It all starts with you
By giving back, I have grown as a doctor. It has made me more empathetic and, I believe, a better person. This is now our opportunity to make the world a better place than before when we entered it.
Dr John van Bockxmeer - UWA graduate, UWA scholarship recipient
and Western Australia's Young Australian of the Year 2014
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A Graduate's Story - John van Bockxmeer
As a teenager, I dreamt of becoming a doctor. A scholarship from UWA helped me achieve that dream and instilled in me a passion to help others.
Now I work in the remote north-west as an emergency and primary care doctor. I have so many opportunities to become involved in my community and I am fulfilling my vision of making a difference in people's lives.
From my own experience, I know sport is a great way for people to come together, and is beneficial to both physical and mental health.
When I arrived, I saw how much the local kids also loved their sport. But, instead of a football they were kicking a tin can around the oval. I thought of all the sports gear abandoned in people's cupboards and wondered how it could be accessed by the kids in my community.
Outside of my work as an intern, I started a program to provide sports equipment and shoes for young people, and to use community sports as a starting point for discussing preventable health issues, like type two diabetes and poor nutrition.
Now, with the help of an amazing team of volunteers, thousands of children across our state and even further afield are making the most of donated sports equipment and learning about the value of physical activity.
I look at how far I've come, and I thank UWA and donors like you for supporting the first steps of my journey.