Celebrating our colleagues: Sarah Carvalho

Sarah Carvalho, Student Success Officer, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences 

I work in the Student Success team for the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences. Our team of five serves as the first-point-of-contact in the Faculty for students to ask questions related to their academic journey. We’re available at our front counter so students can drop-in, but we’re also available via email or on the phone.   

Each Faculty has a Student Success team: we’re partnered with DASE along with student support services like the orientation team, international student support, counselling, disability and the student health and wellbeing team.

Our common goal is to enhance student experience and engagement, and provide students with the essential tools to succeed in their degree.

We provide students with information about their enrolment, choice of electives and majors available, and basic advice about their study plans. If we don’t know the answer, we refer students to Student Success Advisors who have specialised knowledge and can dive a bit deeper into more nuanced questions around topics like academic credits, study overseas options or graduations. Of course, we can also refer students to the academic staff, but we try to help the students as much as possible before doing that, so that academics can focus on their teaching and research.  

I’ve only been in this role since January, but I’ve worked at the University for a year, initially on events with the International Student Support team. Prior to that I was a student and graduated from here in 2023 with a Bachelor in Computer Science.

My experience as an international student gives me firsthand knowledge and perspectives that can help current students. I came to Adelaide by myself, after beginning my degree online, from nine thousand kilometres away in Mumbai, during COVID.

I remember when I first arrived that there were just so many friendly people who went out of their way to help me and make sure that I settled in. Those acts of kindness are a constant inspiration for me, personally and professionally.

I always did lots of volunteering during my undergrad because it is something that I found really fulfilling and a great way to meet and network with lots of interesting people from all over the world. And now, I have a job that involves just that! If ever given the opportunity, I don’t think I’d work from home! I love being around students and helping them to navigate their journey. It’s so rewarding to me, and honestly feels more like a vocation than just a job. Every day I get to do things that, surely, I would never be doing in a corporate job.

I’m really proud to be an alumni, and now to be a staff member. Our workplace culture keeps students at the centre of everything we do, and we aim to go that extra mile so they can get the support they need, in time. I am really grateful and glad that I am able to come in to work and be surrounded with likeminded people, and meet with and interact with students. Every day we get to see how people’s experiences here at Uni are actually changing their lives for the better. 

I also love the familiarity of the North Terrace campus, and I know it quite well as I used to lead a lot of campus tours during O'Week. I can even get to the Reading Room without too much fuss! My favourite place on campus is the Hub, because of the many good memories from my student days. My friends and I have spent a lot of hours in there completing assignments, keeping up with lectures, playing foosball and eating snacks from the vending machines.  

A career in Computer Science is on the backburner at the moment. That’s not to say I won’t do anything further with it down the line, but at the moment I really like what I’m doing and I think this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I can choose to pursue a tech career whenever I like but I feel like right now is the right time for me to be doing this role. I’m learning more about the University, I’m learning more about what makes a great student experience, and I’m learning more about myself.   

At this stage in my career, there is no place I'd rather be. 

Writer: Dr Simon Behenna, Internal Communications Coordinator 

Photographer: Isaac Freeman, Communications Assistant