I’m delighted to welcome new students to Australian Catholic University.
As you begin your orientation week I urge you to be fully part of these activities,
as they set the basis for success in your first semester.
There’s much to learn about University and as you begin your higher education career
you are probably already thinking about the professions that you’re going to enter and
the professional that you want to become.
I want to commit ACU to fully support you in that journey and to do everything we can
to assist you to become a successful student, a qualified graduate, and an employed professional.
We want to be with you on every step of that journey.
In order to do this though we need you to commit to the process too.
We need you to commit to your studies, to recognise that study takes time, takes persistence
and also takes an environment that will motivate and support you.
Paradoxically this means that those students who do best at their studies also engage in
campus life, they make friends at University and I invite you to actively pursue friendships
with the diverse range of students that ACU contains.
Our international student body, about 20 percent of your peers come from over 78 countries
of the world.
If you come to ACU and your address book is not full of foreign addresses when you graduate
you’ve disappointed me.
I want you to find people who’ll be your study buddies, people that you can clarify
questions with, people that you can share social events with.
So orientation week with all its activities and all its opportunities to meet people is
a critical time to build those bonds.
University is a time when we change our perspective on ourselves, our sense of personal identity
and also our commitments to others.
At Australian Catholic University you’ll be challenged to think about your values.
You’ll be asked to give service to people who perhaps don’t share your advantages.
Take these challenges and reflect on what you learn about yourself and what you learn
about our world.
ACU graduates go out into the world to make a difference.
They are committed to that and we ask you to be committed to that too, while you’re
a student and also when you become an alumni of the University.
University transforms us, it is a wonderful privilege to be able to access a University
education.
It’s a very special time of life whether you’re school leaver or whether you’re
a mature age student changing career.
Really cherish that time and make the most of the opportunity, delve into the opportunity
that you have and really embrace it.
Our office is at your service, the faculty of the University want you to succeed and
believe that you can succeed.
Take responsibility and think about joining the Students Association or taking on a leadership
position within the University.
It’s very important that you think of yourself now as someone who’s building your graduate
attributes.
The co-curricular program of the University enables you to offer a future employer more
than a degree, a degree that is complemented by a range of work ready skills.
This is what we offer you, it’s there for the taking and I urge you to really make the
most of it.
I sit at graduation every year, and we have many of them and I’m proud to say that the
students across the floor in front of us by in large have embraced and enjoyed their experience
of University at ACU and I hope that that will be your experience too.
But I know from experience that you will drive your experience, and that the commitment that
you make and the effort that you put into your participation will actually determine
the results.
Be assured that we support you in that and be challenged to do what you need to do to
get the most from your University education.
Best of luck with your journey at the university this year.
I know you’ll make a positive contribution.
And I hope it will be a rewarding and enjoyable one for you, thank you.