UOW
Eurobodalla

My name is Sharyn Mc Donogh and I am a Yorta Yorta woman who has resided here on Yuin land for just over 31 years.  

I am a returning student to the Eurobodalla campus here. I was the first Indigenous student to actually graduate with Honours from this campus. 

When I completed it, because of the grades and the marks,then I was encouraged to continue on and do the master's, which is what I'm doing now.  

The role of regional campuses is very, very important for students and families to support those who are unable to access or move away to larger campuses. My lifestyle is a single mom, finances are very limited. I did not have options to travel in other distances or other places. I also chose this area to raise my children. But what I found is most crucial for me is to have the access to the campus. And we have 24 hour access here. Those services and abilities that help support us as students, and it fits in with my lifestyle as well.  

Each time I've done something, whether it was the previous degree or this one, I've gained that level of confidence in myself and it's helped me to own my power now. So I would say that the University and the degree has definitely empowered me in that sense.  

The community experience is what I found was most supportive, the willingness to help. And you can just walk past the office and someone will help you. If someone doesn't know something, they'll come around. Everyone's able to share that experience in a more comfortable, family orientated space, I think.  

Yeah, so my degree has changed me. It's improved my life, my ability to engage with others outside of who I would normally be impacted by. I have the knowledge to back it up now. I think coming to this campus for me at this point in time has definitely been an advantage. I really doubt I would have if it hadn't been for being here and the space and and all those improvements and the encouragement.