Brodie Pawson, 20 May, 2024
Brodie Pawson is an Elite Athlete Scholar studying to become a nurse.
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What did you decide to do after high school?
Straight out of high school I really didn't know what I wanted to do. I had a childhood dream of becoming a police officer, so I initially wanted to study criminology.
I started studying that to see how it would go. I'm glad that I had that experience, but it just wasn't for me. I stopped after a year and a half.
My background before studying at uni was that I’d been doing parkour. When I gave up criminology I decided I wanted to pursue a career doing parkour instead.
How do you pursue a career in parkour?
I went on a Europe trip for three months with a bunch of my friends and basically trained every single day. By the time I came back, the level that I had reached was quite high. I wanted to keep pushing. Parkour just turned into a career for me, so I kept doing that.
Brodie and his brother Dylan are known as the “Parkour Twins”. Brodie has competed internationally in parkour competitions. He and his brother have appeared on television shows including Ninja Warrior and as professional taggers in Ultimate Tag Australia.
What made you decide to study nursing?
I'm 29 now and I'm thinking more long term, I'm thinking more about the future. I wanted to try something new and I enjoy being out of my comfort zone. I wanted to see where nursing could take me, and so far I'm really enjoying it. It’s been a really good experience.
What has it been like returning to uni?
In my first semester I was a little intimidated to begin with. I am a mature student and I didn’t know what to expect. I slowly made friends, which at first I thought might be difficult. But there's just so many people here who are different ages, and from different walks of life, so it feels very comfortable.
Since going into my second semester, I’ve become part of study groups which has helped me quite a bit. Everyone in the group learns differently, which is awesome because I’ve been able to learn in new ways.
The teaching staff all have great knowledge and experience. I find in my classes that if I am feeling left behind, I can approach the teachers for help. I feel comfortable talking to them and they teach from their own real-world experience.
How do you balance your studies with professional sports?
One of the things that made me choose QUT was all the support that is offered. There's the Elite Athlete Program and I'm a part of that. That really helps me balance my studies.
When I finish a class, I can just go to the gym and I've met some great friends through the program. It’s really good in between classes. I enjoy that side of QUT, it's been very supportive for me and what I do.
Follow Brodie on TikTok and Instagram.
