Bailey (taken by Amber Smith)

The first in his immediate family to go to university, ex-student and current Teacher Assistant/ Relief Teacher, Bailey Gillam, found his feet at Don College discovering areas of passion he could carry into his working life.

Prior to attending Don College as a student, Bailey achieved mainly B and C grades throughout his schooling. He said he had never really been motivated to apply himself in high school.

“When I came to Don, I think the big difference was you had expert people in their fields teaching so the quality of education was a lot better and it was a supportive environment. Teachers would go above and beyond what they had to do. Extra support was always available,” Bailey said.

Over his two years studying for his TCE, Bailey developed a passion for maths and science and realised those were the subjects he wanted to teach; he had found his niche, with more advanced levels of learning. This inspired him to seek a career with senior secondary students.

“When I came to Don as student, I realised I wanted to teach those older ages. The students are a little bit more mature and there is more teaching over behaviour management. You become more of a supporting figure to help achieve their goals. You are able to give those who want to learn the best opportunity. In the higher level [of learning] students are there for a reason; they have a natural drive to do it, and it’s good as a teacher. You don’t have to convince people to do the work.”

With this goal cemented, Bailey applied himself in his final two years at Don seeking assistance to improve his grades.

“I was certainly not a straight A student throughout high school. I had improved a little in grade 10, achieving mostly B grades.”

Though humble in his achievements, Bailey’s work ethic and changed attitude proved that with determination, motivation and by seeking extra help, the extraordinary can be achieved. He finished grade 12 with an ATAR of 99.1, allowing him to access a specialised Bachelor of Teaching in Mathematics and Science with a Chemistry major.

Now working as a Teacher Assistant and having secured a Limited Authority to Teach (LAT) from the Teacher’s Registration Board, Bailey has been working at Don teaching maths to the Work Preparation class while finishing his degree.

“Teaching can be challenging but last year I had a student who was struggling in Work Prep and by the end of the year, he was coming to almost every class, and asking for extension work. That was really rewarding.”

While Bailey has been focusing on developing his teaching skills and studying, he said balance was key to success in his achievements.

“I’m not someone who will sit and study for hours. Instead, good time management, being prepared and not leaving things until the last minute helped me a lot.”

“When I am not studying, I like to spend my time outdoors hiking or playing golf even though I am not very good at it… just being active and getting away from books and computers helps.”

Bailey is due to complete his teaching degree in 2022.