By Kylie Robinson
Major heartbreak, meeting and marrying the love of my life, completing a postgraduate qualification and making lifelong friends marks some defining moments of my Griffith University career. I start this blog post with descriptions of personal tragedies and exhilarating highs because career growth and life experience don’t happen separately – they occur simultaneously. After almost 10 years as a proud member of the Griffith clan, today marks my last day. My life is nearly unrecognisable to the naive, terrified 24 year old who started at the university, unsure and anxious about the step I was taking.
As I sit down to write this blog, I’m not really sure how to articulate my feelings. How do I explain what this place represents to me? The words came to my mind earlier but as I write now it’s not so easy to articulate my feelings about the place I know as my home away from home. Griffith is so much more than just my workplace; it’s where I’ve grown up.
2014 Education graduate Jacquelyn Nesbitt spoke to us about why she chose education, her study journey and her hopes after graduation.
Attention our upcoming graduates!
You may not know their faces but most Griffith students will be familiar with their events when deciding their future career path. Most of us have attended the Tertiary Studies Expo (TSXPO) which is Australia’s largest careers expo offering study options from over 250 representatives. Interchange Consultancy is the brainchild of couple Shane Lynch and Hedy van Hofwegen which started in 1997 with their first careers expo for the Gold Coast region. An interesting correlation to this story is that Shane and Hedy are Griffith graduates who studied Business and Science respectively.
With many accolades to her name, Kristin Berardi won the Montreux Jazz Festival International Vocal Competition in 2006, two National Australian Bell Awards for the Best Jazz Vocal Album in 2010 and 2012 , the first and only vocalist to receive the Freedman National Jazz Award 2010; has released a number of albums and toured nationally and overseas. Graduating in 2003 with a Bachelor of Music from the Queensland Conservatorium, Kristin now shares her expertise with current students in the Jazz Voice course.
As a lecturer at Macquarie University in the Department of Accounting and Corporate Governance, Dr John Selby confesses he took an unusual path on his way to academia. At age 15, John was already deciding which university to attend and degree to pursue. His parents had left school early and as the first in his family to go to university, he was drawn to Griffith University to study combined law and international business degrees. “I just didn’t want to study law on its own and wanted to have another degree. I felt the academic staff at Griffith focused on ensuring students learned as much as possible and there was a focus on a new generation of university students.”
After seven years of gruelling study and dedication to become an MD Brendan Goodwin is about to commence his intern year at Princess Alexandra Hospital. With the pressure of his final exams behind him, this Doctor of Medicine graduate will soon be able to immerse himself in new overseas experience, learning from international medical leaders in London and Montreal.
Attending University presents challenges, but for many, the end result can be the satisfaction of obtaining the ever elusive ‘dream job’. Our 30 Grads in 30 Days project has illustrated this fact, but the idea is eloquently summed up by midwife Kirsten Penney,
Griffith University Careers and Employment Service 