Right where she ’ s meant to be
It ’ s been an interesting journey , but Tracy Hardy finally feels like she ’ s where she ’ s meant to be . The dietitian and proud Gamilaroi woman ( Aboriginal ) recently joined Maree Ferguson as a guest on the Dietitian Connection podcast .
Maree : Tracy , thanks so much for joining us . You ’ re relatively new to the profession , what made you choose dietetics ?
Tracy : There is a bit of a story there . Where to start ? I ’ ve had lots of different jobs – I worked in marketing , I was a travel consultant , in insurance sales and I was a beauty therapist ! I grew up on a farm , very much a paddock-to-plate experience , so I understood a lot about food and where it came from , but my relationship with food wasn ’ t always good . I developed an eating disorder when I was 19 after my father was killed in a car accident , later my grandfather died from preventable diabetes-related complications . Then when I was in my midthirties , I had renal cancer . I had an Auntie tell me at some point after all of this that my ancestors were trying to lead me down this path of studying food and nutrition and health and our culture , and I had been too stubborn to listen !
One day , following a rigorous discussion with one of my good friends about health and welfare equality , she asked " well what are you doing about it ?!" Next thing , I ’ m enrolled in a Nutrition and Dietetics degree at the Uni of Sunshine Coast !
How did you find that experience ?
It was a bit of a learning curve , I was obviously a mature-aged student , hadn ’ t done chemistry since Grade 10 , and I ’ m sitting there going ‘ when do we learn about the green smoothies ?’ I really enjoyed it ; I loved learning about what was happening in our bodies .
© Dietitian Connection 34 Infuse | November 2020