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Taylor Scholars – Mia Thomas and Cara Skirrow

L-R Kate Mulray from the Butterfly Foundation, Mia Thomas, Cara Skirrow

Established in 2015 by College’s then Chair of Council, Charlie Taylor (Fr 1982, SS 1985), the Taylor Scholar program supports and encourages senior students in continuing to engage significantly and meaningfully with College life, even after graduating

Taylor Scholars develop and implement a new special interest project or continue and evolve an existing project that will benefit the College community. The project can be related to any aspect of College life and aim of the program is to increase the diversity and depth of the College experience.

Mia Thomas (Fr 2019) and Cara Skirrow (Fr 2019) are two such scholars, and their project Body Empowerment encourages St Andrew’s College students to have healthy and helpful relationships with their bodies and eating patterns. As part of this project, Kate Mulray representing the Butterfly Foundation presented Let’s Talk Understanding Eating Disorders for Tertiary Students On Thursday 3 March. The presentation was informative and well received, with a turnout of 43 students. Read on to find out more about Body Empowerment and the minds behind it.

Tell us a little about your Taylor Scholar project

Through our Body Empowerment project, we hope to encourage body acceptance, educate students about the development of controlled eating patterns and eating disorders, and equip students with the skills to offer support for those around them. In light of 30% of young people feeling very, or extremely, concerned about their body image in 2021 (Butterfly Foundation 2021), we hope to open a safe space for students to discuss this important topic within the College setting, and to recognise the unique contextual challenges this presents to the young adults living there.

Are there any collaborators on the project?

We are hugely grateful to have inspiring leaders of the field collaborate with us during our project, including representatives from the Butterfly Foundation and  fellow alumna Ruby Riethmuller (Fr 2016), the founder of Womn-kind, a female-led organisation aiming to close the gap in effective mental health support for young women.

Why is it important to you?

Our project resonates with us and we have both been exposed to the complexities of the issues and how to navigate through them in our roles of Pastoral Care Leader and Secretary during our final year of college. With greater responsibilities in our positions, we often felt we were searching for additional support and education on the topic in order to assist our peers, and so we would like to fill this gap and provide the resources for younger year groups so they too can be fully equipped to support both themselves and the students around them.

What drove you towards this project in particular?

We both have a personal interest in mental health and wellbeing supported by our degrees in Psychology and Anthropology, where our studies delve into the intricacies of mental disorders and the complex systems of human behaviour. Coupled with our intuitive desire to give back to College and our firsthand experience of living in the unique college environment, we are dedicated to implementing a program that can produce impactful change.

What do you hope to achieve with the project?

Throughout our project we aim to equip students with the skills to recognise, react to and prevent the development of negative body image and eating disorders, and as such, nurture a collective support network where they can call upon the avenues of support. We hope to create a safe environment for all students that deconstructs stigma around mental health and opens up the space for non-judgemental discussion.

What are you studying at uni?

Cara: I am in my final semester of studying a Bachelor of Science, majoring in Psychology and minoring in Biology at University of Sydney.

Mia: I too am finishing up my Bachelor of Arts at University of Sydney, with a major in Anthropology and minor in Spanish.

Where did you grow up?

Cara: I was originally born in England and moved to Australia when I was 7 years-old with my parents and two older brothers. We moved to the North Shore and I lived there until making the move to Drew’s.

Mia: I grew up in London, England and decided to move to Sydney to study in 2019. Having relocated to Australia knowing no one, Drew’s quickly became my new home away from home! Cara and I now live together just a stone’s throw away in Glebe.

What school did you go to?

Cara: I went to Redlands School in Cremorne. I loved my school experience as I was able to complete my IB in a co-education environment as well as dedicate time and energy into performing arts training in their Ballet and Dance Academy.

Mia: In London, I went to Tiffin Girls’ School for my GCSEs and Latymer Upper School for my A-Levels. Throughout my school years, I spent most of my early mornings and late evenings on a very cold River Thames training for rowing, which I continued into my fresher year at the much warmer Sydney University Boat Club.

Do you have any advice for someone thinking about applying for St Andrew’s College?

Go for it! We have absolutely loved our time at College; each year was filled with a lot of laughter, plenty of fun, and so many special memories that we will treasure for a long time. Although filled with nerves and anticipation on our first day, we soon discovered the camaraderie and friendship you will find at Drew’s is one you will struggle to find anywhere else, so embrace the change of scene with open arms and cherish the opportunity!