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Between climbing walls and building islands, Alexis has learned that growth often happens outside your comfort zone. She reflects on juggling uni, work, and volunteering, and how experiences like John Curtin Weekend have helped her build resilience, friendships, and real-world skills.
Fourth-year law and commerce student, Alexis, is used to doing things that take her out of her comfort zone, from learning to fall in competitive bouldering, to unexpectedly building an island in the middle of a river during a John Curtin Weekend (JCW) volunteering trip.
Alexis came straight to uni from high school, jumping into university life without a break. She now juggles two casual jobs, a double major in law and finance, extracurriculars and sport outside of uni. In her sport of choice, bouldering, Alexis has moved from competing to setting routes at climbing gyms, in the competitions she used to compete in.
This busyness has been her hardest challenge throughout her degree so far, but her solutions simple; Google Calendar. Alexis has found that seeing how busy she is visually, has taught her to actually say no to things. Taking breaks is so important and being able to see where she visibly needs a gap in the calendar has been a useful tool in scheduling.
It was that same curiosity and willingness to stretch herself that led Alexis to sign-up for her first John Curtin Weekend two years ago. The experience stuck with her, not just for the physical work, but for the unexpected friendships formed along the way.
“It sounds cheesy, but it really was the people. You’re out of your normal environment, working together toward something, and it kind of forces you to connect. You learn how to gel with different personalities and working styles.”
Her first JCW trip was to the Avon River in Northam, where the group partnered with Avon Valley Environmental Society Inc. to complete an environmental project. It was a real ‘learn-by-doing’ moment, which she found to be an interesting difference from working with people in a uni assignment.
“Compared to group work, where you have weeks to understand the best way to work with your classmates, at JCW you’re literally with them day and night, so you learn quickly how to compromise, how to collaborate.”
Now, Alexis is preparing to return to John Curtin Weekend, this time as a leader.
“I just loved that first experience and leading gives me the chance to give back and help others have that same moment of connection.”
For students thinking of getting involved, her advice is simple: “Just sign-up. There’s even faculty sponsorships so you might not have to pay. If you want to do something different, meet people, or just get out of your usual routine, it’s a great way to do that.”
As she looks ahead, Alexis is hoping to land a role in corporate law after graduation, with plans to move in-house with a large organisation down the track. But for now, she’s balancing it all; study, work, climbing and volunteering. Throughout her university experience so far, she’s learnt to manage time, manage people and manage herself. I’ve learned to manage my time, manage people, and manage myself. That’s something you don’t just learn in class, you can learn it through doing, falling, and figuring it out.
