Kim Pham
13 April 2016: University of Canberra graduates travel to Parliament House for their ceremonies, but few have travelled as far for the occasion as Wafa Alnuzha.
Ms Alnuzha has made a whirlwind trip from her hometown of Medina, Saudi Arabia to her adopted city of Canberra and will receive her Bachelor of Information Technology at her graduation ceremony on Wednesday.
The trip was an opportunity for Ms Alnuzha to visit her siblings who are currently studying at the University and to spend time at some of her favourite Canberra haunts.
"I have two brothers who are currently completing their PhD at the University of Canberra and so this is also a chance to visit them and see my three nieces and my nephew," she said.
After finishing her studies she was offered a job in the IT department of not-for-profit organisation Namaa Almunawara, which assists with the social and economic development of the city of Madina.
While IT has traditionally been a male-dominated field, Ms Alnuzha said she enjoyed the fact that it encompassed many different topics within the computing sector and offered many job opportunities.
The University of Canberra's reputation for producing high-quality graduates was the reason she chose to study at the institution.
"I heard UC was educating and training students who ended up being experts in their field and that really motivated me," she said.
"Another reason was because I liked the UC community and its environment when I visited on Open Day and I really wanted to be a part of this community."
While studying, Ms Alnuzha immersed herself in the University of Canberra community, working as a student ambassador for the Faculty of Education, Science, Technology and Mathematics for two years.
"As a student ambassador I worked at UC on Open Day, and got to share some of the community feeling I experienced with future students. Being able to pass that feeling on is one of the experiences that I enjoyed most while studying," she said.
Although excited about putting all her skills to work when back in Saudi Arabia, she said there were many things she would miss about Canberra.
"We moved to Canberra when I was 11 and so most, if not all, of my memories are in Canberra. I miss Canberra's ever-changing weather, the beautiful clouds, the fresh air, my friends, my car and to be honest, uni."
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PhD graduate fights the invasion of the cloning snails
Grad finds success in exercise physiology
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UC grad follows forensic dreams
Sports-mad Sean snags double degree
