Khamal Sarkis is the STEM Learning Specialist at Wodonga Primary School.
He worked with Advantage Education’s Darryl Fry during a transitional stage of his work and personal life.
At one point several years ago, I found myself on the cusp of many changes in my life. I had just become a father and took on more responsibilities at work for extra income to sustain my family’s lifestyle.
With the pressures of parenting and a high pressure job, I couldn’t seem to find the right balance in my life and started to feel as though I couldn’t keep up with my commitments to my family and to my work. As a consequence, my physical and mental health took a downturn at a time when I needed both to be at their strongest.
Although there are many avenues available for support, I felt I needed something more personal and specific to my needs. Fortunately, this was when I met Darryl Fry, who spoke to me about things like goal setting and time management. These were things that I had tried many times to plan and implement on my own but found I could never completely succeed in establishing without some sort of support.
Speaking regularly with Darryl, setting goals, writing up plans and working one- to- one on fitness circuits with him, I found my mental and physical state improved, and I could better balance the different aspects of my life while still finding the time to serve my own needs.
I learnt a great deal from our conversations that I have been able to apply to so many other areas of my life that I didn’t know needed attention. The mentoring that I received from him has served me time and time again over the years, providing me with the tools that I’ve needed to maintain health and wellness.
I am very grateful for the mentoring and coaching that I received from Darryl, and take comfort in knowing that if I need his support again, I can rely on him to help when I need it most.