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Carmel Debel . Photo : Supplied
From disaster to distinction
One Indigenous woman ’ s higher education journey .
By Conor Burke
Carmel Debel can remember the time her mother tried to enrol her and her brothers in the local primary school .
It was back in 1990 , when she was seven , and when the administration staff and principal saw her mum standing there , a First Nations woman , their faces suddenly changed . They said their school did not take their kind and perhaps the next school in the next town “ may be a better fit ”.
“ I was a seven-year-old and to stand there and see that happen , and see my brother ’ s faces , and my mum ’ s , and not understand it … but understand it ,” she says .
“ I can visualise it still really well , and those faces of uncertainty , like they don ’ t want me . What ’ s wrong with me ?”
That memory sits with Carmel and many , if not all , First Nations Australians will have stories similar to this .
I never thought that I belonged in a university . I felt like a bit of an imposter .
School didn ’ t get any better for her , and by her own admission she wasn ’ t engaged at all . School was a place for her to play sport and hang out with mates .
She describes her primary and secondary schooling as “ a disaster ”.
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