Milestone for our graduates

CONGRATULATIONS to the 273 2019 graduates at James Cook University’s Cairns campus.

The Cairns Post has posted the entire list of graduates and a picture gallery from yesterday’s ceremony on our website to celebrate the milestone.

Vice-chancellor Professor Sandra Harding is right when she says graduation is a proud celebration, the culmination of many years of hard work; so hopefully they all marked it appropriately with family and friends.

The ceremony included the conferral of 34 masters degrees, as well as diplomas and bachelor degrees in areas including arts, business, education, IT, nursing and geology.

I have a tiny regret that I never made it to my ceremony – I had just landed my first job and couldn’t get away.

I take heart in the fact that going to university was all about learning and getting a job and it had certainly done that. Mission accomplished.

CQUniversity Cairns campus will also celebrate their latest graduands in coming weeks, capping off recent good news that Labor will commit $10 million to their flight school if it wins the next federal election.

Education is one of this city’s real selling points, welcoming students from around the country and world.

Along with TAFE, students here can chase their dreams in a tropical paradise. They have access to international and domestic airports, the best natural assets in the world, diverse culture and community, that through the very nature of being so far away from cosmopolitan Australia, is innovative.

There is no need for our smart, hardworking students to leave.