Lacey Johnson

Chancellor, Vice Chancellor, Faculty Dean, academic staff, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen and, of course, the Graduands.

Before I begin, I would like to pay my respects and acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land upon which today’s ceremony takes place. I pay my respects to their elders past and present.

I will start by congratulating the graduands on the significant accomplishment of the completion of your degrees. It is both an honour and a privilege to be here today to celebrate your achievements. The graduation ceremony is a special way to formally recognise the hard work, perseverance and commitment that you, and your families, have dedicated to your studies and you should all be very proud. I believe it is important to acknowledge and celebrate success because from my experience, nothing of consequence in life ever comes easily. In the years ahead, you will inevitably strike a hurdle or two, and I hope you can think back on this success, and draw confidence and strength from it.

It is particularly exciting for me to address this audience, as it is composed of many students from subjects that I teach in, and some that I continue to work with. I feel like a proud mother hen. However, I am also very humbled to be considered for this honour, as I am surrounded by so many amazingly talented scientists and teachers who taught me when I was an undergraduate student here at UTS; so many of whom continue to influence my career. 

You have all chosen well with your degrees, as science is truly an amazing discipline and the completion of a science degree has the potential to open so many doors. Although I chose to follow the biomedical research path, my graduating cohort is composed of medical doctors, dentists, hospital scientists, pharmaceutical reps, forensic investigators, patent attorneys, sales reps, science writers, high school teachers and bankers to name a few. That is the beauty of a science degree- the skills acquired over the course of your degree are not limited simply to pipetting and performing laboratory based tasks. You are now skilled communicators and critical thinkers, who are organised and love to work in groups to solve complex problems. These skills are highly sought after by almost all employers and can be translated and applied to so many professions. This is great news for you, given the dynamic and ever changing nature of our modern workforce, as many of your jobs may not even exist yet. It is such an exciting time for you to enter the scientific arena, as technology and innovation are forefront in the minds of government, universities and employers across the world.

Many years ago, I sat in the exact position you are now, in this Great Hall, eagerly awaiting my turn to alight the stage and collect my undergraduate degree. So many thoughts were racing through my head, not the least being “I hope I don’t trip up, or down, the stairs”. But more importantly, I was contemplating “what does this mean for my future, and where will it take me?”. I am happy to report that I did not fall, and I am extremely satisfied and often astounded at where my degree has taken me. My career has enabled me to travel the world, work and live abroad, and establish links with a wonderful network of research scientists. The outcomes of my research have contributed to the international scientific community and importantly have the potential to change the lives of the many recipients of our blood products, thus positively influencing the community in general. I have also endeavoured to translate my passion for science and learning to the next generation of scientists through my teaching commitments. All of this was facilitated by the completion of my undergraduate studies here at UTS.

I trust that you have already given some thought as to what you want to be when you grow up? If not, don’t fret. Career paths are often formed through a wonderful conjunction of twists and turns, opportunities, and experiences; which you may never have planned or foreseen. 

On the surface, my journey since graduating appears fairly direct, completing my undergraduate Medical Science degree, followed by Honours, a PhD, undertaking several post-doctoral research positions and progressing upwards to my current role as a Principal Research Fellow. For anyone who knows my stereotypical type A personality, it would be easy to assume that I had it planned that way from the start and that I have just been going along and ticking the boxes. The interesting fact is that I didn’t have a clue what I wanted to do when I finished my undergraduate degree! Thankfully, I had some guidance from a very wise woman here at UTS; who said to me “You have the marks, you should do Honours”. So I did, and the rest, as they say, is history. I fell in love with research and platelets.

Now, as many of you know, once I start talking about platelets, which are the most amazing of our blood cells, it can be difficult to stop me. To avoid going down this rabbit hole, I thought that I would instead try to convey a couple of tips that you may find helpful for building a successful and rewarding career.

1. Find your passion:

Passion probably sounds like a strange word to apply to science, but my experience is that successful researchers and innovators are almost always motivated by passion. My advice is to take the time to discover your passion and pursue it to the best of your ability. Find out as much as you can about the jobs and industries that interest you; talk to people, consider volunteering or a traineeship. Sometimes the only way to find out if you like a job is simply to give it a go – but be prepared to move on if you find it’s not the right one for you. After all, most people change career paths three to five times during their lifetime, so changing your professional direction is not unusual and can make for an interesting and stimulating journey. 

2. Never stop learning:

Although today we are celebrating the completion of a huge milestone, for many of you this represents only the beginning of your tertiary education. Many of you will, or already have, embark on further formal studies to achieve your career objective. I believe that in today’s ever changing environment, it is essential to establish a culture of lifelong learning. At UTS you have been blessed with a first rate teaching staff and hopefully you haven’t had to look far to find someone that inspires you to ask ‘why’, or to challenge you to go further. However, it is important to realise that education is not confined to a formal learning environment, so if you surround yourself with people you can learn from, both in the workplace and the community; you will go from strength to strength. People you work with can help you build on the foundations that your education has given you and you just never know what you might learn from the person you play sport with. Don’t forget that UTS can continue to act as a resource for ongoing learning, and you should recognise the opportunity that links with the university can provide. Today, by graduating, you are joining the ranks of a very special club, the UTS alumni. I hope that you don’t underestimate the value of this.

3. Be resilient:

Science is hard and research is competitive: sometimes experiments don’t work; manuscripts and grants will get rejected. This can be dis-heartening, but through failure, you can build a strong work ethic and develop a creative approach to scientific study. Time that is seemingly wasted may later prove to have been well spent, if you are patient and persevere. It took me many years to learn the importance of resilience, which would have been significantly less stressful had I known that it was normal. This is why I believe that loving what you do will keep you coming back enough to learn from your failures so that you can ultimately succeed.

As you leave here today as graduates, be open to all opportunities and remember that the destination is important but it is on the journey that we have our greatest experiences. I hope you will remember your journey to today’s graduation with great fondness. I wish every one of you success as proud alumnus of the University of Technology Sydney.

Thank you.