Eeny Meeny Miny Mo!

Day 26: Recognize someone who has made your expat experience better.

What a tough choice, when there have been so many people who have made this this big crazy move amazing and unforgettable.  There are the family and friends who have supported us, kept in touch, and visited.  The friends in Brisbane - some who we met the first year and are lucky enough to have continued our friendships, the fantastic people I met in my speech pathology class, the lovely co-workers, Mike and Annette in Fairfield who for a time acted as surrogate parents...just so many people along the way.

Today I will recognize Grace - the lady who gave me a chance at a job when we moved to Adelaide.  I know that people have things much worse than me, and looking for a job for 3 months is not the most horrible thing in the world, but it was making me feel really crappy.  Adelaide is not an easy place to find jobs in general, and with only one year experience post grad I wasn't exactly the most shiny and appealing choice.  I was going to interviews for jobs I (likely) would have hated and was devastated when they chose the more experienced candidate over me.  Sometimes I didn't even get an interview.

Grace and I had no idea what to expect from each other.  We were put in touch by a lady I worked for as an assistant in Brisbane who had studied speech pathology at university in Adelaide with Grace 25+ years earlier.  It was really kind of a fluke.  I shadowed her for a couple of weeks to see how things were run at the hospital and aged care facilities.  I slowly began taking on work in aged care while waiting for my hospital accreditation to come through.  I called her whenever I needed advice/help and she was always willing to take the time to talk any situation through.  She never made me feel like an idiot.  She has been incredibly supportive and passes on good feedback, which is really nice!  Now I see all of the in-patients and day rehab patients at the hospital.  I service four aged care residences regularly (and there are another couple who call once in a blue moon).  I do home visits and private adult and child work.  I LOVE it.  It is exactly the job that I would have always wanted, had I known it existed.

I have gone from not being hired at places that I would never apply to now, to being hired as a casual with South Australia Health (good to broaden your horizons).  During the SA Health interview, I felt very comfortable with all the questions because I had experienced many of the situations described.  Grace also gave me a glowing reference - but told them she was keeping me and would only be willing to lend me out every so often!  Hahaha.

We've been invited to dinners with her family and have gotten to know them a little as well.  She is currently battling breast cancer, and has cut down her workload a lot.  That being said, if you ran into her at the hospital and didn't know, you would have absolutely no idea.  She is an excellent person to have as a mentor and has really given me great opportunities career wise.  I'm very glad we found each other, because now I can help her in a time of need.  There are so many people who have made/are making this journey better than I could have imagined, and Grace is an important piece in the puzzle!