THERESA Grace woke up one night and could no longer see.
She was barely a teenager, in Year 8, studying by distance education
“At the time, I didn’t know what was happening,” she said. Her eyes were inflamed and pressure was building up.
By the time morning came, the attack was over, and she could see again.
But it happened again another night, and another, “on repeat, and repeat, and repeat”.
The doctors had no idea what was happening, Miss Grace said.
After visiting eye specialists and allergy specialists, there was still no diagnosis – “unclassifiable”, the doctors told her.
It was some kind of autoimmune disease but no one could tell Miss Grace what it was exactly. She never got another appointment.
The attacks affected her so much she dropped out of school in Year 10.
“I was just in a slump, I’d gone into a very depressive part of my life because I felt like I couldn’t do anything,” she said.
“I couldn’t hold down a job, I couldn’t study, I couldn’t do what I wanted to do – which was to write – because I couldn’t see half the time.
“It was definitely a turbulent time for my faith.”
She felt angry and hurt.
“I didn’t stop believing in God but I was definitely very frustrated with Him,” she said.
“I was stuck in this place and there was a lot of anger and a lot of hurt.
“I went through periods of being like, ‘Ok no, it’s fine, you just have to have faith it’s going to be fine’, and, ‘What the heck are you doing?’
“My family was praying for me, I was praying, and in the end it was at Ignite.
“It was being persistent and attending things for my faith, and Church events, it was Ignite that brought me towards Clemente and brought me to where I needed to be.”
At Ignite Conference, a worship event for young Catholics, Miss Grace said she experienced a breakdown near the main stage.
She received counselling and direction from Brisbane Catholic Shanelle Bennett, who also told her about Clemente Australia.
Clemente Australia is sponsored and hosted by Australian Catholic University and helps to support people experiencing complex life challenges to access university education.
It turned Miss Grace’s life around.
She said when Clemente came along, it meant there was now “a pathway to university and a pathway to getting back out into society again”.
The educators built up her self-worth and took off the pressure of failing, she said.
“Clemente needs to be what the future of education becomes,” she said.
“The way education works currently does not include anyone who has any kind of health problem.
“If Clemente was more generally how the schooling system was, I wouldn’t have had to have dropped out of high school and I wouldn’t have lost that part of my life.”
After four years of study, Miss Grace completed the Clemente program and received a Certificate of Liberal Arts at a graduation ceremony on June 30.
St Vincent de Paul Society’s Michelle Wollenweber, who helps with the Clemente program, said there was nothing more fulfilling than seeing the students graduate.
She loved to see the students grow, gain confidence and see the successes snowball.
She said the students come with a wide range of challenges but that their job was to help them through it.
“This program is amazing about being a supportive community,” she said.
“It’s ok to make a mistake, it’s alright if you don’t pass.
“It’s about getting out of bed and coming to the program; if that’s all you can do that day, you’ve reached a huge goal.”
Clemente Brisbane program adviser Janine Quine said she loved to see the students “become a voice”.
“They can actually feel confident to speak about what their problem is and not to have somebody to speak about their problem – it’s a totally different thing,” she said.
“I think that’s what we’re doing in Clemente, people are gaining more confidence to talk about what their challenges are and how they overcome.”
She said it was an emotional time for the graduates and many like Miss Grace had been through a lot to achieve their goals.
“She’s been a brilliant student, that’s why the lecturers have always loved her – she brings a lot to it,” she said.
“She said she didn’t feel confident then, but she’s shining now.”
Miss Grace said in just the last few months, she felt her relationship with God blossom and she saw the jigsaw piece slot in and “I could see what the plan was through those times when I was so angry and frustrated and hurt”.
While her eyes remained without a medical diagnosis, her condition had improved.
The attacks have decreased from three times a week to once a month.
Now Miss Grace is enrolling at ACU in a Bachelor of English with a minor in creative writing.
She said she made contact with a lecturer who taught creative writing and received some positive feedback and encouragement.
“I would love to be able to use that gift to help others and come back to Clemente and be a learning partner and continue the cycle of nurturing,” she said.
