{"id":31323,"date":"2026-06-15T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-06-15T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/?post_type=oasis-news&p=31323"},"modified":"2026-06-09T16:23:12","modified_gmt":"2026-06-09T08:23:12","slug":"how-women-of-wasm-helped-rebecca-and-amy-find-a-second-home-at-curtin-kalgoorlie","status":"publish","type":"oasis-news","link":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/oasis-news\/how-women-of-wasm-helped-rebecca-and-amy-find-a-second-home-at-curtin-kalgoorlie\/","title":{"rendered":"How Women of WASM helped Rebecca and Amy find a second home at Curtin Kalgoorlie"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Reading time: 5 minutes.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rebecca\u2019s pathway to mining engineering wasn\u2019t a straight line. While she was initially studying law and psychology, she soon decided to switch to a different course. With the influence of her dad and sister\u2019s background in engineering, she chose to study mining engineering. After her first year, she was offered a place at Kalgoorlie and soon realised she wanted to continue pursuing a career in the area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen I got to the underground mine, it was amazing. I just knew that I wanted to work in underground mining.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Amy had known since high school that she wanted to study a degree in engineering, but was initially leaning towards chemical or civil engineering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 \u201cI was more towards the environmental side at first. I was like \u2018I’m not going to go into mining ever.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But after looking into mining engineering, she realised it also involves considering the environmental side of things. When she saw that she\u2019d have the opportunity to live regionally if she studied mining at Curtin, she knew it was the right path for her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Now that Rebecca and Amy are settled in at the Kalgoorlie campus, they\u2019ve joined Women of WASM, a student-led initiative that fosters inclusion, support and representation for women in the mining industry, where they are the minority. They provide resources for both feminine-presenting people to increase women’s visibility on campus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Amy met Nayla, the President of Women of WASM, in her first year. When she met Nayla again at the Kalgoorlie campus, and Nayla was looking for more Women of WASM committee members, she didn\u2019t think twice before submitting her application.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt was my first few weeks there, and I wanted to meet a few people, especially some women around here, and do some work with events and initiatives and that really motivated me to apply.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nayla was the first person Rebecca met when she came to the Kalgoorlie campus. Seeing Nayla look overwhelmed in her new position and wanting also to support women in the mining industry, Rebecca applied.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI totally aligned with their mission about supporting women because we are lacking women here. That\u2019s what motivated me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Amy has found the experience with Women of WASM extremely rewarding, not only in gaining practical skills in areas such as event planning, but also in putting herself out there as a new student on Kalgoorlie\u2019s campus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBeing able to go around and meet a lot of people, being new here, has been really good. And being able to build some of my own skills while working towards things like our events that we put together as a committee.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rebecca\u2019s favourite aspect of studying mining engineering at Kalgoorlie is the site visits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe have a strong academic side here, but I think the practical is what really reinforces your knowledge.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While being away from her family in Perth was a challenge for Rebecca at first, she felt that the more she threw herself into uni activities, the less isolated she became.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI forced myself to be involved in more extracurriculars like Curtin Volunteers and Curtin Mentors. Being involved in those helped me feel less alone and made Kalgoorlie a second home.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Amy, the independence of managing her days on her own was a steep learning curve.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTrying to figure out union work, going into work and then balancing joining some clubs, getting involved with Curtin Volunteers, and making the most of all the mining opportunities in Kalgoorlie \u2013 just being in charge of my own days and making the most of everything has been the biggest adjustment for me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Amy\u2019s passion for her future career and desire to make the most of her time in Kalgoorlie have kept her motivated throughout her degree.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFinding a bit of time for yourself and enjoying being in Kalgoorlie because it’s a great experience and thinking about all the things you’re able to do once you’ve finished studying and your career \u2013 that really motivates me personally.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whereas Rebecca\u2019s motivated by the sacrifice her dad made by moving to Perth when she was very young.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Amy and Rebecca both emphasise the importance of getting involved at uni and stepping beyond just studying during your degree. Rebecca highlights the importance of having a support system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou really need a community to excel here, both academically and professionally as well.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Amy highlights that, despite what others assume, there are so many opportunities available at Kalgoorlie.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cGive it a chance because there are so many things you’re able to do here. It’s not so boring and a \u2018what is there to do in Kalgoorlie\u2019 kind of thing. You’re able to do a lot and find your community.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other students can get involved with Women of WASM by attending their events this year, checking in on their socials, and reading their newsletter. Amy encourages students who feel more settled in Kalgoorlie at the end of the year to apply as a committee member.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBeing part of pushing visibility for women is really cool, especially at a mining campus. I think I’ve noticed more women coming along in classes. You see a greater percentage, so it’s really cool to be a part of that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After they graduate, Rebecca aspires to be an underground manager while Amy is open to where a graduate program will take her, and is looking forward to seeing more of regional WA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

How do you find a community 600 kilometres from home? Meet Rebecca and Amy, mining engineering students based at Curtin\u2019s Kalgoorlie campus and committee members for Women of WASM. | Reading time: 5 min.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4492,"featured_media":31324,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_oasis_is_in_workflow":0,"_oasis_original":0,"_oasis_task_priority":"","_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"4871,4867,4928,5095,4736,5950","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","wds_primary_oasis-categories":0,"footnotes":""},"oasis-categories":[146],"class_list":["post-31323","oasis-news","type-oasis-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","oasis-categories-student-life"],"acf":{"post_options":{"":null,"banner":{"image":false}}},"featured_image":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Rebecca-and-Amy-Oasis-profile-1000x500.jpg","author_meta":{"first_name":"Rachel","last_name":"Pratt","display_name":"Rachel Pratt"},"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-22 12:18:13","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"oasis-categories","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/oasis-news\/31323","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/oasis-news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/oasis-news"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4492"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/oasis-news\/31323\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31324"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31323"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"oasis-categories","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/oasis-categories?post=31323"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}