Valedictory Address
This is the Valedictory Address that I presented at the 3pm graduation ceremony on 8 December 2003 at the University of Queensland for students graduating from the Faculty of Engineering, Physical Sciences and Architecture in the School of Information Technology and Electrical Engineering and the School of Physical Sciences:
Chancellor, Vice-Chancellor, members of senate and academic staff, distinguished guests, fellow graduates, ladies and gentlemen.
"The friends you make at university are ones that you'll keep for the rest of your life"
I know that I'm not the only one who's been told that by their parents. And I'm sure it's true - there's more to university than studies. The people you meet, and all of the other experiences you have are all part of university life.
I've met a lot of people during my years at the University of Queensland. Some of these have been through the clubs and societies. I've been in the orienteering club, which had lots of training sessions and organised some very successful orienteering events. The chocolate appreciation society had meetings where you simply eat lots of chocolate. SEES, the society of electrical engineering students had soccer matches, end of team project pizza and a great graduation dinner. I'll remember all of these activities when I remember my time at university.
And of course, I’ve met many people through subjects that I've done. Perhaps the most notable of these subjects is team project. With lots of late nights towards the end of semester spent in the lab trying to get things to work, this is an odd bonding experience for team members and for people in different teams, all sharing in the same pain of things not working, and joy when things actually do work.
For my final year project I had the opportunity to do a topic with a good friend, Polly Alexander. This topic enabled us to spend time on essential background research on cocktails and cocktail bars. We made an automated cocktail maker that actually did serve drinks at Innovation Expo. And we're still friends, so all considered it was a very successful topic.
One really great opportunity that I've had is to take part in the study abroad program. I spent one year studying in Luleå, Sweden, and it really was a wonderful year. I was able to experience different styles of teaching, a different culture and traditions, I learnt a new language, and I met people from all over the world. This also resulted in the opportunity to travel around Europe for a month and visit some of these friends. I'm reminded of this experience often when wandering around the University of Queensland when I hear bits of Norwegian and Swedish conversations. I hope that their experiences here are as good as mine were there.
For the time studying at university, the support of friends and family has been essential for a successful time. There is a common theme in the acknowledgements of many of the thesis documents for final year projects where there is a line similar to this one: "thankyou to my friends and family for keeping me sane and for making sure that I remembered there's more to life than studies".
So thanks for everything - for making us dinners, for reading our assignments, for understanding our sometimes bizarre sleeping habits, for taking us out for a good time, for simply being there for us when we needed you.
Thanks to the lecturers and tutors for the learning experience that has led to this graduation today. Thanks for the lectures, the tutorials, and the inspiration needed to finish the degree.
Fellow graduates, good luck for the future - whether you already have a job, are still searching, are planning to continue studying or are going to travel the world. I wish you all the best.