Moorabbin Airport Multicultural Scholarship

On the 15th of April I accompanied fellow recipients and our mentors to the Moorabbin Airport Tour and aviation experience. The tour consisted of arriving at RSEA Park (St Kilda's home grounds) at 8am sharp. We then departed from RSEA park at 9am with a bus to Moorabbin Airport. We arrived at 9:30am, and were quickly informed about the safety measures we needed to know when walking onto the tarmac. We were then given high vis vests before continuing our tour, and we took a group photo. After the group photo we were taken onto the runway, where we were informed how the runway operates and how important communication is when pilots are landing or taking off from the runway. After taking a few more group photos on the runway, we took the bus to the other side of the airport where we were able to look at the different helicopters and planes used for rescues and fire control. We learnt about the different features of some planes. I spoke to an aeroplane mechanic and he informed me that certain planes have parachutes that deploy when the plane has lost its engines. We were then taken back to RSEA park to have a little surprise tour of the St Kilda Football Club facilities. For lunch we had Subway, and ended a day with a few speeches from the organisers. 

The Sir Douglas Nichols Round Match Day Experience on 17th May, was an experience to remember. My family and I arrived at Marvel Stadium for the St Kilda vs Richmond game. I met up with the other scholarship students, and waited to get taken down to the tunnel where the St Kilda players came out of. When the game was about to commence, we all headed onto the field as flag bearers to line up on the sides for the footy players when they came running out. After both teams were cheered onto the field, we held the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags, for the Acknowledgement of  Country and then headed to our allocated seats to watch the rest of the game.  https://www.saints.com.au/community-football/diversity/map-scholarship-program

Austin Voges

Year 11