Lisa Donohue has always wanted to become a teacher but admits she originally lacked motivation and decided to leave school at the end of Year 10 if a decent job came up.

Now a quarter of a century later, Lisa has returned to her old school (North Rocky High) as a teacher after excelling at her academic studies.

In fact, Lisa recently found out she is the Faculty medallist based on her studies in the Bachelor of Learning Management at Central Queensland University.

Lisa Donohue

Lisa will join 301 other graduates at CQU's Rockhampton graduation ceremony on Monday evening, March 12, and will deliver the Closing Address by the Graduates' Representative.

The mother-of-three children (aged 8 to 14) is humble about her achievements, putting them down to good time management and the application of experience from the workforce.

Lisa started as a junior stenographer at Rockhampton City Council at the age of 15, back when Rex Pilbeam was still Mayor. She was only 18 when she started as secretary to Mayor Jim Webber and later continued in that role with Mayor Lea Taylor.

The 1990s was a time for raising a family, but Lisa worked part-time for the Council to keep her work skills current. She returned to full-time work in 2001 as personal assistant to Mayor Margaret Strelow but bit the bullet in 2004 and enrolled at CQU.

"The council was like a second family to me, but I felt the urge to become a teacher, and they were very supportive of my dream," she said.

Her enthusiasm enabled her to complete a 4-year-degree in only 3 years, by fast-tracking her study options, while maintaining part-time employment at Fitzroy River Water.

A highlight of this period was teaching English in Korea. Lisa made the most of her contacts and her family is now hosting a Korean boy who is attending school in Rockhampton.

"Between myself and the kids, we are attending 4 different schools," she said.

Lisa is now teaching Year 8 English at North Rockhampton High School and English as a Second Language for Vietnamese and Brazilian children.

She says she tries to inject her own life lessons and experiences into her teaching style. One recurring message is that: "You can be anything you want; just make it happen".