In the early morning hours when most of us were asleep, dedicated CQU Sydney Graduate Campus students volunteered their time to assist with the ANZAC dawn service held at Martin Place, Sydney.

Sydney Graduate Campus students Surendra Sharma, Parikshit Ujwal, Jayvardhan Jugtawat, Gajendra Singh, Parmeet Gill and Natalia Tayer volunteered under the guidance of Chris Perrin, NSW State Secretary of RSL and Bob Betty, RSL Administrator.

Surendra Sharma with Don Rowe at the dawn service

The students' responsibilities included giving directions to the crowds and guiding people to their seats.

"We were pleasantly surprised that many of the war veterans were accompanied by their grandchildren, who seemed so proud and excited to march alongside them," said Surendra Sharma.

At the ANZAC official dinner held at the Hyde Park Inn, the students had the opportunity to introduce themselves to Don Rowe, President of RSL, NSW and Vice President of RSL, as well as Morris Iemma, NSW Premier.

When Don Rowe gave his speech a special mention of appreciation was given to the CQU student volunteers.

He stated that the members of the RSL club and other guests appreciated the students' time and effort for making the event so successful.

It was a fantastic experience for the students to work with enthusiastic people from Anzac House, organisers of the Anzac parade.

The group of enthusiastic student volunteers looks forward for another occasion where they can offer their services to the community.  Through this experience they have learnt that every small contribution counts towards a successful event.