Lily Thorburn

My name is Lily and I’m a full-time, final year Bachelor of Nursing student at UTS. I grew up in Sydney’s Inner West and I completed my HSC at International Grammar School in 2017. I joined UTS as a school leaver, starting my degree straight after finishing high school. While I study, I work casually as an Assistant in Nursing at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, and I also enjoy volunteering with St John Ambulance Australia. 

I’ve always found human biology to be fascinating, so I knew I wanted to study a degree where I could fulfil this interest and learn more about what’s inside our bodies, how it all works and what we can do to help when things go wrong. On top of that, I’m a ‘people person’ and I wanted a career where I could connect with others and make a meaningful difference to people’s lives. I also enjoy being busy and I love getting to do something different every day and seeing lots of cool things that most people don’t get to! Combining all these factors, applying for the Bachelor of Nursing was a no-brainer for me.

Creating positive connections with people is one of my biggest goals, and a career in healthcare is a fantastic way to facilitate this goal. I enjoy travelling internationally, and more specifically, exploring new places and creating positive experiences for myself that I will remember for the rest of my life. I’m also passionate about health from both a clinical and holistic perspective, and this passion is reflected enthusiastically in my nursing practice. 

The first time I toured UTS, I was beyond impressed by its world-class facilities and nursing labs. I remember feeling like I was inside a mini hospital on campus! It’s a privilege to learn in a state-of-the-art environment and practice nursing skills on life-like manikins, so that you can build your confidence before caring for real people. Because of the campus’ central location, it’s really easy and quick to get to. I can catch the train, bus or even the light rail to the City Campus. Not having a long commute every morning allows me to optimise my time for a smooth and enjoyable day. 

The most rewarding part has to be clinical placement! Getting to practice my nursing skills in real life and connecting with patients is easily the most exciting and gratifying aspect of the course. Clinical placement allows me to appreciate how much I’ve learnt, and helps build my confidence in my nursing practice. Nothing beats having a patient express how grateful they are for the care you have provided, and realising that your dream of making a positive difference to people’s lives is starting to come true. 

As a full-time university student, I am much busier than I ever was in high school so I’ve become much better at managing my time and workload. Studying something I love makes this a lot easier, but I definitely went through a period of adapting to the demands of university life. Being a nursing student has also allowed me to discover and develop the ‘professional’ side to my personality – something I definitely didn’t have in high school! But being professional is important for developing therapeutic relationships with patients and interacting with members of the health care team and I’ve enjoyed striking that balance where I can be professional while also letting my natural personality show.   

My immediate goals for the future are to complete my degree and successfully gain a position as a graduate Registered Nurse. Beyond that, I am passionate about critical care nursing (emergency and intensive care) and plan to one day work in either of these areas and continue to develop professionally. I would love to complete postgraduate studies and eventually move into a specialist or leadership role. 

To new students, my advice is: stay on top of your pre-work, start your assignments early and get involved with university life! Your time at UTS will be so much more enjoyable if you can make university mean something more to you than simply rocking up to class, and then going home. You get out what you put in. Join societies, go to their events and say ‘yes’ to opportunities that come your way – or even apply to become a Student Ambassador!

Find out more about the Bachelor of Nursing at UTS