When I dreamed of graduation, I saw myself throwing my cap into the air, just like in the movies, and taking photos with my degree to post on Instagram. But sadly, and for good reason, these plans had to be postponed.
Graduating in the time of COVID-19
You have a new document from University of Technology Sydney. It was the title of the email letting me know that I had officially graduated.
Was this how I imagined it? Absolutely not.
Instead of being up on stage in the Great Hall, surrounded by friends and family, I downloaded my testamur, transferred it to a USB and headed to my local Officeworks to print it out. You know that phrase ‘You don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone’? Well, that was me – I was already missing the printers at UTS.
Arriving home from Officeworks, I was greeted with hugs and congratulations from my family, and then a scolding from my mum because I didn’t buy a frame to hold the testamur. So, I did what anyone with siblings who’ve already graduated would do – I snuck it into the frame that held my brother's doctorate degree! It didn’t stay there for long, but it did make the pictures with my family seem almost like the real deal.
Instead of being up on stage in the Great Hall, surrounded by friends and family, I downloaded my testamur, transferred it to a USB and headed to my local Officeworks to print it out.
Although the introverted homebody in me is thriving during this pandemic, I do miss the regular catch-ups with friends and mentors from UTS. I’m still hoping for a graduation ceremony, or some version of it, to be able to properly mark this milestone. If not, ordering some graduation hats and celebrating over a small dinner will have to do for now.
These days, I’m part of the graduate program at Fujitsu Australia Limited. I was fortunate to graduate from the Bachelor of Information Technology Co-Op Scholarship Program, which provided two six-month internships during my degree.
After interning at Fujitsu during my final year at UTS, I was accepted into their graduate program and worked there part time while finishing my degree. I’m currently part of the Co-creation team, focusing on empowering customers to tackle their business challenges and create solutions for digital transformation.
What does this look like? Preparing and facilitating workshops, prototyping solutions, and drinking lots of coffee!
My degree was the perfect stepping stone into my current role at Fujitsu, allowing me to apply many lessons from class into real-life contexts during workplace internships – an opportunity I’m truly grateful for.
Where am I headed from here? Now, that’s a great question.
I aim to finish the one-year graduate program at Fujitsu Australia but, after that, who can say? Maybe I’ll stay in the company, maybe I’ll have a complete career change, maybe I’ll move to another country (although I’m not sure about that one, considering the current travel restrictions).
Choosing a path from here will be difficult. There are so many roads that new graduates like me can take, and sometimes we won’t know which is the ‘right’ one.
Where am I headed from here? Now, that’s a great question.
The beauty of graduating from university is that it’ll guide you to a career and open up new opportunities but, ultimately, the future waits to be explored and discovered.
So, take a chance, seek opportunities and tackle any worries one step at a time – the right path will be the one where you keep moving!
Byline
Chloe Dizon is a Co-creation and Innovation Associate at Fujitsu Australia Limited. She has a Bachelor of Information Technology (2020) from UTS.
