Maigan Robertson: It has really changed my life as it let me stay home while studying, and I’m able to work fulltime. I was at boarding school and when I came home after finishing school I reconnected with friends and was not keen to go away again to university in Wollongong. Through the CUC I am able to do two subjects per semester in Agri business, and I’m here most nights till midnight. The fast wifi and all the support from Jacob and the librarians are just amazing.

 

Michael Anderson: It has made such a big difference. The CUC is very important in my life as I have four kids at home and I’m not able to study there. I am able to fit in my study around my schedules as the centre is always open. I am studying for a Bachelors of Arts majoring in Community Development.

Angus Johnston and Kaiden Budd
Angus: I felt very nervous and awkward as I do when meeting new people.
Kaiden: It felt like meeting anyone new. He took a lot of photos of me welding. I never expected to meet him.

Ruth Murray: It was a big surprise and over-whelming. I never thought I would meet him. He was really nice and showed interest in what we’re doing here.

Jazmen Teerrill and Iesa Smith
Iesa: It was exciting, although I did not know it was him at first.
Jazmen: It was overwhelming. He was very polite and nice and asked us questions.

John Sarkissian: The telescope has put Parkes on the map so to speak! The Dish is an iconic symbol of Australian technology, innovation and science and attracts people from all over to our town and helps local businesses. The CSIRO is always supportive of its local communities. We’ve had The Dish lit up in blue for autism, and orange in support of SES volunteers, while many different groups come out here for their events. Some towns have the big banana and big pineapple, we have the big dish!

 

Tricia Trim: The telescope attracts many people to the town of Parkes. It is a significant draw card indeed. The telescope has achieved many wonderful things in its 60 years and continues to still do great work. The telescope means a lot to me having worked here for 18 years. It holds so many great memories for me. It’s a wonderful place to work and every day I get to meet lots of visitors that come through our Visitors Centre to see our beautiful Dish and learn all about what we do. Happy 60th Birthday to our DISH!

 

Bill Jayet: For me it’s the huge boost of tourism to our towns and particularly the tourism dollars, especially after the movie The Dish came out when the visitor numbers tripled from around 40,000 per year up to nearly 140,000 at its peak.

Chloe Tanner: We wanted to get out with a group of friends after COVID and do something social. I would also never have done something like this by myself. It was great to share it with friends.

 

Claire and Katina Parker:
Claire: It was a great opportunity to learn a new skill with my mum. I just got a new place and it would be good to use these skills in my new garden too.
Katina: It is a nice mother-daughter thing to do. I just loved it, it’s been great, and it was my first day out since lockdown!

Glenn Sloane: I definitely enjoyed it. I am used to working by myself all the time. Today I was inspired to create stuff I don’t usually do, and work with mediums I’ve never used before. Today has inspired me to start creating again. There are just not enough hours in the day!

 

Irene Ridgeway: It was great, I thoroughly enjoyed myself. It was so good to be in contact with other artist full of knowledge and language.

 

Scott ‘Sauce’ Towney: It was awesome and very productive to get a bit of a message out there about Wiradjuri designs. It is good to get more people involved in the project. We are on Wiradjuri country and we need to look more at it.

Norma Garment: I’m torn between golf and crocheting as they both make me feel I’m achieving something, and I gain a lot from the social side of both being able to mix with people and having a good chat.

 

Frances Thornton: I enjoy scrapbooking and card making, crocheting and photography. It not only fills in time and keeps me awake, but I also enjoy making items for Ronald McDonald House.

 

Daphne Tindall: I like knitting and gardening. I enjoy being outside getting my hands in the dirt, and I knit every night. It helps a lot to relieve stress.

 

 

 

Bella Nelson: I immediately texted my friends to arrange to meet up with them – I missed that so much.

Chloe Gibson: Hanging out with my friends, having a sleepover and just being able to go everywhere like getting an ice cream, and watching movies with my friends.

 

Tori Gibson: It is so great to be able to do things like going shopping and getting ice cream with friends. I also like doing nails and I’m able to do my friends’ nails again and drive around town with my sister and friends listening to music in the car.

Alex Warren: For my family and community. I’m sick of this lockdown and everyone needs to do their part.

 

Gemma Bradbury: To protect my family and community. I thought it was the right thing to do. Getting vaccinated was a very smooth, easy and efficient process.

 

Patrick Jones and Jason Lowe:
Patrick: To get the state back up and be able to go on holidays and travel.
Jason: I just want to go back to the pub and see friends again.

 

Erin Freeman: Mainly to protect myself, my family and the people I love. It was an easy decision for me, and the process what pretty good, quick and easy for the second jab.

 

Zayne Ehsman: My parents made me do it, and I want to go out again and play footy – what I miss the most during lockdown.

 

Rhiannon White: To help protect vulnerable people, especially my in-laws, and to hopefully come out of lockdown. I really miss seeing my family and friends.

 

Emma Gardener: To not only protect myself, but also my family and the Parkes community. Lock-down is having a large effect on our community and the way back to normality is to get vaccinated.

Josh Winter: The biggest challenge for me is not having verbal interaction with my teachers, although Zoom calls do help a lot as you can talk to them online. I found that by keeping up with all my schoolwork it helps me under lockdown because it reduces all the stress that I am under. I hope things get under control with COVID for next year for the Year 11s when they prepare for their HSC in a better way than what we had to go through this year.

 

Anouk Labuschagne: Unfortunately, COVID brought on so many challenges to overcome. For example, online trial exams, Zoom meetings and the constantly changing HSC date, but the biggest one was and still remains to be, procrastination. It took a state-wide lockdown for me to realise that my school’s strict phone policy existed for a reason. Technology is the greatest cultivator of procrastination – why should I study for the HSC when I can just surf the web? But a mindset like that doesn’t produce good results and I knew I had to make a change. Just because I am at home doesn’t mean that school simply disappears. I decided to recreate a school structure, no phones from 9am to 3pm, stick to my timetable and only take breaks that I would’ve had if I was at school. I feel my preparation for the HSC has greatly benefited from this mindset!

Jorja Mann: Preparing for Year 12 HSC exams is daunting enough without COVID, so lockdown and online learning have added to the pile of stress. I have always been very motivated and determined to achieve good marks. However, after completing our trial HSC exams online and being informed that our final HSC has been delayed until November, I am starting to become very resentful towards the NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA), as well as our premier, who are pushing for these exams to go ahead. Like many other Year 12 students, completing my final weeks of Year 12 in my bedroom and not being able to connect face to face with teachers and friends, has posed an enormous challenge to my motivation and mental health. Some mornings I am tempted to stay in bed and not attend any classes at all, or I am too distracted by my phone and social media to remain concentrated. I have started to adopt a negative mentality and attitude of ‘who cares’ and ‘it’s not going to matter’, which is not usually something I would say. Therefore, my biggest challenge has been maintaining my motivation. Whilst I’ve been making an effort to wake up early to attend all five periods every day and sticking to a routine, I do not feel like I am preparing for the HSC. I hope my assessment marks and trial HSC result will be enough to gain me acceptance into university. Whilst it does not seem possible at the moment, I hope that sometime next term my friends and I will be able to have a graduation ceremony to celebrate our 13 years of schooling.