A flexible 'life plan' is the key

Vice-Chancellor

The beginning of a new academic year is a time when you can sense the optimism and expectation across the University. Every corner of our campuses is brimming with students, taking their first steps towards further study.

In welcoming our new scholars, I am drawn to reflect on what defines the quintessential University experience; the unique educational and cultural influences one encounters at university that then leads to a rewarding and successful personal and professional life.

One notion that always resonates with our new students relates to their aims and ambitions upon commencing their University degree - their plan for the future, often focused on one highly sought after outcome, such as a dream job or achievement.

Having a blueprint or 'life plan' may certainly help students to channel their energy and drive them towards a clear result. However, fixating on one particular journey can also mean that students pass opportunities and alternatives that may well deliver even greater fulfilment.

A plan with vision, but without flexibility is limited.

A perfect plan is invariably one that can measure risk, weather change and willingly embrace new opportunities.

That is the plan I encourage our students to develop; one that nourishes their aspirations, rather than just safely containing them.

This is particularly important for our younger students, with many joining us following secondary school. University life can seem quite overwhelming, amid the challenges of navigating a new and comparatively large campus, co-ordinating study timetables with work commitments and developing friendships and networks.

As members of our Alumni community can testify, university life is not just about lectures and libraries. Scholarship is only part of the journey and academic success is enhanced by sport, volunteering, cultural pursuits and involvement in special interest groups.

Adding these extracurricular elements to 'the plan' can make the difference between simply completing university, and absorbing every conceivable possibility that higher education scholarship and culture can deliver.

PROFESSOR JAMES A. McWHA
Vice-Chancellor and President