Charlotte does her dad proud
CAIRNS accountant Barry Wright should have been at his daughter’s side when she graduated with an electrical engineering degree two weeks ago.
Instead, cancer robbed him of that moment. After an eight-year battle with thymoma cancer, Barry died in 2016.
But Charlotte made sure her dad was close by when she graduated with flying colours from CQUniversity in Cairns this month, holding a treasured photo of him on the day.
“It was really hard, but it was nice,” said the 21-year-old, who graduated with a Bachelor of Engineering (Honours).
“I’m glad that photo was there because I would have been looking for his face in the crowd. Having the photo there was like having him there, so it was really nice.”
It was the end of a long haul for Charlotte, who threw herself into her studies at Trinity Bay High as a form of distraction from her father’s health and to make him proud.
“I wanted to do well because I wanted Dad to see that I could do really well because I knew he wasn’t going to be around forever.”
A high achiever, Charlotte set the bar high.
“People would say how lucky I was to get As, but they had no idea what was going on at home. I didn’t really tell many people,” she said.
“That was just my life and that was the norm for our family. And my dad was very much a soldier with it all.
“He was very upbeat and cheery. He made it easier for us. He never let us see him get upset. The only time I saw him upset was at the end of Year 12. They rushed him to Brisbane and I thought I was never going to see Dad again.
“That was the only time I thought about giving up, but then I picked myself up and finished the year.”
Charlotte’s dad was there to see her graduate as dux of Trinity Bay High, achieve an OP1 and win a clutch of scholarships to study engineering at The University of Queensland.
But it was difficult moving to Brisbane when he was so ill.
“When you’re with someone all the time, you don’t notice them deteriorating in front of your eyes, but when I was in Brisbane, he sent a photo of himself. He had the biggest grin, but he looked so sick and I really missed him.”
Charlotte decided to transfer to Cairns to be close to him.
“He went into hospital the day of my last exam in Brisbane and never came out.
“I couldn’t face going back to Brisbane after that, so I transferred to CQU.”
Today, she flies to London to chase another dream.
She’ll be studying music and with her will be a treasured photo of her father.