Jacinta Dubojski isn’t just another girl as she inspires young women to speak up
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Waking up in the middle of the night, Jacinta Dubojski sat up in bed, her heart pounding.
It was 3AM but she was wide awake, her adrenaline pumping and as excitement built in her body, she could only think about one thing: how her story could help others.
Growing up in Albury, the 36 year old had experienced bullying that severely impacted her mental health and as she got older, the echoes of her trauma continued to control her life.
Leaving an abusive relationship in her early 20s, Jacinta moved to Sydney to model but when she was asked to lose 10 kilograms ‘as soon as possible’, the toxicity of the industry began to affect her self esteem.
After laying awake that night, years after she began her healing journey, Jacinta followed her head and heart becoming the founder of the Just Another Girl Project and an anti-bullying advocate.
Visiting primary schools and colleges around the ACT and surrounding regions, Jacinta is a motivational speaker sharing her own life story with the world.
“I’m a girl doing my thing and trying to create magic, healing and awareness along the way,” she says.
Jacinta has spoken to over 600 young people about her own experiences with bullying, mental health, low self esteem and domestic violence in hopes that she can inspire them to share their own struggles.
“I haven’t got experience in psychology or psychiatry or counselling,” says Jacinta. “It’s just my life experience and I just talk from the heart.”
“Mental health has been a huge part of my life…I experienced bullying in high school, then negative relationships. I was engaged at 24, married at 25 and divorced at 26.”
Beginning the project five years ago, Jacinta has recently been nominated for a Lifeline Women of Spirit Award. Recognised for the adversity she has faced and overcome, she says when she heard she was nominated, she teared up.
“The first thing that I thought to myself was ‘This is for every girl that’s ever been told they’re not good enough’.”
As she hopes to continue to inspire young people and plans to write a book in the future, Jacinta believes talking to young girls about bullying and low self-esteem is important for one simple reason: “It’s destroying. Bullying can destroy you and low self esteem can destroy you.”
“When I was in highschool…I never spoke out,” says Jacinta. “ I was too embarrassed to tell my mum and dad that I was going through such a hard time…you must talk to somebody.”
“I wish there was someone like me when I was 14, 15, 16, telling me that because I needed to hear that.”
While Jacinta admits reliving her past to share it with the students is hard, she says she willingly goes back to her trauma because she wants to make a positive impact to show young girls it’s important to speak up.
“When I go up on stage, I actually take teenage Jacinta with me,” she says. “And she’s scared and she’s vulnerable and she’s frightened but I stand there being strong for her.”
“At the end, when I see the response from the girls and even the guys, it’s just euphoric.”
Contact Jacinta via her Facebook Page or Instagram to learn more about the Just Another Girl Project.
IMAGES: Photos by Tina Nikolovski
