There was a time, as a teenager, when long-serving UNE professional Trish Wright considered nursing as a vocation. A troubled childhood and formative years living at Armidale's Coventry (children's) Home had inspired a desire to help others.
"But my guardian at Coventry didn't think I would make a very good nurse and gave me two options: I could either finish school or go to TAFE, so I opted to do the day secretarial course at TAFE in 1977," Trish says.
The typing skills Trish developed soon attracted the attention of UNE recruiters. And by the age of 17, Trish was launching what would become a 46-year university career - one now being recognised with a prestigious UNE Distinguished Service Medal.
The highest award for professional staff, equivalent to an Honorary Doctorate, the medal acknowledges not only Trish's remarkable long service, management and attention to detail in various senior roles, but perhaps most tellingly, her care and compassion.
The Degree Whisperer
Known variously to students as "the degree guru", "degree whisperer" or "oracle", Trish has been the course manager for the School of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences (HASS) since 2007 but previously held the position of Executive Assistant to the Head of the former Department of History and its more recent iterations, most latterly the School of Classics, History and Religion.
Last year, graduand Molly Northcott described Trish as the "all-seeing, all-knowing foundation of UNE", who works "exceptionally hard to help students navigate their degree in a way that [meets] their needs and dreams".
By opening her home each year during history intensives, Trish contributed substantially to Sarah Maycock's sense of belonging at UNE, she said in her 2018 graduation address. Apart from her legendary potato bake, Trish gave weary students the opportunity to "connect with each other in a relaxed environment and experience some home comforts whilst away from their own family and friends".
For Trish, such support and guidance is "just me".
"I have always wanted to help people, whether that be students or staff," she says. "Students are not a number to me; they are a person. When you get to know the person and their ambitions, you can help them achieve those ambitions.
I have been privileged ... just to know I was part of their [students'] journey.
"I have been privileged to see students start on their first day, then been as proud as punch to watch them go up on the dais and collect their testamur, just to know I was part of their journey. I have never thought of it as a job, but as a career."
One in a million
From the UNE typing pool in 1978, Trish's career has spanned administrative roles within physics, biochemistry and geography, not to mention Dixson Library, but it is in the history department she joined in 1996 that Trish found her true home.
"I never studied history at school, which is ironic, but I have developed a passion for history and I really enjoy it," Trish says. "I have learnt quite a bit from life's experiences and being involved in history units, looking at assessments and listening to staff talk about history."
When she arrived at UNE in 2015, Associate Professor Melanie Fillios, Director of Place-Based Education and Research, said Trish was her "go-to person". "Seven years later, she still is," Melanie says.
"Always humble, Trish has a deep knowledge and understanding of UNE that is unrivalled, coupled with a genuine desire to help.
"Trish makes UNE a better place - setting a high standard to which we should all strive. She has made a real impact on the lives of staff and students, truly changing lives. I know of no one who has shown more sustained dedication to the university, its staff and students. She is one in a million."
I know of no one who has shown more sustained dedication to the university, its staff and students. She is one in a million.
Former Head of the School of Classics, History and Religion and now Emeritus Professor Howard Brasted, with whom Trish worked closely from 2003-2006, "can't think of a more worthy recipient" of the Distinguished Service Medal.
"The two qualities that stand out with Trish are her professionalism and her incredible dedication to the university, our school and its students," he says. "Trish was a delight to work with. She was the oil that made the school machine run.
"Trish is very understanding and compassionate. She was the first contact that external students would have, and was always welcoming and friendly and reassuring - but that was only one part of it. Trish also ran the administration of the school."
With the passage of time, of course, comes an accumulation of corporate knowledge. "In terms of how things run and degree programs, policies and procedures, and courses and so on, I know that back to front," Trish says.
But applying that knowledge to help others has been her raison d'etre.
"I've had students and academics in tears in my room," she says. "They can talk to me in confidence and often I understand, because I have been through it myself. I try to be a good listener and many students have my private phone number.
"I am not even sure that I have drawn a line between the personal and the professional. I just can't help it. A few minutes out of your day can make all the difference to another person."
More fuel in the tank
As for the student visits to her home and "legendary" potato bake? "The students hype the potato bake up; it's nothing special," Trish says with a laugh. "I enjoy hosting them. The drinks and nibbles on the first day are a nice welcome for everybody and the final-day barbecue is a great way to end an exhausting week. Over the years I have made some very good friends."
I continue to have a passion for seeing others, especially students, enjoy a wonderful university experience.
And it's not over yet. "I may be nearing the end of my career but I have a little more fuel still left in the tank," Trish says. "I continue to have a passion for seeing others, especially students, enjoy a wonderful university experience. If I can help to achieve that, then I'm a success.
"I share this medal with all the wonderful supervisors I have had and the many people I have worked with at UNE over the years. All those people have helped me along the way."
For your outstanding contribution to the life of UNE, we thank and commend you, Trish.
