Thomas Saleh, a Commerce student at UWA, completed his McCusker Centre for Citizenship internship with Oxfam in Melbourne and worked within the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People’s program to help develop a new program targeted at Indigenous men in Australia.
Thomas says working in a larger organisation like Oxfam gave him an appreciation of scale, in terms of the breadth and complexity of both the challenges Indigenous people face in Australia and the work that is being done in the not-for-profit sector.
“I learnt that community led and culturally appropriate programs have an immense value for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Such programs consistently promote self-determination, community engagement and produce positive outcomes,” says Thomas.
Here are the five reasons Thomas says you should apply for a McCusker Centre for Citizenship internship:
- Perspective: this internship experience provides the opportunity to gain perspective as a student, which is an incredibly powerful thing and is something that you can draw upon throughout your future.
- Active Learning: you actively learn by working on real issues that impact our community and, in turn, give back to the community and organisation you are involved with.
- Networking: you experience the not for profit sector over a longer period of time and work with many individuals in the sector.
- Skills Development: you develop a broad range of skills outside of your field of study.
- Growth: stepping outside your comfort zone allows you to grow and realise your own abilities and capacity to be an active citizen. Being challenged, questioning yourself and, at times, feeling uncomfortable is a really rewarding experience.
The McCusker Centre for Citizenship offers internships to all UWA students throughout the year – Semester 1, Winter, Semester 2 and Summer. See here for more information: