A national journalist, a rugby league star and an Olympic 100m Sprinter all shared their journeys of success and fame with Indigenous teenagers at an Australian Indigenous Mentoring Experience (AIME) event at Griffith University’s Gold Coast campus.
‘Windows to Fame’ is a session on the AIME curriculum that encourages and inspires Gold Coast’s year 9 to 12 Indigenous high school students to achieve greatness and aspire to the AIME mantra “Indigenous Equals Success”.
The special Indigenous guests who shared their stories at ‘Windows to Fame’ were:
- Canberra Raiders Player — Cleveland McGhie
- Olympic 100m Sprinter — Patrick Johnson
- Journalist and Television Presenter for NITV — Carly Wallace
Patrick Johnson’s time of 9.93s in the 100m stands as the fastest Australian time ever recorded. With this race Johnson became the first person of non-African descent to break the 10-second barrier.
Now working as a radio presenter for ABC in Darwin, Johnson said he was excited to support AIME and chat to almost 130 students who attended.
“Education is the key to success,” he told students after he spoke about his journey to a successful athletic career.
“Everyone has talent but it is what you do with that talent that makes all the difference.”
It is the first time Griffith has hosted the AIME program.
AIME program coordinator for Gold Coast campus Ty Smith said he enjoyed working with students and encouraging them to achieve their best.
“From starting as a volunteer mentor in 2012 to now working for the organisation that was just voted top 10 best places to work in Australia there is no where I’d rather be,” he said.
“At AIME we recognize our kids are born super heroes, we just teach them how to fly.”
The Indigenous high school students were partnered with Griffith University student mentors, to expose them to higher education and university life.
Bachelor of Exercise Science student Julian Conboy said AIME was the perfect opportunity for current students to provide advice they wish they had received.
“It’s important for us to show what uni is really like, that it’s not a scary place,” he said.
“We also get to teach our Indigenous culture to younger students and that is important in building pride and maintaining our traditions.”