LUCY Nguyen loves the University of Canberra so much that she has completed two degrees and has started her master’s.
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The 22-year-old from Narooma graduated with a double degree in commerce and tourism management from the University on Thursday.
“I’m excited that I’ve finished my double degree but I’m also excited about starting my masters,” she said.
The former Narooma High School student received the Canberra Award and the Club Tourism Leadership Award.
Ms Nguyen has also been a University of Canberra student ambassador for the past two years and loves showing people around the University and talking to them about her experience.
She plans to put her degrees to use in the near future. “I would like to finish my master’s and apply for a postgraduate position with the Intercontinental Hotels’ chain and get into management,” she said.
Her parents, her aunt, and her siblings travelled from Narooma to attend her graduation ceremony held at Parliament House on Thursday.
Her brother and one of her two sisters also study at the University of Canberra. Her brother studies accounting and her sister studies pharmaceutical science.
More than 2,400 students graduated in six ceremonies, with graduates from rural and regional areas among those collecting their degrees.
The ceremonies were the first for Dr Tom Calma AO to preside over in his new role as Chancellor, with the University also conferring honorary doctorates to the ACT’s first Chief Minister Rosemary Follett and Canberra Business Council CEO Chris Faulks.
University of Canberra Vice-Chancellor Professor Stephen Parker congratulated the students on their academic success.
“At the University of Canberra we aim to prepare students for a successful and rewarding career and we are delighted to be attracting more students from regional areas,” Professor Parker said.
“We have a plan to become one of Australia’s most innovative and successful young universities, world-ranked and with more than 20,000 students by the time the campus turns 50 in 2018. We are already on track with our goals, having recently made it into QS rankings of the world’s top universities. We look forward to sharing this success with our students.”
Professor Parker said the addition of Cooper Lodge, the University’s new student accommodation which includes 400 beds, also enabled the University to offer an accommodation guarantee to all first year and international students.
“We hope this provides peace of mind for students and their parents and families by relieving the stress they can face in trying to find accommodation,” Professor Parker said.
A $15 million, four-storey Health Hub also recently opened its doors at the University of Canberra. The building includes a GP Super Clinic, the University’s Faculty of Health clinics, a chemist and pathology services and is part of an emerging health precinct on the campus, which will also include the new University of Canberra Public Hospital.
Work is also well underway on the University’s Sporting Commons, which will house the new headquarters for the UC Brumbies, an ACT Sports Hall of Fame, sports studies teaching and research facilities, a bocce court and new student sports facilities.
University of Canberra graduates are among Australia’s most employable, with the University awarded the maximum five stars for ‘getting a job’ and ‘positive graduate outcomes’ in the latest Good Universities Guide.
Regional students graduated ready for careers in areas including arts, law, design, nursing, education, sport studies and science.