Internships, scholarships and even CEO responsibilities – Aaliyah Brim never lets an opportunity or challenge pass her by.
From an early age, Aaliyah Brim was inspired by her grandmother’s educational journey.
“My grandmother’s university stories and journey really inspired me,” Aaliyah said. “Her experiences showed me that higher education can open up so many possibilities.”
While completing high school at Cape York Girl Academy, Aaliyah took on the challenge of shadowing Cape York Partnership’s Fiona Jose as CEO for a day.
“My experience as a CEO for the day was amazing,” Aaliyah said. “It gave me a clear picture of what it’s like, especially about being very organised."
Eager to continue her education and follow in the footsteps of her grandmother, Aaliyah graduated in 2021 and was accepted into a Bachelor of Information Technology at Central Queensland University. Despite achieving her dream of getting into university, she felt oddly dissatisfied and decided to look for more challenges. More opportunities.
“I felt a degree wasn’t enough on its own,” Aaliyah said. “I needed work experience too.”
Aaliyah took proactive steps to explore placement opportunities and secured hands-on experience with the Pama Platform team at Cape York Partnership as part of an Aurora Education Foundation Internship.
With the internship and valuable work experience under her belt, Aalyiah did not stop there. She has now joined the Cape York Leaders Program on a tertiary scholarship supported by the Lee Ming Tee Foundation. The financial support of the scholarship will allow Aalyiah to focus on her studies, while the wrap-around support and guidance of the program will ensure she is ready to take on every challenge and opportunity that comes her way.
During her four-week internship, we captured a few moments of Aaliyah at work and asked her to reflect on her experience with Pama Platform. Read on to hear from Aaliyah.
What these pictures means to me
“The team"
I am interning with the Pama Platform and O–Hub team and I have enjoyed every minute with these wonderful women. I have seen them work very hard and I look up to them. They have great work ethic, everything about them is inspirational and I have learnt a lot from them. I really do look forward to working with them again, if they would have me back, and I want to come back with more to give.
"Enjoying the work"
I enjoyed working with Mel, Deb, Rosemary and Natalie. It’s fun working and laughing with them. Sometimes they laugh because of a work joke but I laugh cause I didn’t hear what they said. Nevertheless, I had an amazing time and will miss this incredible workplace.
"Keeping busy"
Melissa, in this photo, was really good at keeping me busy and making sure I got the best of everything. She helped me gain the experiences that I needed. She got me to spend some time with Chris in IT. I really enjoyed that. He gave great advice and insight into what IT does. I felt supported before even starting when I first met Melissa, I said to myself “Yep, she will give me the best support."
"Looking ahead"
Throughout the few weeks interning, I feel my confidence strengthening and I feel more comfortable doing new things and meeting new people. I have learnt a lot being here. I will utilise the knowledge I have gained while working with Pama.