Donna Ericksen, a 2002 Graduate reflects on her experiences at CQU Gladstone. She is currently working at Boyne Smelters in the Information Systems team. I left school in 1986, half way through year 11. I really didn't think I was smart enough to continue on, and I really didn't know what I wanted to do. After I left school I had a number of jobs and bought a business with my husband. When we divorced, I had 3 kids, Jamie, Blake and Tayla, to raise and I didn't want to stay on the single parents pension forever. Although I knew I would be able to get some kind of job, I wanted to do something that I enjoyed doing and that allowed me to earn a good wage. I started at CQU in 1998 as a STEPS student (Skills for Tertiary Education Preparatory Studies), and went on to begin my degree as a mid-year intake student in a Bachelor of Business (Information Systems). Because I began my degree mid-year, it took me three and a half years to complete. That worked out well for me, because I could spread the subjects out a little more and still complete it as a full time student. I did extra subjects over the spring/summer terms. This meant that I only did 3 subjects for most terms. I got into the field of IT because I had done a lot of work from home on my computer, and had really enjoyed fiddling around with it. When I got my first modem and could send e-mail to my cousin in New York City, I realised that I really enjoyed working with the computer. Like every uni student I had many problems along the way. As I said, I had 3 kids, I worked part time during part of the course, and I also spent nearly 2 years as the Gladstone Campus Board Director of the CQU Student Association. I also began a new relationship not long after I began Uni, which has developed over that time. I spent the last year of my study working full time and that was difficult. My partner Wayne, my Mum and Dad, and my kids, were all very supportive of my studies, and I can honestly say that I couldn't have done it without their support. We all made sacrifices along the way, but it has been worth it. My most memorable experience was when my very first assignment was being returned. The lecturer had told us that as a group we hadn't done very well, the average mark was 8 out of 15, the lowest mark was 4.5 and the highest was 14.5 out of 15. I was praying that I wasn't the one with 4.5. When I walked out of the room and looked at the mark, it was 14.5. That was the first moment I really believed that I would be able to make it through. Until then I really wasn't sure, in fact I was very doubtful. Having said that, I have to say that the staff at the Gladstone Campus made my years there very enjoyable. I can not say enough about every member of staff from the office, to the library, the STEPS co-ordinators, and the lecturers and tutors. At the moment I'm not intending on going back to study in the near future. Not in the near future anyway. I think my family would move out if I suggested it! I do believe I will go back at some point in the future, sometime when I don't have enough challenges in my life...

Going to uni has changed my life dramatically and absolutely. Apart from the new job, I now have confidence in myself that I never had before. I know that I am intelligent and able to meet a challenge. I enjoyed every moment of my Uni experience, and participated in everything I could. Over the time I spent there I was a Mentor for new students coming in, the Student Association Board Director for Gladstone, and a part time Tutor (just before I left). Every single experience added something to my life and my experience. I don't regret a single moment of it, as challenging and sometimes frustrating as it was - life doesn't scare me anymore!