You don't need to follow anybody's pathways, anyone's journeys, I guess. We're in a new age that you can just set your own rules and do what makes you happy.

[Music lyrics]

Hi, my name is Rebecca Hatch. I'm 18 years old and I'm a singer-songwriter from Western Sydney, and when I was 16 I won Triple J's Unearthed High Indigenous Initiative at the National Indigenous Music Awards.

When I got the phone call from Triple J, it was pretty crazy. I was so in awe; I remember I ran to my brother's room, my mum's room, I was waking everyone up. I was like "Guys, this is Triple J, they're playing my stuff!" 

It really showcased me and it got me a lot of opportunities through doing tours – I've done a lot
a lot of shows since then.

[Music]

I think being in year 12, you're still really young and it's really hard to make decisions for what you want to be and the next few years. I remember just stressing out cus I was like, "What if I don't get into uni, what if I can't do this."

I just remember, I was like "If I can't get into uni, that's not the end of the world,  my life will still go on." 
If you can't do those things right now, that's okay. There's so many other pathways to get what you want to be. 

I know in the end where I want to be – I know I want to be doing these shows. I know I want to be this kind of artist, but I guess it's the pathway to get there that's a bit hard to get to and I guess it's different for everyone.

The past two years, I wouldn't have predicted any of that to happen. I could have said "I wanted this happen." Whereas I said "this [gestures with hand]" and my pathway went like "this [gestures with hand in opposite direction]."

But, I still ended up where I kind of am now, which is a really good thing. It can be quite hard, but I feel like if I were to work hard enough for what I wanted, and if I knew if I can say "this is what I want; this is what I'm gonna do," no one can bring me down because I know I'm gonna get where I want to be in the end.