Everyday People - Melissa Rowell - A sense of achievement

Melissa Lambie (Rowell) was born in Auckland, New Zealand, forty-two years ago and is the only child of well-known builder Bill Lambie and his wife, Margaret.

While fishing with his mates, Bill mentioned he was taking his family to Australia for a holiday. One of his friends declared that he had to take his family to Hervey Bay in Queensland as they had the best fishing in the world. So he did!

The family loved the place, packed up and moved here. Melissa was eight.

“I went to Pialba State School and had a good circle of friends. I found myself in the recorder band and became Band Captain in year seven.

“High School was a different story. Halfway through grade eight, I was shunned by that same circle of friends for not sharing their interests.

When she got to grade ten, Melissa was constantly bullied for being a larger person. She would get to school as late as possible, spend her lunchtime in the library and go straight home after school.

In year eleven, Melissa found Outrigging, made a new group of friends, and felt like she fitted in again. Her involvement in Outrigging got her through the remainder of high school. She even got Junior Paddler of the Year in 1998.

She lost weight and then found that she had gone from being the last person to be picked on a basketball team in PE to being one of the first because of what she looked like. But they never got to know the real person inside.  

“I loved kids and wanted to be a kindergarten teacher. So, I finished year twelve, went straight to TAFE, and did my Certificate III in childcare.

“During that year, I went to a Living Expo and spoke to staff from Lady Elliot Island. I still had to finish my certificate but ended up working in their kid’s club during the school holidays.

After the first three or four days of working in the kid’s club, Melissa realised it wasn't for her. She then worked in housekeeping and as a kitchen hand. After finishing her certificate, Melissa went back to the island, where she worked in activities where among other things, she met and greeted guests fresh off the plane, a job she loved.

“That was my first experience of being away from home. It was lovely to live on the island. But because of the bullying in high school, I wasn’t in the right head space to appreciate it as much as I do now, looking back.

On her return home, Melissa enrolled in a Certificate II in Hospitality, planning to work on all the islands up the Queensland Coast.

She got as far as Great Keppel Island, which was where she met her now ex-husband Brenden in 1999. The pair were married for close to fourteen years and had two gorgeous children together. Georgia is now seventeen, and Shayla is fourteen.

In 2006 Hervey Bay became home for the final time.

Fourteen years ago, while pregnant with Shayla. Melissa lost her nana.

“Her last words to me were, “You should become a nurse”. So, with those words in my head, I worked part-time towards becoming a nurse for the next ten years, with lots of stops and starts along the way.

“I worked as a nurse in a GP’s office for a year but realised that nursing wasn’t for me either.

“It seemed I enjoyed the study and could prove that I could finish what I started.

“I am now back in hospitality and working at the Hervey Bay RSL, and I have found myself again. I enjoy the work, love the social scene, and look forward to going to work every day”.

By Kim Parnell

From What’s On Fraser Coast