• Charles Sturt University in Port Macquarie is holding its 2022 graduation ceremonies on Monday 19 and Tuesday 20 December
• More than 280 graduates are celebrating the completion of their courses with more than 1,000 family and friends
• Graduates are receiving degrees across a range of disciplines including in social work and arts; education; business; nursing, paramedicine, and healthcare sciences; medical sciences; environmental sciences; and allied health, exercise and sports sciences

More than 1,000 people are celebrating 287 graduates at the Charles Sturt University graduation ceremonies at Port Macquarie on Monday 19 and Tuesday 20 December.

Graduates attended in full academic regalia with family and friends, basking in their educational achievements after persevering through the unprecedented period of a global pandemic and the catastrophic weather events that swept the nation.

Of the 287 graduates attending, degrees are being awarded in courses offered by the Charles Sturt School of Social Work and Arts; the School of Education; the School of Business; the School of Nursing, Paramedicine and Healthcare Sciences; the School of Dentistry and Medical Sciences; the School of Agricultural, Environmental, and Veterinary Sciences; and the School of Allied Health, Exercise and Sports Sciences.

Charles Sturt Vice-Chancellor Professor Renée Leon congratulated the graduates for their dedication and determination in achieving their goals.

“These graduates can now embark on the world offering their communities vital skills built from a world-class education at a time when local towns need each other more than ever.

“Charles Sturt’s outstanding record in graduate employment  ̶  ranked first among all Australian universities for the last six years  ̶  means most of these graduates are already making positive impacts in their careers and communities.”

Professor Leon commended the graduates for persevering with their studies during a challenging era.

“These graduates have endured an exceptional educational journey during one of the most difficult periods of our generation,” Professor Leon said.

“Having to navigate the many hurdles presented by the COVID-19 pandemic, along with extreme weather events that have plagued communities is a testament to their strength of character, resilience, and ambition.

Professor Leon noted the critical role the graduates will play in tackling the skills shortages Australia is facing.

“Our nursing graduates will play an essential role at this time when our healthcare system is in desperate need of more nurses. And our nursing, dentistry and allied health graduates will assist with closing the gap in healthcare accessibility between country and metropolitan communities,” Professor Leon said.

Mother of three Mrs Bianca Brooks has graduated with a Bachelor of Nursing in the Charles Sturt School of Nursing, Paramedicine and Healthcare Sciences in Port Macquarie and said she feels that the older she has become, life’s situations and experiences have cemented her interest in nursing.

“While I was packing up our home in Orange NSW to move back to Port Macquarie, I saw an advertisement for NSW Health Enrolled Nursing Scholarships and thought ‘Why not?’, and now I have completed a Bachelor of Nursing,” she said.

Bianca was an online student who studied and worked in the allocated COVID-19 ward at Port Macquarie Base Hospital (PMBH), where she has nursed for six years and is nearing completion of the Registered Nurse Graduate program there.

“It was certainly a challenging time, especially when the work placements were delayed or rescheduled due to COVID-19, which just had to be done, and it’s amazing for many of us to have now finished uni and graduated,” she said.

“I feel that this has made us stronger and even though I finished uni last year, I am very grateful to be graduating today in front of my family.”

Fellow Port Macquarie resident and Charles Sturt nursing graduate Ms Katelyn Smith is the first in her family to go to university. She studied nursing because she has a passion for all things clinical and she loves working with patients and being able to help in a crisis.

“I have wanted to work in a hospital since I was in primary school. It took me a while to settle on nursing, first considering medicine, then allied health, but I fell in love with nursing while I was studying occupational therapy in 2019,” she said.

Katelyn said there were definitely tough moments along the way, but she just decided to take each assignment as it came and pushed through the work placements one day at a time.

“The COVID-19 pandemic did not help things, but it was an interesting challenge, and I think above all, I wanted to make my parents proud and I wanted to be proud of myself as well,” she said.

Katelyn works at Port Macquarie Base Hospital as an assistant in nursing (AIN), is registered with the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA) and starting as an registered nurse very soon.

“Although I am just starting out and have a lot to learn, I am very passionate about mental health nursing in particular,” she said.

Charles Sturt has hosted a total of 21 graduation ceremonies at 10 locations throughout December, including at Charles Sturt in Melbourne on Monday 5 December, Bathurst on Wednesday 7 and Thursday 8 December, Rosehill in Sydney also on Thursday 8 December, Parramatta on Friday 9 December, Olympic Park in Sydney on Saturday 10 December, Wagga Wagga on Monday 12 to Friday 16 December, Albury-Wodonga on Tuesday 13 December, Orange on Thursday 15 December, and Port Macquarie on Monday 19 and Tuesday 20 December.

Approximately 2,200 graduates are celebrated at all these ceremonies among more than 6,700 family and friends.