My name is Tamara Bryan and I am a Teacher from the beauty therapy faculty at TAFE in Queensland, Brisbane. I have been teaching for nine rewarding years, including the last four years with TAFE. Like many of you, I have committed myself to my career of creating highly skilled graduates, in addition to fostering an innovative training environment that provides a range of interactive learning opportunities for our students.
For far too long and now more than ever, people have believed that beauty is only skin deep. I believe that beauty is from within and I strive to instil this into my students approach to their profession. I am honoured to share my bio with you all, of my journey from student to Teacher.
Let me take you back to 2006. It was the beginning of year eleven and I had elected to join the TAFE at Schools program. I enrolled into a certificate III in beauty services at the Alexandra Hills campus. As a restless teenager, my primary motivation was how to spend less time at school. I wasn’t enjoying school-life. So, the sooner I could acquire a qualification and a professional skill set, meant the sooner I could join the workforce.
I was, completing school Monday to Wednesday, studying at TAFE every Thursday and completing work experience, at a Day Spa every Friday and Saturday. This was a large workload for a teenager however, the array of commitments meant spending time in a more adult-minded environment thus allowing me to shift my focus and put life into greater perspective. Suddenly, the worries of school seemed a lot smaller.
After graduating Year 12 with a certificate III in beauty services and other additional certificates that would support my own business, I returned to TAFE the following year gaining automatic entrance into the diploma of beauty therapy. I had completed 15 units of competencies that counted as cross credits towards the 33 units of competencies in the diploma of beauty therapy. My Teacher, Margaret Holland, had offered me a written reference and a full-time beauty therapist position at a successful boutique salon in the bayside. This salon was owned and operated by one of her other previous TAFE beauty therapy graduates.
In 2009, a high light year, with a diploma under my belt and a few years of industry experience, I was a highly sought-after Beauty Therapist. I secured a live- in job position as a sole trader Beauty and Massage Therapist at Tangalooma Island Dolphin Resort on our breath-taking Moreton Island. Working at this International Holiday Destination showcases the ultimate opportunity of where a TAFE course can take our prospect students.
In 2011, I achieved my certificate IV in training and assessment with TAFE and began additional further higher education in the industry. I landed my first teaching position as a Lecturer at Torrens University. While working with Torrens University, I lectured in the subjects of; anatomy and physiology, skin biology, cosmetic chemistry, electricity and nutrition. Our program manager went on maternity leave and I fulfilled the position of program manager for the diploma of beauty therapy faculty. I moved into roles such as an Interstate lecturer flying around Australia to deliver this program and also released the first of its kind health courses in First Aid. Towards the end of my time spent at this University, I progressed into my last role as a content developer for the health science degree, Bachelor of Aesthetics mainly developing content for the business module in this degree.
Fast forward almost 10 years and I accepted my position as a Teacher at TAFE. On my first day, I met my manager out at the Alexandra Hills Campus where I was first assigned to teach. I stood there and had a moment to myself. There I was, in the exact same classroom where it all began. My life had done a full circle. I was back to where I had so many integral memories, experiences and lessons learnt. Finally realising the impact teachers and institutions have on students came over me in a significant way. A students experience will affect them for many years to follow or even for life. The feeling was surreal and very heart warming. Now I felt complete and knew I was in the right place.
TAFE has given me the opportunity of real-life experience, to get ahead and to be recognised as a young Teacher and most importantly, as a mentor. I now teach the TAFE at schools programs for year eleven and twelve students. I identify myself as an enabler to my students. There is no hierarchy in my classroom, just mutual respect. By being a TAFE at school student myself, this puts me into a position to resonate to the hearts our students and be considered as a role model figure to them, where beauty is not the only platform used to guide these kids through this critical stage of life.
I am reminded every day of the experience I had at TAFE and now I work to recreate it for my students. Students arrive with high expectation and little life experience. With their energy and the magic of working with our youth, the future of the industry is created. I learnt how to harness that energy and take a hands-on approach to learning to develop not only their technical competencies but a sense of community.
It is fulfilling for student to make positive contributions outside of school or work and partake in something that is a greater cause, then their own. Beauty therapy is a rewarding profession that allows one to nurture and care for clients through enhancing their image, emotional wellbeing and self-confidence. Compassion, diplomacy, professionalism, and above all, a positive attitude, are all attributes required of any successful therapist, working in the health and wellness sector. These traits are all encouraged throughout daily practice in the classroom and working with members of the public in our student training clinic. Taking students out of their comfort zone and throwing them in the deep end is an approach I firmly believe in. An example of engaging my students in real-life training practices to demonstrate their beauty and make up application skills was just recently at the Annual Staff Awards. My students were just three months into their course, when they successfully completed thirty-six make up clients over four hours. They executed the treatments with high levels of professionalism and care to all TAFE staff members attending the awards that evening.
The learning that transpires from these opportunities highlights the value for our students that can’t be taught in a classroom alone. Watching my students rise up to the challenge, seeing my students come alive with their warm friendly smiles and can-do attitude, makes me proud to be associated to be a Teacher. These opportunities showcase to you all what our students are all about. Seeing their willingness to get involved and to give up their time to work together towards something they view as being meaningful is an important message we must convey to our future generation graduates, far beyond the superficial and limiting stereotype of beauty therapists. Our graduates will continue to be major contributors to the community. This is something I celebrate everyday teaching at TAFE.