Attending Central Queensland University is fast becoming a family tradition for one Rockhampton family who have four members involved in Orientation Week, study preparations and graduation activities this month.

For the Waltham family, this February marks two very special events. Caroline Meakin (nee Waltham), 21, will don a mortar board and graduate with a Bachelor of Learning Management (Japanese) degree on Saturday, February 26, while her younger sister, Rebecca, 17, will venture on-campus for the first time for O'Week, in preparation for starting her Bachelor of Nursing degree on Monday, February 28.

Another Waltham sibling, Jessica, 18, is in her second year of a Bachelor of Nursing degree at CQU Rockhampton, while Caroline's new husband, Andrew, (they were married in December) will also graduate with a Bachelor of Multimedia Studies from CQU Rockhampton this week.

Caroline is the eldest of 11 children, the youngest just four-months-old. With the first three Waltham children (and another by marriage) having attended CQU, they may be setting a precedent for the rest of the family.

CQU Rockhampton's graduation ceremony will take place at the Rockhampton Baptist Tabernacle, 650 Norman Road, North Rockhampton, on Saturday February 26 at 10am (Faculty of Education and Creative Arts, Faculty of Informatics and Communication, James Goldston Faculty of Engineering and Physical Systems) and 2pm (Faculty of Arts, Health and Sciences, Faculty of Business and Law). CQU Rockhampton's Orientation Week activities will be held from February 28 and March 4.

Caroline said she was very impressed with the BLM (Japanese) program at CQU and encouraged anyone with an interest in this area to consider CQU.

"During my degree I spent eight months in Japan in 2003 on a CQU Scholarship, and also spent three months in Japan for a CQU primary teaching experience back in 2002.".

Caroline will be supply teaching for Education Queensland this semester, with the hope of landing a position in Japan in the near future.

In some advice for new CQU students, Caroline said she would encourage everyone to take part in all the O'Week activities to familiarise themselves with the campus and university procedures.

Another tip she provided was to ask lots of questions - she found this a helpful technique with her own studies.

Caroline also recommended the mentor program at CQU.

“I encourage students to become mentors because it’s such a great program and it helps first-year students become more independent and comfortable. It really helped me in the first year, so I was a student mentor for two years after that.”.

Photo: Family members (from left) Rebecca, Caroline, Andrew and Jessica are involved in O-Week, study and Graduation at CQU this month.