Olivia Inwood

Professional background in a Tweet

My professional interests are in higher education, research, and writing. I spent 9 years studying at UNSW: BA/BFA, honours in Media Studies, and a PhD in Linguistics. I’ve worked as a Deputy Dean at UNSW Colleges, researcher at RMIT and now Academic Literacy Coordinator at WSU.

What fuels my passion for public education

My passion for public education is fuelled by my own personal experiences. I attended Forbes High School, a rural public school, where most students were from low socio-economic backgrounds. I had wonderful teachers at my high school who truly cared about me, and I would not have made it to university without them. My English and Visual Arts teachers had such an impact on me that I decided to study those two subjects at university! With the help of my high school teachers in filling out the paperwork, I received an equity scholarship to attend UNSW in Sydney.

When I attended UNSW, I was surprised that most people were from affluent backgrounds. Based on these experiences I realised that it is socio-economic circumstances not ability that prevents people from pursuing further education. For that reason, I want to now do my best to promote public education so that it receives more funding and mentor others. I think it is important to have mentors that realise the unique challenges public school students can face, particularly those coming from rural areas, and can provide strategies for helping alleviate some of these challenges.

Mentoring is my way of giving back to the public school community that helped me achieve my goals. I would like to set an example of how it is possible to turn your interests into a career, provide suggestions on different ways one can get support to follow their dreams, and highlight the many different career pathways one can take. By promoting public education and its philosophy, I hope to make a small contribution to creating a more equitable society where everyone has access to opportunities to achieve their dreams.