In primary school, Denzyl Moncrieff thought teachers were the enemy.
“I think in the kind of the community that I grew up in there was a very us and them mentality. I’m Indigenous Australian and I feel like there’s always been kind of this little bit of a divide…” he tells Insight’s Jenny Brockie, on this week's show.
Domestic violence, crime and drugs surrounded Denzyl from an early age and one of his teachers told him he was destined for a similar life.
“I had teachers say that I’d grow up to becoming nothing, you know, things of that nature, wasn’t going to go anywhere. I’d just end up in jail,” says Denzyl.
In the classroom, Denzyl was getting into trouble for throwing chairs and swearing at teachers.
Denzyl Moncrieff, on Insight Source: Insight
But outside the classroom you would find him in the bush. He spent much of his time reading maps and examining rocks.
His interest in learning about the world was encouraged by his nanna, who he says was strict and stressed the importance of finishing school.
But the death of his younger brother and subsequent bullying during the early years of high school left Denzyl feeling completely disengaged with getting an education. “I never wanted to go back,” he says. “I was so angry and resentful and I couldn’t believe that the school was meant to be there to help me and they wouldn’t at all.”
At the end of Year 9, Denzyl found a rock in his backyard. Despite his attitudes towards school, he was fascinated and took it in to show his science teacher. The decision would change is life forever.
