David Ada

My name is David, and I am a Chinese-Indonesian born in Australia.

When I was three, I moved to Jakarta, Indonesia to live with my grandparents and extended family. In 2010, I moved back to Sydney to seek better education and opportunities that I wouldn’t have been able to obtain if I stayed in Jakarta. Most of my childhood was spent in Jakarta, where I played street soccer with my local neighbours, caught up with my relatives from the many surrounding villages, and consumed heaps of Indonesian street food (I love Nasi Goreng!).

After moving to Sydney in 2010 with my older brother and mother, I went to Chester Hill High School in South-West Sydney and completed my HSC in 2019.

I’m passionate about learning languages! I’ve studied French for 4 years and Japanese for 3 years, and I love it. For me, there’s just something precious and special about languages that allow us to gain new perspectives on life and how we interact with each other through our speech, tone, and pronunciation. Likewise, discovering and learning about new cultures and traditions has always been central to my identity as I believe we are all fundamentally the same, despite having different physical characteristics.

Being a person who has lived in a third-world country, I’ve always been challenged and humbled by how healthcare is extremely scarce and limited in most countries around the world. In Australia, healthcare is free, education is unrestricted, and a robust welfare system is provided for those who are unemployed and sick. However, these are not always encouraged in Indonesia and hence, there’s a major health disparity that inspired me to want to gain medical skills in the hope to aid those who are in need.

I chose to study at UTS because I love the city! I love the urban-oriented landscape and the super convenient stores and transportation that are provided at UTS. But importantly, I chose to study at UTS because of the abundant resources and facilities that are available for the nursing students. Specifically, I was sold at their Open Day events, when the student ambassadors were giving potential students a tour around Building 10, where mannequins could sweat, bleed, and speak! How cool!

The course subjects are well-structured, the facilitators and teachers are well-trained, and the university itself is well-designed for students to maximise their learning. A highlight from my studies was when I was on my nursing clinical rotation, and I got to follow a patient from her admission, to operation (yes, I got to wear scrubs!), and discharge on the same day! It’s amazing how skilled the nurses and doctors are in ensuring that the process is as smooth as possible.

Studying this degree has increased my sense of empathy and understanding of nonverbal communication. In our nursing course, we’re taught that all patients are unique, and all of them need to be treated differently to heal properly. From immersing in this degree, my sense of self-awareness and character have been positively advanced, which is allowing me to better contribute to society and support the people around me.

I plan to be a Registered Nurse at the end of this degree and potentially consider further education to be a nurse specialist so that I’m well equipped to return to Indonesia and participate in humanitarian activities. Nursing is much more than showering and feeding patients, as the stereotypes tell us. It's a rewarding profession from the start that allows us to help and care for patients, with so many different opportunities to specialise in things like emergency, being a nurse educator, or even a nurse anaesthetist!

To those considering the degree, study with the view that the patients you are nursing could be someone’s parents, grandparents, and children, so do it with an open mind and compassion.

Learn more about Nursing at the Faculty of Health.