Amelia Walters is studying a Bachelor of Arts, majoring in Sociology.

After high school, I took a gap year to serve as a UNICEF Australia National Young Ambassador, working alongside a diverse group of young people to advocate for and raise awareness of children’s rights. I was also a Member for the Queensland Youth Parliament and a facilitator with UN Youth Australia. Encountering a wide cross-section of society and ideas sparked my interest in studying the humanities.

Studying Sociology is, in a way, the study of worldviews: it has given me a language with which to describe the world and the tools to reflexively interrogate my views. My two favourite subjects so far have been Understanding Society and Law, Justice and Social Change. Both subjects consider the individual within their collective, and the use of the ‘sociological imagination’ to understand how social issues manifest as personal problems.

Studying research and project development subjects has given me the confidence and practical skills to work and volunteer in the community sector while studying. This has included community mental health services, helping to write policy for an LGBTIQ+ organisation, and using the evaluation skills I learnt during core Sociology subjects to write international reports around mental health training for educators.

Throughout my studies, I have worked with Headspace and the National Youth Mental Health Foundation, supporting and advocating for the needs of young people, and I hope to continue to pursue my passion for promoting mental health, wellbeing, and resilience. I am eager to contribute my learnings in sociology to a career in public policy and community development, through encouraging community participation and empowerment, and promoting services sensitised to the needs of their consumers and communities through participatory action research and co-design.

Moving to a new city, I was fortunate to receive the Melbourne National Scholarship which afforded me the opportunity to live on campus and quickly find new friendships. I have bonded with people in tutorials and study groups.