Julian
2022

Julian (he/they)

Bachelor of Science (Psychology)

QLD

Hello, my name is Julian, and I am a first year Bachelor of Psychological Sciences student due to graduate (after completing my honours) in mid-2025, so I have two-and-a-half years left to study is after 2022 is done. I study at Queensland University of Technology (QUT).

This is actually my second degree; my first degree is in physics. I decided to go back to university in 2021 after working in a corporate STEM-related job for a while. I realised that it is important for me to work in a job that involves talking to people, creating social good by helping others, but that still uses my analytical way of looking at things. As someone with lived experience of mental illness, I have also been personally invested in mental health care.

For those reasons and more, I am working towards being a practicing psychologist, which will require me to complete a masters degree once my current degree is complete. Professionally, I am interested in working with clients with complex trauma and treating this trauma holistically. I am also interested in psychoeducation in general and contributing to making mental health care accessible to those who need it most.

As a gay, trans, non-binary man, I feel like my experiences will allow me to connect with queer patients of many backgrounds. I have interacted with some fantastic, queer-friendly health professionals in my life, but never an openly trans doctor or therapist and would like to be that visible person as I know that it can make all the difference. The tipping point for me to pursue a career in psychology was seeing a future for myself in the form of my former therapist, who was himself a gay man as well.

Beyond my professional aspirations, I would like the kind of life where I have time outside of work to create art and contribute to my community. I do a lot of volunteering in my free time, most notably at the moment, as the secretary of my university’s Queer Collective, and this type of volunteer work will always be a non-negotiable part of my life. I am also a writer, and I am working towards one day getting my books of poems published.

I wanted to personally say thank you to Shelley Argent OAM for this scholarship and the difference that it will make in my life. As someone with no family in the functional sense of the word, I really debated whether it was even practical for me to go back to university at all as I have no financial safety net if things go south. This scholarship means that I am able to be confident that I can survive while studying and focus my energies on my degree and for that I am very grateful. Thank you for this and your tireless advocacy over the years, making this country a better place for those without parents who are not as loving and supportive as you are.