Here's to 2021

2020. The year that will go down in the history books as one of the most bizarre years yet. Despite the unforeseen and massively derailing circumstances of the year, however, my placement at the CRC as a Swinburne University media and communications student made it the most exhilarating, interesting and self-developing 12 months I’ve experienced.

The very first week of my placement was spent staring owlishly at the smiling faces, the casual coffee breaks, the laughter and the camaraderie of the CRC team. I had expected tight smiles, stiff blazers and cold silence, but the warmth I observed that first week told a completely different story to the one I had formed in my mind prior to beginning, and it gave me clear insight into how my experience would end up unfolding.

A mere eight weeks into my placement, we had been getting ready for the first interstate conference of the year—flights were booked, hotel reservations had been made, and I was anxiously counting down the last few days before we departed to Canberra. The weeks of build up came crashing down in the instant we had to cancel the conference and move to an indefinite work from home situation. While the disappointment had been immense, the “COVID normal” opened my world to a whole new set of experiences and opportunities that I could not have expected.

Within just a few weeks, I was writing a feature article for the first 2020 edition of the Fire Australia magazine. Seeing my name in the by-line on glossy pages and professionally bound in a magazine was an indescribable feeling. And little did I know, that would soon become multiple articles for not only Fire Australia, but the Asia Pacific Fire magazine and the Australian Emergency Services Magazine.

With the move to remote and online working, I no longer had the opportunity to attend events and network with researchers in person, but I was given an even more unique opportunity—online webinars. I quickly found myself taking a leading role in the production of our live online events, working with a whole suite of new software and interacting with groups of academics and agency staff. I may not have been able to meet new people in person over my placement experience, but I have still made so many new contacts with the most incredible people through the CRC—connections I know I will continue to maintain well into the future.

Working as a communications assistant at the CRC has, without a doubt, been the most rewarding experience I have ever had, and that is largely due to Nathan Maddock and David Bruce. They have challenged and pushed me to improve both my personal and professional self and because of them and the rest of the comms team, I have learnt, grown and developed so much as a professional and as a communicator.

As the CRC enters its final six months in its current form, I am so thrilled and thankful to say that I will be continuing in my role as a communications assistant while I complete the final year of my degree at Swinburne. Thank you so much to everyone who has been a part of my placement experience. I am so excited to continue to be a part of the important work the CRC has been doing. Here’s to 2021!