyone aged between 18 to 28 to share
it, and how I requested a leave of absence, and I with a national audience their positive
you’re going to get it is something that moved back home to Ulverstone in an social change projects carried out in
can make life a whole lot easier. attempt to refresh myself. their regional communities. Since the
launch of this early careers programme,
From a young age, I’ve known that Alas, the time I spent at home only I’ve received messages from people
having a plan is the way to go. Whether cemented the gut feeling that the plan all around the country who feel the
that’s planning how I’ll tackle an essay developed by a 17-year-old-me may same, who love their home and have
or planning how I’ll make a five-hour not be what I actually wanted at 21. abandoned big-city plans too.
journey across Tasmania, I’ve always How shocking! I joined the corporate
trusted my instincts and my ability workforce, and a few months later I had I’m working for the Office of the
to plan. Each step refined, timings withdrawn from the JD completely. Director of Public Prosecutions as a
checked in Google Maps, due dates I began to reckon with the fact I was witness assistance officer. Every day I
reviewed four times before I’m satisfied beginning my career in North-West get to help vulnerable and traumatised
I’ve read it correctly. My plans are Tasmania, a place not generally thought people navigate the criminal justice
fantastic, except for the fact I keep of as a hotspot for early careers. Against system, and support them while they
forgetting to consider one key variable the backdrop of Melbourne University give evidence about some of their most
– myself. and my original intention of doing an stressful life experiences. And I get to go
internship in the Melbourne CBD, I home on the highway, wheels navigating
At university I found each mental felt like a failure because I didn’t live potholed roads as I prepare to see my
timeline for getting to class on time up to my plan. I wondered if there family every day, rather than every few
thwarted by my own penchant for dilly- was something wrong with me for months. None of this was in my plan
dallying and I’d end up tumbling down not enjoying Law, and I feared I’d be – but if I’d followed my plan, I’d have
the JCH stairs at breakneck speed mocked by my peers for moving back to missed out on being happy.
every single day. Well-meaning plans regional Australia.
for essay submission developed with a https://radioinfo.com.au/news/
tutor were often thrown by the wayside While I did face some backlash for the trailblazers-with-big-ideas-for-regional-
when I fell down a hole of distraction move, it turned out very few people australia/
and suddenly I was pressing ‘submit’ cared that I didn’t follow my plan, and
at 11:58pm. Social outings often began nobody thought I was a failure. The
with a barely on-time arrival or a sense I wasn’t going to live up to my
‘sorry, sorry I’m late’, thanks to poorly potential came from me and only me.

J anet Clarke Hall 39