By Megan Beecher.
In 2020 I was very fortunate to be the recipient of the AVCAT Families of Veterans Guild (previously the Australian War Widows NSW) Scholarship. My Grandfather, Major Arthur McDermott (Grandpa Mac, as he was to my brothers and me) was a veteran, serving in the Australian Army from 1951 to 1975 with active service in Korea, Malaya, and Vietnam.
At the end of 2023, I completed a Bachelor of Primary Education, (Dean’s Scholar) – with Distinction and a Minor in Mathematics and Numeracy in Education at the University of Wollongong. It was only due to the ongoing support of the Families of Veterans Guild and AVCAT that I was able to succeed in my degree and delve into all the opportunities it presented. My time at university saw me meeting amazing, lifelong friends, and working in a variety of schools, learning an immeasurable amount and kindling my passion for educating young people in Australia.
My university experience was vastly different to what I expected, with most of my studies being online from 2020 – 2022. This time served to prove how adaptable we can be and pushed me to develop my technology-based teaching skills – a steep learning curve for everyone! 2023 saw me completing the final year of my degree, with the majority of the final semester being professional placement at a local school on the South Coast of NSW and begin casual teaching. The first time you are alone with a room full of eager students is a daunting experience!
I am immensely, and unendingly grateful to AVCAT and the Families of Veterans Guild for their support throughout my degree.
I am immensely, and unendingly grateful to AVCAT and the Families of Veterans Guild for their support throughout my degree. Thanks to the financial stability it provided, I have completed university and have no HECS debt. Upon graduation I am working in the Boarding house at Frensham School in the Southern Highlands a few nights each week, teaching at a variety of amazing local schools in the Wollongong and South Coast areas, with a significant block coming up on a Year 5 class and working as a casual academic at the University of Wollongong marking for some of the Faculty of Education subjects.
My path to becoming a teacher has been an incredible journey. The constant, underlying motivation of; ‘Would Grandpa Mac be proud?’ has seen me come to understand that educating young people is a heart-warming joy, an amazing privilege, and a great responsibility. As teachers, we are not responsible for preparing students for something – it is our job to help students prepare themselves for anything! I truly hope my commitment to studying, and passion for teaching and supporting young people in Australia would make Grandpa Mac proud and serve as a testament to his hard work in serving his country.