The average person can expect to change their career three to five times in their working lifetime.
UQ student Alison Dunn has done just that, returning to university as a mature-age student to study business management.
Ms Dunn will graduate at one of the Business, Economics and Law graduation ceremonies to be held at 11am and 6pm on Wednesday, July 18, at the UQ Centre, Union Rd, St Lucia campus.
Valedictorian and Mt Gravatt resident, Ms Dunn took on her business management studies as a career change decision. She is a mature-age student with a flight attendant/management background of ten years.
Ms Dunn wanted to build on her hospitality/customer service experience and to gain qualifications that provided broad employment opportunities.
“The Business Management degree gave me a broad scope of potential employment options after graduation and did not just focus on one particular vocation,” Ms Dunn said.
“Although I chose the Real Estate and Development major, I don't feel confined to just this vocational direction. Business management covers a wide range of subjects,” she said.
UQ Business School Employment Services Officer Heather Shapton said Ms Dunn’s case was not uncommon.
“By undertaking a high quality undergraduate or postgraduate business degree, students can build on previous work experiences by consolidating their existing skills whilst focusing their study on future areas of interest,” Ms Shapton said.
“Business study, along with the networking and career development opportunities available to UQ Business School students, can facilitate the career transition process and lead to satisfying career advancement and personal growth.”
Ms Dunn will speak at the 6pm ceremony, along with guest speaker The Hon. Patrick Keane. Mr Keane is a UQ graduate with a BA, and LLB with first class honours and a University medal (1976). He has worked for the Supreme Court of Queensland on constitutional and commercial cases, has been appointed to Her Majesty’s Counsel and was Solicitor-General for Queensland for 13 years. In February 2005, he was appointed to the bench of the Court of Appeal, Queensland Supreme Court.
At the 11am ceremony, 22-year-old Law/Commerce graduate Tanya Patel from Chermside is the valedictorian. The guest speaker is Denis Gately, Partner, Minter Ellison Lawyers.
Mr Gately is a commercial and corporate lawyer with more than 25 years’ specialist energy and resources experience. He has advised on many significant mining and gas field developments, mineral processing and transport projects in Australia and the East Asia region, including Comalco’s Gladstone Power Station, Shell’s Callide, Duke Energy’s Queensland and Eastern Gas Pipelines and The Port and Airport Development Scheme in Hong Kong.
He is also experienced in advising on native title and Aboriginal cultural heritage issues across many industries.
For more information, contact Elizabeth Kerr at UQ Communications (07 3365 9723 or 0422 940 572).
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