Fraser Coast graduates celebrate at University of Sunshine Coast ceremony
Dressed in robes and with big smiles, the new nursing, teaching and animal ecology graduates from a Queensland university celebrated at a ceremony in Hervey Bay.
Fraser Coast
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With a beloved wife and two little girls, Tim Byford’s life was almost complete in every way – but when it came to work, there was something missing.
He was working in retail, and enjoyed his job, but when he was made redundant, a whole new world of opportunity opened up to him when he decided to complete a Bachelor of Animal Ecology at the University of the Sunshine Coast.
During his graduation at a ceremony at Hervey Bay’s Beach House Hotel on Thursday, Mr Byford also received the university’s highest honour.
Mr Byford was presented with a University Medal, in recognition of his near perfect grade point average of 6.94 out of 7.
“We’ve all taken various paths and had different experiences along the way but have ended up at this same point – graduating with degrees that give us opportunities to start new lives, careers and adventures,” said Tim, who reflected on his own journey in an address on behalf of graduating students.
“Seventeen years ago, as a young school leaver I headed off as my parents expected to university, but after one year, I decided studying wasn’t for me.
“So, while my friends and future wife continued their degrees, I worked in management at Woolies,” he said.
“Time went by, I married, we started a family, and I started a new and better job; although still in retail.
“Everything was falling into place, except for this niggling feeling that I was missing something in my career.
“One day it hit me. I wanted to pursue my passion for the environment and make a difference, a real difference to the people around me and my community.”
Taking what Mr Byford said was a huge leap of faith, he enrolled in a Bachelor of Animal Ecology at the university in 2019, knowing the degree was a pathway to many career options in that space.
That decision also led to new, unexpected personal discoveries about his interests, abilities and career goals.
“I never anticipated that when starting the degree, I would end up with a University Medal for outstanding academic achievement,” he said.
“Up until then, I never really thought of myself as being academic, but discovered how much I enjoyed learning and the difference that planning, time management and focus could make.”
Vice-Chancellor and UniSC president Helen Bartlett said it was a special day for all the graduates, who were from a “whole range of different disciplines”.
She said their years of studying had been made more difficult by the Covid-19 pandemic, which had forced the students to do parts of their learning from home.
“Not only has it taken the three, four plus years, depending on whether they studied full time or part time, they also had a pandemic to deal with.
“That’s been quite challenging.
“But they’ve persevered and they’ve shown an incredible resilience.”
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