I moved to Cummins in April 2019. I was 14, it was term 2, and I was in year 9. I moved here from Adelaide, where I was born and had spent all my life. I came from Wirreanda High School and I had never been out of Adelaide before coming to Cummins.

Initially when I got here, I felt isolated. I used to live just off Beach Road in Adelaide so going from constantly hearing things like cars, sirens and planes overhead; to dead silence was unexpected and surreal. One thing I loved from the beginning however was the scenery, even though I lived in town. Seeing all the paddocks and wildlife, and for the first time in my life, a clear night sky, was unlike anything I’d seen before.

It was such a shock coming from a high school of 1000 kids to an area school with about 400. The first thing I noticed was the teaching quality. In Adelaide there are so many students, teachers seemed to teach out to the class, and there is never any opportunity to have 1:1 time. I found this to be a huge advantage and a real positive difference in attending a country school.

At the same time as feeling happy with my learning, I found it difficult to fit in generally. Everyone here is generally the same and only slightly different at school.

Most people had an agricultural background or at least an understanding. It is harder to find a group of friends when you feel there is no one there at all. I struggled to make a connection with anyone initially. I was really thankful when Mia said hi to me one day in photography class. She started chatting away and it was like a breath of fresh air. She was interesting and funny, and we have been great friends ever since. I have met other friends through Mia and we have a great friendship group.

Apart from schooling being quite different, the other thing that I was really taken aback by was the community feel in Cummins.

Even if you don’t realise it, people strive off of it. The whole atmosphere of Cummins is that, ‘we are in one little tight knit community’. Everyone knows everyone’s issues, but not really, at the same time. It’s a very small town and people talk, but that is a good and a bad thing.

When I started working at the Cummins Hotel in October 2019, I was young and fresh to the work force. It was really great having people mentor me in this space. I had my work ethic but I was inexperienced in hospitality, and I was thankful locals in the community mentored me in this space.

My mum moved to Port Lincoln in January 2020 before the COVID lockdowns started, and I moved in with my brother. So many people in town gave me the option to board or live with them as I was only 16. I was overwhelmed with the offers as you would never have this support in the city and you would never move in with someone you didn’t fully know or trust. All four of us brothers were living together.

After mum had moved to Lincoln it felt both good and bad, in the sense that I could be independentfor the first time. I appreciate all that that has done for me in retrospect being able to navigate my own way through life. However, not having my mum there for help when I needed it, or a nice home cooked meal was pretty difficult after countless late nights where we just ate takeout.

When the lockdowns happened at school, I found the online learning really hard, face to face learning was essentially needed for me to stay on task and motivated to complete tasks. It was nice to be back at school but the masks were so annoying. The lockdowns in 2020 forced me to think about my future. I did work experience with Ray White in Lincoln for a week that year and I got to have a go at everything. It was amazing and I really loved it.

I ended up getting a 76 ATAR even though I missed a fair bit of year 12. At the start of year, I had everything planned out and I was going to be so organised. Then I dropped the ball and missed nearly a term of Year 12. I was really annoyed at myself for dropping the ball. The work itself wasn’t difficult but the workload of it all was. The subjects piled on me and I found that stressful. The missed time really impeded on the quality of my work but in saying this, I was well prepared for my exams. Miss Patterson and Mrs Holley were very helpful and supportive. Mrs Holley gave me lots of ‘mum’ talks and I really did appreciate that. And looking backnow, if I didn’t go to school here in Cummins, I would probably wouldn’t have finished school at all, and be working at Subway.

This year has been a gap year working at the pub, but it has been bumpy. Carol Letton passed away at the beginning of the year and even though she was only step family, she meant a great deal to me. I was really sad when she passed as she had been so good to me since meeting her. She threw the best Christmas’ in Coffin Bay.

I have been putting in extra effort at the pub, I want to extend my skills in general and learn everything there is to know. I love bartending here in this community. I have started doing duty management and designing shots and cocktail menus. I love that I can do this because I enjoy designing and creating.

I got my first proper car this year and I am paying for it myself. Long term I definitely still want to go into real estate or even go from management to owning a hotel one day. I definitely want to travel as well, so whether owning a hotel happens in Australia or abroad, who knows. But one of my goals is to travel and see the world. I think I have been in inspired by all the stories from all the different workers from around the world at the pub.

The fact that Cummins doesn’t have too much going on is the best part. It gives you the space to work on yourself and talk to other people. Without the constant activities, bustling and noise; time slows down and it’s quite safe. I have grown, been mentored and learnt a lot here, and even though it is a really great place to live; Cummins isn’t the be all and end all for me while I am young. But I can definitely imagine moving back here one day.