Coming full circle
Host: Charles Darwin University, Katherine Rural Campus
Written by Danielle Brown
Let’s start with a bit about me! My name is Danielle Brown and I live in Alice Springs, N.T. I was born and raised in Darwin and grew up on a small rural property in Noonamah located on the outskirts of Darwin. My sister and I grew up always being around horses and in the bush so it was only fitting that I ended up in a career that let me continue my love for the land.
I got started on my journey into the pastoral/agricultural industry started during high school. While at Taminmin College I undertook some VET (Vocational education and training) certificates as a part of the VET in Schools Program. Being a bush kid, of course, I decided on agriculture. I had always enjoyed working with and riding horses but this is where I really discovered my passion for cattle and the industry.
After school I was out of the industry for some time, it seemed that my transition to the industry wasn’t as easy as I had planned on it being. Then in May of 2016 I was offered to apply for a position as a Trainer Assessor under the Pastoral Futures Program for the Department of Education to deliver the same certificates which had given me my love for the industry.
Now let me tell you, if someone had told me 10 years ago that I would be delivering the same qualifications that I was studying at the time I would have told them they were crazy! And yet here I am two years on and loving every minute of it!
Last year we had a number of students who put in a lot of long hours to halter break and train a number of cattle which were taken to the Alice Springs Show, Katherine Show and Royal Darwin Show to compete against Katherine Rural College and Taminmin College in the Junior Parader and Junior Judging cattle classes. I was privileged to take 8 students from Alice Springs to participate and compete at the shows with fantastic outcomes as well as some wonderful friendships for the students!
As a result of this, we nominated 8 students from Katherine Rural College, Taminmin College and the Pastoral Futures Program in Alice Springs to compete Beef Week in Rockhampton 2018!
Danielle, Maddi, Georgie, Morty, Mariah, Braydon, Stravros, Vicki and Kendall.
What a week! A week of being on the go, cattle to be loaded and unloaded, fed and watered, groomed, washed, cleaning stalls and filling hay nets. Despite the early starts and late finishes, dust, rain and an endless array of jobs to be done the students were an absolute credit to themselves! We had many compliments and fantastic feedback on ‘the students from the NT’, always smiling and polite and willing to help out where needed. Congratulations to the team on their incredible efforts!
I have met some wonderful people over the last two years who have helped to make everything possible and it is just one of the many things I love about this industry. When I started writing this article I jumped on to have a look at some of the other stories posted on the Central Stations and it has made me appreciated the diversity of our industry….the different stories and paths people have taken to get where they are!
Myself with one of the show cattle for Alice Springs Show.