Student Story – Jacinta Parmeter

Qualification

Graduate Diploma in Psychology

Why did you choose your degree and what do you enjoy the most about it?

There are lots of reasons why I chose to study psychology, and they’ve built up over time. The first seed planted was being born as the youngest of five, always watching, trying to make sense of people and the world.

One moment that stuck with me was when two close friends lost both their parents to cancer within a year. My mum, a community health nurse, had cared for them. I remember asking her, “What can I do to help?” and she said, “You could do social work, but you’d be better off doing psychology, it pays more.”

Since then, more reasons have built up. I chose psychology because:

• I’ve always been naturally curious about human behaviour
• I wanted to understand people, including myself
• I experienced being mislabelled at school and later realised I was an unrecognised gifted student
• I wanted to understand how intelligence and giftedness are identified and supported
• I needed a better understanding of the science behind IQ tests and educational systems
• I just kept coming back to it – even when life took me in other directions.

What I enjoy most is that psychology gives me a way to understand why people do what they do. It helps me sit with behaviour, not to excuse it, but to try to understand it. That understanding helps me support others, ask better questions, and keep learning.

What has been your learning journey to date?

My learning journey has been long and messy. School wasn’t easy. I was labelled as unintelligent, but in later years I learned I was actually an unrecognised, underachieving gifted and talented student. I didn’t get into uni straight after school. My confidence was low after years of being told I wasn’t smart. I later found out I had Irlen Syndrome, and that helped explain some of my struggles with reading and concentration. I started psychology but with low confidence I left to do a visual arts degree and then a diploma of education. I became a teacher and later a gifted and talented coordinator. But psychology kept calling me back.

I returned to study again and again, through parenting, single motherhood, family court, international moves, and loss. It hasn’t been a straight path, but I’ve always come back to psychology, because I care about people and I want to understand them better.

How important is having the CUC in your local town to you and why?

Having the CUC here has made a massive difference. After moving for a job that didn’t work out, I was isolated – no friends, no family, just four walls and my study.

The CUC gave me somewhere to go, to connect with others, to be supported. It’s more than a study space – it’s a community. There’s tea, biscuits, people who care, and a quiet space to think. I means I am no longer trying to learn in a void but in a caring supportive environment.

Most of all, it reminded me I’m not alone – and that this journey is worth finishing.