Ralph McIntosh Medal Winner: Nhol Kao
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I've worked at RMIT a long time but my first career was working as a medical scientist in laboratories, and I never had ambitions to work in education. But I realised after a while that I spent a lot of my day training new staff and teaching them how to work in a lab. And then an opportunity came up to come and do some teaching at RMIT and I discovered that I really loved it.
I love teaching. I love watching students develop and find themselves, particularly in the vocational education space. We have a lot of students who maybe haven't had all opportunities that some people do, and to see them realise that they have great ability and to watch them go a long way is really satisfying.
I've also been fortunate to have had two really fantastic role models who I reported to over the many years that I've been here, and I think if it hadn't been for them probably I wouldn't be doing what I'm doing now. I didn't realise until other people pointed out to me that I actually was capable of becoming a leader myself, and it's a role I really enjoy.
People may not know, but if you win this award you don't know anything about it until you get a phone call saying, "Guess what. You've one this award." It was just overwhelming. Once I was over the shock I was really excited and I was really, really pleased because I felt like I was being recognised for attributes that I have that I really, really value, and realising that other people really value them too. I thought I was just doing my job and doing the best that I could. It's great to be recognised by other people for what you've been doing.
I've been involved with nominating people in the past for this award and I've had quite a lot of my teaching staff win teaching awards over the years, in the last 10 years or so since I've been in a leadership role. I'm always so excited for them to be recognised for the fantastic job that they do. I think leadership's not something that comes easily, having great leadership skills. I've been lucky to have had opportunities to have lots of professional development.
One of the things that I think is very important is distinguishing someone who's a good leader and someone who's a manager, because I think to get the best out of your staff you have to be a really good leader and lead by example, and so I think if the University finds people that they believe are doing that well then they really should recognise that.
I think people are often reluctant to nominate other people for awards because it can sometimes be a lot of work, but when I've been asked to assist with nominations for other people I've been really happy to take part because I think people should be recognised for really good things that they do. So I'd encourage people to really think about it. I think sometimes we all think, "Oh, no, those awards are for other people, different sort of people or really special people," and I don't think I'm really special. I think I've been doing my job, but it's lovely to be recognised for it, so I'd encourage everybody to think about who you work with and put in a nomination for them.
I love teaching. I love watching students develop and find themselves, particularly in the vocational education space. We have a lot of students who maybe haven't had all opportunities that some people do, and to see them realise that they have great ability and to watch them go a long way is really satisfying.
I've also been fortunate to have had two really fantastic role models who I reported to over the many years that I've been here, and I think if it hadn't been for them probably I wouldn't be doing what I'm doing now. I didn't realise until other people pointed out to me that I actually was capable of becoming a leader myself, and it's a role I really enjoy.
People may not know, but if you win this award you don't know anything about it until you get a phone call saying, "Guess what. You've one this award." It was just overwhelming. Once I was over the shock I was really excited and I was really, really pleased because I felt like I was being recognised for attributes that I have that I really, really value, and realising that other people really value them too. I thought I was just doing my job and doing the best that I could. It's great to be recognised by other people for what you've been doing.
I've been involved with nominating people in the past for this award and I've had quite a lot of my teaching staff win teaching awards over the years, in the last 10 years or so since I've been in a leadership role. I'm always so excited for them to be recognised for the fantastic job that they do. I think leadership's not something that comes easily, having great leadership skills. I've been lucky to have had opportunities to have lots of professional development.
One of the things that I think is very important is distinguishing someone who's a good leader and someone who's a manager, because I think to get the best out of your staff you have to be a really good leader and lead by example, and so I think if the University finds people that they believe are doing that well then they really should recognise that.
I think people are often reluctant to nominate other people for awards because it can sometimes be a lot of work, but when I've been asked to assist with nominations for other people I've been really happy to take part because I think people should be recognised for really good things that they do. So I'd encourage people to really think about it. I think sometimes we all think, "Oh, no, those awards are for other people, different sort of people or really special people," and I don't think I'm really special. I think I've been doing my job, but it's lovely to be recognised for it, so I'd encourage everybody to think about who you work with and put in a nomination for them.