After spending half his childhood in an orphanage, it's no surprise Lionel Baars had a few "psychological barriers" against achieving in society.

Nowadays, thanks to encouragement from his wife and success in a CQUniversity bridging program, he's "going forward in leaps and bounds".

Lionel Baars celebrates completion of the TEP program

Things looked a lot bleaker when Lionel was a youngster, thanks to the prevailing cultural attitudes in the 1960s. When his Aboriginal mother and white father split up, he and his siblings were put in an orphanage.

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"My mother could not gain custody of her kids unless she had a partner. That's where the psychological barriers for my achievement in society were set up. The kids were put into an orphanage for 6 years until my mother found a partner and we could get out.

"I left high school as soon as I turned 15 and have worked in various jobs since then but because of my background and low education levels I found it difficult to get into a professional position."

Lionel, from Bundaberg, said that with his wife's support he has been able to drop his barriers and recently completed a TEP (Tertiary Entry Program) via the Nulloo Yumbah Indigenous Learning, Spirituality & Research Centre at CQUniversity.

"I wanted to make it a bit better to create a future for myself and my young family. I have completed TEP and I'm not looking back. The future awaits.

"I'm hoping with my Nursing studies to get into Perioperative or Emergency Medicine. My wife and myself enjoy travelling and tend to travel around Indigenous communities of Australia so we could have a travelling holiday and working holiday to have an income."