Matt Hardman shows us how there is more than one way to achieve your dream. For Matt,  former Senior Boarding House Prefect and Eileen M Johnson Bursary recipient, his dream is to study Medicine but his UMAT score was insufficient for a direct path into a degree in Medicine. Matt has used the opportunities he took up at Newington to shape his future endeavours.

At Newington, Matt was awarded with the Jack Thorncraft Prize for Loyalty and Service. His passionate commitment to service learning led to the Wests Ashfield Community Citizenship Award, which resulted in a financial benefit being provided to both Newington and my chosen charity, the Westpac Rescue Helicopter Service – see above picture.

Matt is currently enrolled in a Bachelor of Paramedicine at the University of Tasmania, Sydney Campus. He is excited to start paramedics and the practical placements which he will do with the New South Wales Ambulance Service giving him invaluable experience in pre hospital care and Emergency Health Management and Trauma.

His ultimate aim is to specialise in Emergency Medicine with a specific focus on Trauma and Pre-Hospital care. He says “This will put me in great stead to work in the retrieval helicopters such as those run by the Westpac Rescue Helicopter Service. This is something I am immensely passionate about as Rural and Remote areas have the highest rates of trauma related accidents however they don’t have the trauma centres’ nearby to treat these injuries. Hence the helicopter takes the emergency department and/or intensive care unit to the patient to ensure they get the interventions required within the ‘golden hour’. This dream is something that has only developed since I arrived at Newington and it is the opportunities it has provided (such as the hospital placements) which have fuelled me to ensure this dream becomes a reality. To me, this is more important than anything I could have learnt in a classroom.”