Breeanna Borlace, a recent graduate from Broken Hill’s Country Universities Centre (CUC), has quickly put her learning to good use.
Born and raised in what she described as the ‘friendly community’ of Broken Hill, Ms Borlace graduated at the end of 2023 with a Graduate Certificate in Child and Family Health (Karitane) from Western Sydney University.
Ms Borlace was working as a registered midwife before she became accredited in child and family health.
“My passion for helping women and their families guided my path to further my study and look at other career options that would incorporate my midwifery knowledge,” she told us.
“The WSU Child and Family Health course was the answer, and I loved the flexibility of studying in my own time when it suited my family best, and really enjoyed the breastfeeding and child development topics,” she says.
Ms Borlace took the degree via correspondence, utilising the CUC’s numerous resources and support services to ensure she could remain in Broken Hill.
“The CUC provided a safe and quiet space free of distractions where I could just simply focus on my study. It has everything a campus would have offered me right here in my local town, I was so impressed.”
Now she is working part-time hours at Broken Hill hospital while raising a young family of her own, and says she uses the lessons and knowledge she gained through her course and applies them into her profession.
“The doors to my career path are still opening,” she says.
The 2023 graduation meant Ms Borlace was putting in the hard yards during the worst of the Covid pandemic, but ironically that gave her time to concentrate of her studies.
“The pandemic meant all clinical placements for the CAFH certificate were cancelled and instead they were offered virtually via webinars,” Ms Borlace said.
“Having to travel and leave my young family to attend the face-to-face placement was initially a concern for me, but attending these webinars at the CUC was a great way in experiencing that clinical type experience without the travel.”
In encouraging locals to pursue tertiary education, she says, “there are no educational barriers to living rurally, so don’t think twice, utilise the support services around you such as CUC and dedicate yourself. Choose a degree you are interested in, and you will motivate yourself”.
