Jordan’s Story

Jordan was raised by his grandmother in public housing, an experience he says shaped the way he sees the world as an adult.

He describes his younger years as a "hectic time”. He and his friends often felt aimless and wandered around the housing complex, bumping into other young people but not having much focus or any guidance.

Our day-to-day lives were so different to other kids.

 According to Jordan, this lifestyle left him feeling alienated from what he describes as “normal things” and without a lot of life skills he would come to need later.

I had to learn literally every single thing through pain and suffering, trial and error. I used to feel anger about that - at people that were better off than me or had more ‘normal lives’.

The furthest thing from Jordan’s mind at the time was pursuing higher education. Reflecting on it, he felt he just didn’t have the right mindset or support. He finished VCAL but only felt he could give “the bare minimum”.

No one told me to go to uni, no one pushed.  I had a few random mentors along the way who became like parental figures for a period of time, but ultimately I had to change my mindset. I started to realise that my way wasn’t working.

With a love of gaming, Jordan started his education journey at TAFE where he did a multimedia and then a games course. After some years working in the gaming industry and with his TAFE experience under his belt, Jordan has decided to give uni a go. This year he started studying a Bachelor of Computer Science at Swinburne University of Technology.

Taking on something as challenging as a bachelor’s degree is a little daunting but also exciting at the same time. It puts to the test my growth over the years as a person. Luckily Swinburne has a great support system for students with my background and I’m very appreciative of the Swinburne Care Leaver Coordinator for supporting my learning and giving me opportunities I may have not been exposed to otherwise.