Sarah Lewis says growing up in Perth, 4,000 kilometres from the land of her Kalkadoon mob in the red desert country of Mount Isa, left her feeling half of who she was.
"I always had this big, empty hole," the 23-year-old said.
That void was filled two years ago when her role as an artillery command systems operator with the Australian Defence Force took her to Townsville in Queensland.
She connected with her Kalkadoon family through her grandmother Virginia Mayo — a prominent figure in the Kalkadoon community and an Indigenous welfare advocate.
But uncovering parts of her cultural identity was bittersweet.
Ms Lewis's eyes were opened to the trauma rippling through her community as a result of the Stolen Generations.
The experience inspired her onto a new path pursuing psychology with the dream of one day opening up a clinic.
She said she was on a mission to help future generations as she started out in the first year of her degree.
Connection, identity, trauma
Ms Lewis said linking up with her grandmother and being welcomed into her Kalkadoon family was life-changing.
"It was a huge experience getting in touch with culture, mob, my family – I've discovered so much," she said.
But she said with the "good came some of the bad and the ugly".
"We've all faced a lot of really crippling trauma that does come from the Stolen Generations."
Ms Lewis said she had seen family members who had lost part of their identity.
"They don't know what to do or who to go to and they spiral down a harmful path," she said.
"But on hard days I always come back and rely on the strength of our history."
She said her people kept her going and seeing their resilience and courage gave her hope.
Although Ms Lewis considered herself "one of the lucky ones", a lack of connection to her culture and an absence of identity meant she was no stranger to trauma.
"I have struggled with alcohol in the past and it's so easy to take that turn."
Ms Lewis said she was working three jobs before she signed up for the army when she was 19.
"I just felt like my life was going round in a circle," she said.
"I didn't have much purpose."
She said she had grown from being a high school dropout to work in a job where every day was different.
Ms Lewis also turned to martial arts as a way to deal with a traumatic event she experienced.
"I needed something that was going to be a health outlet for me where I could just let it all go and learn to control myself," she said.
She said she would compete in her first Brazilian jiu-jitsu competition and Muay Thai fight this year.
Helping future generations
Ms Lewis said she would be using her psychology qualification to fight for a better future.
She said it came down to mob and culture.
"You look at the news and there's overflowing housing, not enough water being supplied, people in the wrong type of leadership," she said.
Ms Lewis said society had come a long way and it was never going to be perfect.
"And for me, that is working to fulfil my dream of opening up that clinic and starting to invest in our young people, young adults — because they are the future."
