Iso Angel

JACKSON MILLER CAME TO BOND UNIVERSITY ON ITS MOST PRESTIGIOUS SCHOLARSHIP. WHEN COVID STRUCK DOWN FELLOW STUDENTS, HE EXEMPLIFIED THE VALUES OF THE ESTEEMED BURSARY.

by Ken Robinson

After being told at 3am on Christmas Day that he had tested positive to Covid, Mr Jackson Miller (Class of 2020) knew what it felt like to spend 10 days in isolation. The Vice Chancellor’s Elite Scholar and Student Resident Fellow had only just returned to his home state of South Australia for the festive season when he was alerted to his diagnosis.

“Been there done that and it sucks,” Mr Miller says of ‘iso’. “The only way I got through it was talking to friends.” When he returned to Bond University early this year to find some residential students were also in quarantine, he got to thinking about how he could ease their loneliness.

“Especially for new students (in quarantine), they haven’t really set foot on campus let alone had the chance to meet anyone. We had 17-year-olds, first time living away from home and they got Covid – that’s pretty rough.” Mr Miller responded by setting up a buddy system in which students ‘on the outside’ were paired up with those in quarantine, either because they had contracted the virus or were a close contact of someone who had.

“Everyone gets someone who checks in with them, connects, chats and potentially introduces them to new friends,” Mr Miller says. “I was doing coffee runs for everyone. It was maybe five minutes out of my day but for them, hopefully it made them happy for a couple of hours. When you’ve got nothing else to do, a nice coffee is pretty impactful.”

Other Bondies saw the positive effect Mr Miller was having and joined him to organise online trivia games and group chats on Zoom. Drinks, treats and library books were dropped off outside a dedicated Covid floor in the student accommodation, while some special deliveries were hoisted up from a lower floor tied to the belt of a dressing gown.

“I think the most powerful thing to come out of this is that everyone in iso has been able to connect and support each other,” Mr Miller says. “They’ve had not much else to do except talk, so they know each other in a way they may not have without this experience. It has created a culture of kindness.” Director of Student Success and Wellbeing Ms Kerry Valentine says she watched Mr Miller from her office as he zipped around campus running errands for students in quarantine. “He’s been their iso angel,” Ms Valentine says. “Jackson’s positive response to a negative situation has been inspirational.”

Mr Miller came to Bond to attain a Bachelor of Exercise and Sport Science in 2020. He graduated in December 2021 and contemplated further study in psychology or medicine but recently discovered a passion for business and entrepreneurship, joining the Transformer program while completing a Master of Science by Research (Health Sciences). The business idea Mr Miller is fostering through Transformer has parallels to his Covid kindness mission: an app that allows users to share supportive audio messages.

“What’s currently missing from social media and technology is a lack of authentic connection, particularly from a place of vulnerability and gratitude,” Mr Miller says. “(The app is) about providing support to those who need it from the people who they most care about and who most care about them. For example, I could pre-record a message for you to listen to when you’re feeling down, or if you’re about to go into surgery.” Mr Miller says he was inspired by the #MoveForLex initiative, launched to support Noosa triathlete Ms Alexa Leary as she recovers from brain injuries suffered in a cycling accident. It has now become a major fundraiser to help the families of patients in intensive care at the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital. “Alexa’s family started an Instagram page to share her story with just immediate family initially and then it grew because of the messages of positivity,” Mr Miller says. “I was so lucky to meet Alexa recently. She was told she wouldn’t be able to walk again but now she’s swimming, she’s running. She has inspired me to try not only to overcome but rather to overpower hardships to create a more positive outcome than would otherwise be possible to achieve.”

Watch the video to hear more about Jackson’s commitment to the Bond University community.