Hi there, my name is Tenille Gilbert. I'm the Co-Founder and Managing Director of For Change Co. We're a non-profit social enterprise that works with young people at risk of, or experiencing, homelessness.  

So I studied International Studies at RMIT. During my studies, I volunteered with an organisation, which at the time was called Crepes For Change. And now today, it is called For Change Co because we've grown a little bit since then.

I started volunteering because I saw other young people in my networks, starting up this social enterprise. And I was pretty inspired by that, I thought it was really cool to see other people just, you know, going out there and having a go, taking an idea and wanting to give it their best shot and kind of seeing that there was a social issue of youth homelessness that they weren't happy to just let be, and that they wanted to take action against. I jumped on board.

And actually, the founder there was really excited that I was studying International Studies at RMIT because he knew that was a really great course, and he met some great people from that course, s he brought me on as a volunteer very quickly. And I got to use a lot of my skills, really some jack-of-all-trades skills, but really around, you know, communication and organising projects, getting people involved and rallying people, I would say, into our organisation. So I volunteered for about four years until we finally were able to get someone to back us and to start paying us to do what we do. So today, it is my full-time job.

During my time studying International Studies, I joined the International Studies Association, which is kind of, you know, this really great welcoming community of students who are studying that course. And it seems to be the association that everyone in the course joins, which is really cool. Because it is a small group of people, but it's a group of people with really similar values and ideas and interests. And for me, that was a time when I actually found my people, so to speak, I really felt like we did that course and meeting those people and being able to be a part of it. Because of this particular community, I could connect with a lot of other people my age who also wanted to make a difference in the world, and were keen to kind of put themselves out there and do that. So that was a really great experience for me. And that was something I continued with for the three-four years that I was doing my undergraduate degree attending the events and being a part of the community as well. And that's kind of continued to be a link for me to a lot of my other international studies, post studying.

During my studies, I also got to do an exchange in Mexico, which was a six-month, one semester exchange, something that's really highly encouraged in the International Studies degree, because obviously it's a chance to get overseas to get into a different culture to meet new people to experience new things. So I really found that I was able to find this new and more confident version of myself and I was able to improve my Spanish skills. And to look at things in a different context as well.  

That was a great opportunity, which I don't think I would have taken on so freely if it wasn't for the fact that, you know, RMIT really encouraged that, International Studies made that a really easy pathway for you to get involved in.

So one of the really kind of practical elements of the course was one of the subjects where we're able to come up with our own social enterprise and go through the whole process of actually understanding, okay, how do we market this? How do we find our customer base? How do we ensure there's revenue generation there, but how do we also make sure there's really good impact and sustainability. There are so many elements, and I think that, you know, at the time, I was already volunteering for a social enterprise. And I understood there was a lot to it. But this allowed me to kind of actually take, you know, some academic learning and apply that both to a project that I was doing, but also the work that I was doing externally.

I have begun my MBA at RMIT, I began that last year because I realised that in my role as a managing director of For Change Co and other social enterprise, there's a lot of work that I currently do day-to-day in the business side of things, which I've often had to learn on the job and I really wanted to build my confidence and my decision making up in that realm.

So I decided to go back to uni and being able to kind of thoroughly go through some of those business areas would be something really important, both to my role now and potentially in the future.

The advice that I would give to anyone who's thinking about studying International Studies at RMIT, is to get in there and do it, to join ISA (International Studies Association) to connect with the community there. I think that was really a huge benefit for me in coming out of my shell, connecting with people, seeing how my interest and my passions could translate into actual action.

And I think that you'll find people, both in our students, but also tutors and lecturers who are really going to help you to work out what you want to do, what your goals and your dreams might be, but also just to get them started and to do things whilst you're at uni, maybe volunteering or joining clubs which will help to connect with your passions and interests straightaway.

International studies gives you a global career | RMIT University

(Transcript with notations)

 VISUAL: Get global. Take on the world with an international studies degree. RMIT University logo.

 VISUAL: A computer generated image of a globe on a stand. The countries of Australia and Asia are facing the camera. To the right of the globe appears the words: For a global career (global is written in red and the other words are in black) and then the words move off to the right of the screen.

VISUAL: The image of the globe moves to the right of the screen. To the left of the screen appears the words: Study an international program. (International is written in red, the rest of the words are in black). These words vanish as the image of the globe increases in size to fill the screen.

VISUAL: On the globe the map of Australia is in the centre of the screen. A white dot is placed signifying Melbourne but as the map is not to scale it is a little off-the-mark. The words: In a multicultural city appear on the left of screen, partially across where the state of Western Australia would be on the map of Australia.

VISUAL: Photographs in successive sequence of close?ups of 17 males and females, all different ages. Some are students at RMIT, others not. They are all from many different cultures. Parts of RMIT’s campus can be seen in the background in most of the photographs. Other photographs appear to be taken of people whilst on an RMIT overseas trip ie the Mexican singer in his sombrero.

VISUAL: Words appear in sequence across the bottom of the screen: This global age. Global is written in red.

VISUAL: The o in global changes into the earth with Australia coloured in red, the rest of the land in Asia is white and the oceans are black. The circle of earth doubles in size. The following words with a line connecting them to the earth appear in order around the earth: demands, new, ways, of, thinking, about.

VISUAL: All the words vanish from the page and the earth is turned upside down with the word, Social, is curved over the top of the circle (upside down earth).

VISUAL: The earth turns 180 degrees again to be right way up. The word, Cultural, is curved over the top of the circle (upright earth).

 VISUAL: The earth turns 180 degrees again to be upside down. The word, Political, is curved over the top of the circle (upside down earth).

VISUAL: The earth turns 180 degrees again to be right way up. The words, Economic issues, are curved over the top of the circle (upright earth). A large white ampersand is drawn over most of the earth. This image comes into focus and then reduces in size until it disappears off centre of screen.

VISUAL: The earth with the white ring around it appears to the left of screen. The white ring increases in size a little and the following words appear in sequential order in what appears to look like red search lights: RMIT, was, the first, Australian, university, with teaching, and research, specialisations, in, globalisation, studies. Three more red search lights continue to flash out of the earth after the sentence is complete. The globe moves to the left and then off the screen.

 VISUAL: A grey image of the map of the world with the continent of Africa at the centre fills the screen. A sentence written in black is gradually built over the top of the world map: The world is our classroom. The graphics of two concentric circles is overlaid on this image. The inside ring is black with six arrows evenly spaced on it and the outside ring is red but with six arcs evenly spaced around it. The words (The world is our classroom) vanish from the screen.

VISUAL: The same grey image of the map of the world with the continent of Africa at the centre fills the screen. The graphics of the two concentric circles (the inside black ring with six arrows evenly spaced on it and the outside ring with red arcs evenly spaced around it) get larger and another smaller circle appears inside the other two with words written at even intervals around it: We don’t just read about the world (We don’t is written in red, the rest are in black). The two circles in the middle ie black arrows and the sentence starts to move in an anticlockwise direction.

VISUAL: As per the previous image with the two inner circles and the sentence turning in an anticlockwise direction. A red circle with words written in white appears in the centre of the moving circles: we change it! The circle images increase in size and then disappear off the centre of the page.

VISUAL: Video of light pole on corner of Swanston Street and Bourke Street. Bourke Street is in the background.

VISUAL: Students sitting in a lecture theatre listening to a panel of four people (three males and one female) who are sitting at the front of the class.

VISUAL: Close up of female student typing on laptop during the abovementioned lecture

VISUAL: Close up of a male lecturer wearing a blue shirt speaking at front of a classroom. There is an overhead screen in the background, excerpt taken from The Mexico City Study Tour.

VISUAL: Students standing in a small group on a street footpath and under trees, writing down notes on pads and listening to a male study tour lecturer, location of study tour unknown.

VISUAL: Another group of students standing on a street corner listening to a different male lecturer on a study tour, place unknown but possibly Mexico Study Tour as one of the audience is the male lecturer wearing the blue shirt who was in the Mexico City Study Tour video.

VISUAL: Video of a busy street in Vietnam – motorbike and cars are everywhere; excerpt from The Vietnam Environment Project video. Shops, lit signs, billboards and buildings are in the background.

VISUAL: Male lecturer speaking at front of a classroom. A female student has her back to the camera; excerpt from The Vietnam Environment Project video.

VISUAL: Close up of two female students listening in a classroom; excerpt taken from The Vietnam Environment Project video.

 VISUAL: Male student operating fishing net in Vietnam; excerpt taken from The Vietnam Environment Project video.

VISUAL: Video of two female students in the street in Mexico City; excerpt taken from Mexico City Study Tour video.

VISUAL: Video of two male students and two female students sitting around a table working on their urbane development plan; excerpt taken from the Mexico City Study Tour video.

VISUAL: Video close up of notes written in green on A4 sheets spread across a table. The A4 paper at the front has Australia written across the top.

VISUAL: Female student writing her Vision Plan 2014 for Calle Corregdora on a window; excerpt taken from Mexico City Study Tour video.

VISUAL: Male student speaking at his presentation; excerpt taken from Mexico City Study Tour video.

VISUAL: Students clapping in a lecture theatre; excerpt taken from Mexico City Study Tour video.

VISUAL: Two concentric rings inside a circle that increases in size until it fills the screen. Outside ring is of six black arrows and is turning clockwise. The inside ring is six red arcs and this is turning anticlockwise. The following words written in black gradually appear over the top of the rings one letter at a time: Our graduates span the globe. Then the letters vanish one letter at a time.

VISUAL: Collage of thousands of tiny photographs of people’s faces moves around on the screen and then form to make up a map of the world. This image grows smaller as it forms into the shape of a globe until it disappears.

VISUAL: Want a GLOBAL career? The word global is written in upper case and is in red, as well as the question mark. An image of a see-through earth is on the left of the screen and passes through the heading, staying in the centre of the screen but getting smaller then it moves to the right of the screen as it gradually increases in size until it disappears off the screen. Whilst the image of the earth is decreasing and increasing in size and moving around the screen, the word global is changed to be written in a different language ie French, Chinese, Czech, Japanese, Greek and Italian.

VISUAL: RMIT can get you there.

VISUAL: RMIT University’s logo and website www.rmit.edu.au. This video features the music track Teamwork by Akashic Records. Licensed through www.jamendo.com.

End of video