The medal is awarded to the student with the highest results throughout their degree. With about 10,000 students in each year group, there is plenty of competition. 

Lou studies at the Batemans Bay UOW satellite campus, and attributed her academic achievements to the cultural significance of the campus site: “We are situated on a site that has been a teaching place for thousands of years, and our results often reflect this advantage.”

Lou was one of four Indigenous students graduating on the day. Jaymee Beveridge, director of the Woolyungah Indigenous Centre, said Lou and students like her are shifting attitudes, and building a culture of Indigenous excellence: “Her recent graduation achievements are a direct result of dedication, commitment and hard work.”

For Lou, marks are a result of hard work, although her academic journey has been shaped by her connection to culture, community and knowledge.

“My research used history to prove that when it comes to Fishing Rights, for the most part, Aboriginal people have been on the right side of the law for thousands of years,” she said.

“I compare sea-level inundation of around seven thousand years ago with settler-colonial inundation. Aboriginal people survived and thrived through previous climate change, the law of the land – Aboriginal lore – is durable enough to see that through. But history shows us how Aboriginal culture has been criminalised and the cost is environmental destruction and depletion, and significant gaps in knowledge on how to ‘manage’ country.”

Lou’s story illustrates the connectedness of Indigenous culture and communities: as one persons’ success - is everyone’s success. Lou commended her graduating Indigenous brothers and sisters

“Your success in a society where the structural odds are stacked against you is outstanding,” she said,

“A commitment to fostering more Indigenous voices closes the gap of knowledge ... you are enabling pathways for sharing knowledge from the oldest and hence most durable culture on the planet.”

Dakota Feirer