Growing up in the Upper Hunter town of Dungog, NSW, Jessica Watson harboured a quiet certainty that her future belonged somewhere in regional Australia. She wasn’t sure where, but she knew city life was not for her. It took an unexpected, last minute shift in her university placement schedule during COVID to discover that her future was in Broken Hill in Far West, NSW. It would not only become where she would live but where she would find her purpose and start her leadership journey.
“I was in my third year of uni studying occupational therapy and I had a placement that fell through. They offered me a place in Broken Hill last minute and I said yes. I just wanted to finish and get through the course because COVID had caused so much disruption.”
Four years after that unexpected turn, Jessica has firmly rooted herself in the Far West community.
“I came out here and absolutely loved it. I told the university how much I enjoyed the placement and the community, and they offered me two more stints in Broken Hill for my final year. It was during one of those placements that I met my partner, a sixth-generation local.”
Having completed her studies Jessica moved straight to Broken Hill and started her health career and is currently a paediatric occupational therapist in a private practice, working predominantly in NDIS paediatrics.
Delivering essential services to a region where specialist care is scarce, Jessica quickly found herself carrying significant responsibility early on. This led her to consider her role as a possible leader and what that might look like, when she became aware of the Matilda Ferguson Scholarship for the Australian Rural Leadership Foundation’s TRAIL Emerging Leaders Program. The Matilda Ferguson Scholarship not only honours the legacy of Matilda but aims to provide young women of Far West NSW the opportunity to become one of the region’s future leaders.
“I was just scrolling on Facebook one day and the words that caught my attention were young women, leadership and Far West,” recalls Jessica. “I had talked to my manager and supervisor about wanting to build my leadership skills not too long before this. I liked the general description, the connection to Matilda and it seemed like something that I could do.”
But stepping into leadership was for Jessica, as it is for many emerging leaders, mixed with some level of self-doubt.
“I’m a naturally very quiet, timid person and I wouldn’t have described myself as a natural leader or anything. ” Jessica reflects. “I’m very much more an observer and take time to process things. But I wanted to build the confidence to lead people and not second-guess myself so much.”
Starting the program
Entering the TRAIL Emerging Leaders Program Jessica initially noted the diversity of the participants in terms of location and industry but mixed with a shared purpose, “It didn’t matter what industry you were from, it was more about what we want to do for our communities. We all had that aligned goal of wanting to have a positive impact in our communities.”
For Jessica TRAIL also revealed something about building relationships with others, “I did not expect to build such deep connections with everyone so quickly. I’ve always struggled to do that in real life and for that to happen so naturally, so quickly, was like “wow”. I can make these friends and build these relationships and maybe there is more to life than just work.”
That discovery and understanding of self also informed Jessica’s development and appreciation of what her style of leadership could look like, “I’m a very quiet person, a bit awkward at times, but TRAIL helped me realise that doesn’t mean I can’t be a leader as well,” she recalls. “You don’t have to be the loudest, most extroverted person to be a leader. You can lead quietly.”
Reflections
Asked what her key leadership lesson she takes from the program is, Jessica reflects, “The main takeaways for me that I still come back to, are that my voice does matter and is important, and that I don’t have to have all the answers there in the moment. It’s okay, I’m not supposed to know everything.”
Now months since she completed TRAIL, Jessica has had time to reflect on what is next for her as a leader and someone wanting to have an impact in her community, “At the moment, recruitment and retention for pretty much all health staff and clinicians is the biggest issue. So that’s why I think it is working more closely with students to show them that there are rewarding, multi-faceted careers in rural Australia. That you don’t have to go to the city to be able to live full professional lives. That you can do so much out here.” Although she does note with a smile, “My story of coming out as a student and then staying because you met someone is very much a cautionary tale.”
As one of the inaugural recipients of the Matilda Ferguson Scholarship, Jessica is already fulfilling the ambition of the Scholarship to develop young leaders that want to build thriving industries and communities in Far West NSW. The scholarship has not only provided an opportunity for personal development but, if judged on the leader it is already creating in Jessica Watson, its impact will be significant and likely be felt for decades to come. For Jessica the scholarship has allowed her to better focus her work and impact for the community that has become the exact place she belongs.
If you would like to support the Matilda Ferguson Scholarship or simply learn more about Matilda’s story click the link.
