Yenda girl Jenna Storrier was drifting her way through high school with mediocre grades, and no ambition of ever going to university.
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But a turning point in her life came when a teacher recognised her talent and pushed her to do better.
Earlier this month, she graduated with an arts/law degree at the University of Canberra, and on Monday commences full-time work as a lawyer for Concorde Legal in the ACT.
“I notice quite a few of my former peers in The Area News. In the crime section,” Jenna, now 24, said she sees a lot of wasted potential in the MIA.
The proportion of the MIA’s Year 12 graduates who go on to further studies is much lower than the Australian average. As tertiary education is now a big predictor of future income potential, The Area News asked Jenna for her ideas on what could make a difference between going on to be a success, or drifting off to a life of unemployment and crime.
She identifies three important things that communities and schools can do.
1) Provide all kids with individual mentoring
Jenna moved from Wade High to the better-resourced private school St Francis de Sales Regional College in Leeton in Year 11. She said the big difference is that St Francis had a program of “pastoral care”. For 15 minutes every morning, a teacher would circulate among a small group of students and ask them about their ambitions.
“When someone shows an interest in you, when you feel like an individual and not just a number, it really changes your outlook,” she said.
Jenna had decided she was going to be a hairdresser after Year 12, but pastoral care teacher Ian Pettit pushed her to instead study law.
A small amount of time devoted to non-academic care makes a big difference.
2) Explore alternative options to get into uni
Jenna thought her grades weren’t good enough to get into law. But cash-strapped universities are now desperate for students, so there are always other ways to get accepted. She applied through the “early entry” program, which considers students before they receive their Australian Tertiary Admission Rank – getting accepted to justice studies, which was her gateway to a law degree.
3) Take a harsher line on drugs
“I’m glad I got out of school before the drugs really hit,” Jenna said.
Jenna says drugs really kill ambition, and a small amount of kids using drugs can have a damaging impact on wider school groups.
She says she often sees soft and suspended sentences given for drug-fueled crimes, and this does not deter.