By Emma Xerri
Federation University welcomed more than 300 new alumni last month, with two graduation ceremonies held at Bunjil Place on 27 March.
Coming together to celebrate their achievements were this year’s graduates and their loved ones, hearing from the university’s best and brightest, including graduate speaker Danielle Lewis who spoke of the importance of caffeine when overcoming academic obstacles, and urged her peers to “be fearless in the pursuit of [their] goals”.
And Danielle, who is the first in her family to graduate university, with a Bachelor’s Degree in Community and Human Services, has already made some of these goals a reality.
“As soon as my studies finished I moved into a job, so I’m working in the field already and I’m pretty excited to be pursuing my career and furthering myself,” Danielle said.
“I’m already working with a lot of my friends, so it’s really exciting to be moving into the next stage of our lives together.
“And being asked to give the speech on behalf of the graduates was incredible.
“I was super nervous, but so glad that I did it.”
Working in community services, Danielle has embraced what the university’s vice-chancellor referred to as “Federation’s purpose of transforming lives and shaping communities,” much like IT graduate Amy-Marie Patsalis, whose newfound passion for data is sure to see her navigating the ever-changing tech world in no time.
“It’s surreal. It hasn’t hit me yet that I’ve graduated,” she said.
“But now I’m definitely on the lookout for work that is IT related.
“Because of my degree, I’ve found an interest in data, which I would not have expected, especially because my whole mindset at the start of my degree was around game development.
“Now, I know what jobs to look for, and I’m more experienced and more skilled.”
With passion and a keen sense of what they want to achieve, each of these students is sure to live up to the lyrics performed by former students Lachlan and Perry, who sang “we’re the movers and we’re the shapers; we’re the names in tomorrow’s papers”.
And as of now, the latter is already true.
