After almost dropping out of school in year 10, Indigenous student Joseph Bin Omar has now graduated from a science degree and returned to his high school to establish an award to encourage other Aboriginal students.
Last month Mr Bin Omar returned to Broome Senior High School as a keynote speaker to present his inaugural Joseph Bin Omar Rise Above Award.
"I wanted to reach out to people in year 12 and let them know that they are capable of much more than they probably think," he said.
This year Joseph graduated with a science degree from University of Western Australia and has been accepted into a Masters of Public Health.
"I actually wanted to drop out in year 10, but I had a staff member, Mr Tim Grey, who saw something in me that not many other staff members saw at the time," he said.
"That did so much for me, and now I want to give that back."
Mr Bin Omar comes from a large family with 14 siblings and said his parents always pushed them to make the most of their education.
"Mum finished high school and my dad finished primary school," he said.
"They always wanted their kids to take the opportunity of education with both hands, because it wasn't available to them," he said.
Travelling to Perth for university highlighted Indigenous issues that Mr Bin Omar had accepted as normal, growing up in Broome.
Mr Bin Omar said the Rise Above Award is awarded to a student who had gone through struggles, and who has been determined and driven to get through year 12.
"I want to reach out to those kids because I used to be like that when I was younger," Mr Bin Omar said.
"This pushed my vision of wanting to give back to my Aboriginal community and be a beacon of hope and to trigger future Indigenous youths to want to make a difference and to help our mob."
