From first starting university as a teen mum to graduating a second time with a University Medal, new University of the Sunshine graduate Carrie Rhodes is proof that success rarely follows a straight line.
Not only was Carrie chosen to deliver an address on behalf of graduating students at a UniSC Fraser Coast ceremony recently, but she was also recognised for achieving a near-perfect GPA while completing her Nursing Science degree and received a Student Service Award.
However, academic achievement is just one part of a much bigger story. She first enrolled in a Bachelor of Education straight after high school – as a new mother.
“In Year 11, my partner and I found out I was pregnant. In Year 12, I gave birth to my daughter and took six months off before returning to finish the following year.
"I headed straight into a Bachelor of Education full time – with a baby in tow. But very quickly reality hit. I remember balancing lectures, assessments, parenting and thinking, ‘oh my’.
“So I deferred and went out into the workforce for a little while. But I realised if I could do that, I could do uni. So, I gave it another shot and was proud to graduate with a high GPA.
“At the time, I didn’t think of it as anything out of the ordinary. You just put your head down and power on.”
More than a decade after completing her first degree, she decided to take that same attitude into completing a Bachelor of Nursing Science.
“As an avid learner, I decided to return to university seeking a career that felt more meaningful to me,” she said.
“It was one of those points in life where you stop and think about what really matters. Nursing stood out as a way to make a difference – to care for people in moments that really count.”
As the first person in her immediate family to go to university, Carrie describes completing a degree as a profound achievement.
“I’m always in awe of the fact that, at any stage, you can decide to start a degree, and your life trajectory can be changed,” she said.
That message of persistence and the way tertiary education can transform lives sat at the heart of Carrie’s address to around 50 graduating UniSC Fraser Coast students last week.
“Completing a degree is no small feat. For me, it was a balancing act between study, work, family responsibilities and financial pressures,” she said.
“Though not every moment is difficult, it still requires sacrifice and resilience and represents an achievement that is only accomplished by around one-third of Australians.
“It’s about putting one foot in front of the other, again and again, until you get there.”
Carrie credits much of her positive experience to the tight-knit community at UniSC Fraser Coast.
“Being a smaller campus made a real difference,” she said. “You could walk past someone and they'd be like, ‘How are you going? You've got this’.
“It was that sort of community approach where everybody was looking out for everybody.”
She said that also extended to teaching staff, describing lecturers and tutors as passionate, approachable, always willing to help, and deeply committed to producing safe, competent nurses.
“You could always tell they cared about the kind of nurses we would become – and that they also wanted us to succeed,” she said.
“It’s not really until you start working in the industry that you realise how layered the program and support was, and how well it prepared us for the many different aspects of the profession.”
Now working as a graduate nurse at Hervey Bay Hospital, Carrie is applying her learning in a fast-paced, complex environment – and loving it.
“What appeals to me most about nursing is that you’ll never fully master it,” she said. “Best practice changes, every patient is different, and the learning never stops. Being challenged is part of what makes it so rewarding.”
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