Our Stories
Meet HSP Mentor Bodhi Matthews
Bodhi Matthews is a Kalkadoon and Ngagi man who is passionate about creating a better future for Indigenous young people. He joined Aurora in 2021 as a Mentor to support First Nations students in our High School Program (HSP) as they navigate the education system and determine their goals for the future.
“As a mentor, I just want to be a positive role model. There’s that famous expression, ‘If you can see it, you can be it’. Some of these kids, maybe no one in their family’s ever been to uni or gone for further education so having some young Indigenous people come and hang out and support them and lift them up is very positive for them.”
Bodhi started his journey at Aurora as a fulltime staff member, working as a Program Support Officer for the HSP:
“When I decided to move on from a fulltime position at Aurora, I was asked to stay on as a mentor, and I said yes straight away because working directly with students was my favourite part. And now I’ve been here for three years, almost four, and the main motive for me is just trying to provide a better future for Indigenous kids.”
Bodhi has now seen a cohort of Indigenous students grow through and graduate from the HSP, which he says has been the best part of his mentor experience so far:
“Seeing that growth over time for me is probably the best. Now that I’ve been here for three years, I actually get to see the kids develop. You never know how much impact you’re having, but it feels pretty good to me that we had every kid graduate with a HSC from the first Year 12 cohort [in 2023]. These are kids from incredibly disadvantaged areas, so it’s not just any kids, and they all got an HSC and half of them are off to uni. The amount of focus and attention and how driven a lot of these kids in Year 11 and 12 are compared to when they come in Year 8, I feel like shows that [the HSP] works. They really get something out of it and feel driven to be the best version of themselves.”
Speaking to the importance of having Indigenous role models and the impact of programs like the HSP, Bodhi said:
“Role models are always important, especially in our culture. We always have Elders to look up to. You have a chain of people that are above you that are guiding you. I’ve got role models and mentors that I look up to and these kids have the mentors, the Elders, other people in the program to look up to.”
I think we’re trying to break some cycles of disadvantage. I was lucky enough to have parents that value education and forced me to finish Year 12 and go to uni. I just want to provide that for other people and see they can do it as well if they want to and succeed in whatever way they want to.
