ARTSREADY TRAINEE BLOG – Dakota Starts her Traineeship

I officially started April 26th, first day in the office. Little bit nervous but once I had met my team I felt at ease. A group of like-minded people with goals and ambitions – a great environment to be surrounded by. Especially when you make the choice to change.  

The first week was about getting me comfortable in an office setting and my team explaining what the role was about. Now coming into my second week and already I’m taking a trip out of office. I am going to meet with a graduate trainee, to participate in his award presentation. We headed to a cafe in Lilydale, never been out this way before. The surroundings were nice, more trees and seemed like a humble little town. I was joined by Fi – my Team Manager, Belli – Nelson’s Field Officer and Brodders – the General Manager of Education and Employment (Vic & Tas). Not going to lie, was a tad nervous being with everyone high up and little me not knowing too much, but once the drive was on, conversations were had and all those feeling went away.  

After arriving at the cafe, we made our way through and saw Nelson and a few of his work colleagues from Yarra Ranges Council. The ball was rolling, we all got together and sat down in the function room. This was a waiting game for Nelson, he had no idea what was going on… neither did I to be honest but that was the fun of it. I was there to help take photos, interview Nelson and just generally celebrate his achievements. To be honest, he was the first person I’ve ever interviewed…lucky he made it super easy. We sat next to each other at lunch so I got to have a general conversation with him to catch his vibe. When it was time to execute a video interview it seemed to make it a lot easier, I asked him a few questions and bam it was all done. He made this experience seem like it wasn’t too scary after all. Throughout the lunch I also got to meet Ralph who is an Indigenous Mentor/Field officer at AFL SportsReady, we exchanged cultural conversation and just generally got to know each other. He offered a few social events for me to get involved in. He is Nelson’s Indigenous Mentor. 

(Ralph White with Nelson the day he was presented with his award)

When we were done we headed back to the office, I still had some questions for Nelson but thought emailing him would be less intrusive after his day of surprises. I edited and selected the best photos taken from the day, now was my time to write an introduction bio. This was fun, it helped me to understand different types of writing. Something I really enjoy. For me, Nelson’s journey was inspiring as he won ‘Indigenous Trainee of the Year’ and to talk and understand his growth through this made me realise I can aim to accomplish the exact same if I believe in myself and follow my passions.