Dan
When Dan’s plans to join the military didn’t work out, he didn’t know what career he was cut out for. Luckily, the Brotherhood’s Youth Pathways program helped him on the road to another rewarding career.
‘I’ve been in cadets since I was 13, so I thought I might go join the army’, Dan, 19, says. His dream of studying combat engineering with the military hit a snag when he ‘had a medical exam and flunked on that’ because of migraines he’d been having.
Like many young people, Dan experienced a loss of confidence and didn’t know where to turn to for help. Searching for jobs was ‘a bit hard cos of the recession but I do have a bit of work experience’. However, even with experience he couldn’t find work.
Dan heard about the Brotherhood’s Youth Pathways program from his school and got in touch with program coach Chris. She and the other coaches worked with young people to help them stay at school or make a smooth transition into further study or work, at a critical point in their lives.
Chris helped Dan with practical strategies that included finding training and looking more broadly at his skills and interests. ‘They didn’t just look at my military interests; they also looked at my other interests like lifesaving, computers, riding.’
Most importantly, Chris encouraged Dan to be more active. As he says, ‘[I] got off my backside a bit more, just being more out there and trying to look for work rather than sitting at home and looking on the Internet’.
Dan found regular work – three days a week – as a kitchen hand at a hotel and has also begun studying for an engineering diploma at TAFE. However, his hotel work has made him keen to move into catering as a career. ‘I’ve been pestering my boss to take me on as an apprentice chef.’
The Youth Pathways program ceased in December 2009. The Brotherhood won a contract to deliver Peninsula Youth Connections, which also provides individual case support to young people at risk of disengagement from education.