UniSA Mount Gambier Campus student Ebony Prelc has been awarded the Teacher’s Registration Board Ministers Graduate Achievement Prize 2023 (Education).

Miss Prelc recently completed a Bachelor of Education at the local campus, and said receiving the award was very unexpected.

“I was so surprised and very honoured to receive it,” she said.

“One of the board members came up to me and said there were many eligible applicants, however they were really impressed with my character, just to keep going, and my bravery and my journey that I have been through as well.”

Completing a university degree is never an easy feat, but for Miss Prelc, it came with challenges on another level.

Her journey began at just six and a half years old, when she was diagnosed with a brain tumour the size of an adult’s fist.

This caused Miss Prelc to develop information processing challenges, a vision impairment, and faint Cerebral Palsy.

“I had to learn to walk and talk again. I’d just learned, and had to relearn at age seven,” she said.

The first tumour was promptly removed, however at age 14, another smaller tumour grew, which was also removed.

Fast forward to this year, Miss Prelc was informed mid-way through her placement that another tumour had grown, and she requires another operation.

“That was big news to digest and swallow and put to the side white I finished uni,” she said.

Miss Prelc encountered many hurdles throughout university especially with the LANTITE testing, an initial test for pre-service teachers, due to her vision impairment and focus point.

“They pulled me up a few times, and it was actually the final time they pulled me up, luckily I’d finished my test, and they said if it happened again they were going to have to disqualify me from the test,” she said.

“I nearly had the whole test taken off me, so luckily I passed this round.”

The brain tumours also caused Miss Prelc to develop neurofatigue, which causes headaches, exhaustion, and feelings of being teary and overwhelmed.

Miss Prelc has always wanted to be a teacher, and her mother, father and sister also work in schools.

She said she developed a real passion and interest for the industry during her previous work as an SSO.

“I decided from there I was going to go to uni and do my studies.

I thought it was a long shot, to be honest I was calling my bluff a little bit when I applied, but I gave it a go and thought you never know until you try,” she said.

“After working years in childcare and kindies, it really consolidated that I love children.

“I thought, I really want to help early years; I am really passionate about younger kids and giving them the best start in school they can get.

“One of the things I learnt was to keep going.

You cannot think about ‘whether you can do it,’ but more so flipping that mindset to ‘how I’m going to do it,’ because I am here right here, right now.

“It’s taken me seven years from the start of my uni journey to the finish, but I have made it and I’m really happy.

“It was challenging, but I feel I still had good supports in place for a rural area as well, and it is only getting better.

Learning challenges support is only expanding.”

Miss Prelc is currently a relief teacher and has secured a position at Mil Lel Primary School next year.

Throughout her journey, Miss Prelc was grateful for the support from her university tutors, family, friends, and partner.

“I honestly do not think I could have done it without that support,” she said.

“The amount of tears and tiredness and times I said I wanted to quit, my family and friends really helped turn that around.”