The BSSC Careers and Pathways team, as well as a range of external providers, were on hand yesterday afternoon to help students with their next step after Bendigo Senior Secondary College.
Students with a disability or medical condition, along with their families, were invited to attend a careers expo and afternoon tea where they heard from guest speakers—including two incredible members of the BSSC Alumni community: Kaity and Henry.
Trish White, one of BSSC’s dedicated Careers and Pathways Advisors, welcomed everyone to the event and highlighted the importance of making the most of the connections BSSC has with the wonderful organisations in our community.
“With the right people in your corner who provide encouragement and support, anything is possible,” she told the group.
Kaity Dajcic—who attended BSSC 2022-2023—told the group of how her life dramatically improved since becoming involved with WISE Employment’s Epic (Employment Preparation and Inclusion in the Community) program.
“I was at BSSC when I joined the program,” says Kaity. “I didn’t have any funding, but the team at WISE took me in anyway.”
“Paul and his team helped me with the funding needed to join the School Leaver’s Program and I also got a NDIS Support Worker. Once I got involved with the program, we began discussing my goals.”
Kaity shared how her Support Worker helped her with an application for a volunteer position at the Great Stupa of Universal Compassion, which then lead to a paid role that she loves.
“Things became better for me,” Kaity proudly reflected.
Another incredible young person the group heard from was Henry John, who finished up at BSSC in 2020.
“My career dream was to work in the railway industry with V-line,” he explained.
Local organisation, Connecting Futures, worked with Henry and discussed a pathway to his goal. After working on his resume writing, interview skills and confidence, Henry was able to obtain employment at Woolworths, before an exciting development in his career.
As of December last year, Henry has been working as a Services Officer with V-line at the Bendigo train station. Talk about a dream come true!
“I was seen for what I’m capable of,” says Henry with a smile.
After some delicious afternoon tea, visitors were encouraged to chat to each provider and ask any questions they had about how life after BSSC.
The college’s Wellbeing team, as well as the Careers and Pathways team, were thrilled to see so many people at the event and truly proud to see how far Kaity and Henry—who both teams had supported—had come in their individual journeys.
A huge thank you to all stallholders—WISE Employment, Connecting Futures, Axis Employment and Asuria—as well as our alumni guests and Paul Weeks (WISE Employment) and Scott McLarty (Connecting Futures) for speaking to the group.
If any BSSC students need assistance with planning out their post-BSSC journey, they can chat to our friendly Careers and Pathways team to make an appointment.
