As Funeral Professionals, we are often giving the opportunity to assist shape the future of our industry. For us, we have had the pleasure of a Work Experience Student spend time with us over the last few months. We asked Claire all about her desire to join our industry and what her thoughts were so far. Here is what she had to say!
Over the years, I’ve had hundreds of ideas on what I wanted to do once I left school. There were so many options I could pick. A dentist, doctor, lawyer, teacher, personal trainer and a vet. As I am now sixteen and almost out of school, I commonly get asked the question every teenager dreads “So what are you going to do after school?”. When I tell people, I want to be a mortician, it’s usually followed up by an either disgusted face or a face of shock, wonder and curiosity. Why would a sixteen-year-old girl want to work with dead people!
In primary school, I had an intense fear of death. I wouldn’t be able to go to sleep at night and it was made worse if a friend shared a ghost story! I would have panic attacks worrying that little ten-year-old me wouldn’t wake up in the morning as I might die in my sleep. If anyone was sick or had a disease I would stay far away because I thought, I could catch it. I didn’t know I wouldn’t as they weren’t contagious, but I was ten and didn’t know how it all worked.
In year nine I was going on one of those YouTube spirals on scary videos when I came across a youtuber called Caitlin Doughty. A mortician? What’s that? How to stitch a mouth up? what! So, I watched more and more of her videos and found out that she too had a fear of death from an early age due to incident at her local mall. I felt I connected with Doughty as I had a fear of death as well. After watching almost every video, subscribing, listening to her podcast and reading up on everything about morticians, funeral directors and the industry I was hooked. I wasn’t as scared anymore, I understood more than ever, I wanted to be a mortician, this is what I want to do!
I’m now in year eleven and was lucky enough to have a company take me in for work experience and let me see what it is really like to work in this industry. During my time with McCartney Family Funerals I have learnt heaps of things I never even knew about! I got real life experiences such as attending funerals and knowledge that will be needed when I join the industry, such as the crazy amount of paperwork! One thing I learnt with McCartney Family Funerals that I never really thought about till now, was although you are there to care for the family you are also there to care for all those who pass. Death is a scary topic to talk about but the more we discuss it the easier it’ll get. Death is inevitable which is why we need to discuss it more and not hide away from it. Doughty helped me look at death in a different way and helped me realise what I wanted to do once I leave school.
Claire has been a fantastic addition to our Team over the last few months and we can’t wait to have her join our team when she finishes her secondary schooling!
If you have questions about a funeral career, why not get in touch with us on 1300 043 522 or email [email protected]