From the age of four, Grace Bostock knew what she wanted to be when she grew up.
“I’ve always wanted to be a nurse – from dressing up in Prep as a Nurse to studying nursing from 2021 onwards,” she said.
“Watching Call the Midwife with Mum made me want to push myself to be a midwife in the future.”
She is currently studying a Diploma of Nursing at TAFE and hopes to continue further study to become a Registered Nurse.
Grace has been working at Whiddon Beaudesert for nearly two years, and her dream job is to work as a nurse in Paediatric Palliative Care.
“I am very passionate about advocating one-on-one care for patients,” she said.
“Improving quality of life for infants, children, and young people is definitely something I want to focus on in the future.”
While taking on the care of others, Grace has also had to face some challenges of her own as she was diagnosed with epilepsy when she was 13.
She found that epilepsy impacted her work and personal life, especially during high school and in the last year.
“Having to go to hospital a lot during work and study definitely threw a lot of challenges my way,” Grace said.
“There was a period of time where I had no personal life and struggled with socialising.”
“Being 16 and not able to get your learner’s licence made my young teenager stage hard as I was made to feel like an outsider,” she added.
With the love and support from her family and friends, Grace felt her journey with managing epilepsy to be a difficult but rewarding one.
“I always used to look at the negatives and dwell on the bad things – but as time went on, I started to look at the positives and challenged my mindset to only focus on that,” Grace said.
“Learning to drive at 19 wasn’t so bad as I was an adult and already aware of all the hazards that came with driving.”
“Having my family and friends drive me to work and appointments wasn’t so bad either as it allowed me to spend quality time with them.”
Grace knew she wanted to help support anyone in the same position, so she participated in her first ten kilometre run to fundraise for Epilepsy Action Australia, where she raised $1,600.
Her end goal is to become an advocator for Epilepsy Action Australia to share stories and experiences with those who have recently been diagnosed or are currently struggling with it.
“I hope to spread more awareness for epilepsy as it has played a big part in my life,” Grace said.
“Sharing my story has improved my mental health immensely and I wish to do this for others as well.”
