Jared Ten Year Interview

Jared has been with the Mirri Mirri team for 10 whole years now! He has been an immensely important part of the Mirri Mirri family, he’s worked with the Youth Summit, Disability program, Carers NSW, Justice Health. As a celebration and appreciation of his work and commitment, Kara has interviewed him! 

Jared Ten Year Interview:

Kara: Okay, the first question is, out of the 10 years working with Mirri Mirri what was the

year that stood out the most? 

Jared: I think it was my first Youth Summit which was 10 years ago, if you'd like to get the date of when that was. First Youth Summit because I hadn't been a part of it as a team, it was the first time working with young people and it was just fun, a fun experience. 

Kara: Second question, when you first started with Mirri Mirri what did you think this journey would look like and how did it actually turn out? 

Jared: Good question because when I first started at Mirri Mirri it was only for a six month contract and it was working and support units delivering a program to young Aboriginal kids with disability. So that's all I ever thought it would be and surprisingly since after that it's gone from you know delivering programs to adult learners, designing programs to it's just the amount of work and different things I do now compared to when I first started is like massive. So I've walked away like better skilled, I've learned heaps of things so it's been really good. 

Kara: Question three, what's a challenge you faced here that ended up making you stronger? 

Jared: Being comfortable with being uncomfortable and what I mean by that is, is that whenever you do something for the first time, especially delivering programs or talking in front of people, sometimes you have a bit of a fear of doing that because it's a new experience but over time the more you do it and the better you become at it the more confident you become. So it's gone from a fear to now something that I really look forward to and I enjoy only because I ended up stepping into that space and enjoying and enjoyed being uncomfortable and that's delivering programs. 

Kara: Yeah, that's a good answer. Question four, what's a moment over the years that made you feel proud to be a part of this community? 

Jared: I think one of them, there's been a few but one of them that stands out is that me being Māori and from New Zealand and working with young Aboriginal kids especially on camps, hearing them referred to me as uncle and I'm not even from you know the indigenous culture here, I'm from New Zealand, that sort of resonated with me, that sort of made me feel like I was, I was actually part of the community as opposed to someone that maybe not from the community, looking from the outside in, I was actually, I actually felt like I was part of a family, another family so to speak, so that's a pretty proud moment that I've, yeah. That was ages ago. Yeah, that was a long time ago.