"This 'perfect' body is impossible and unrealistic for most people to achieve. For some, it can lead to depression and dangerous eating practices.”22 September: A University of Canberra graduate who is one of only a handful of Fijian women with doctorates will attend the launch of a book profiling her and 10 other ‘global graduates’ at the University of Canberra.
The Global Graduate by associate professor of education Dr Anne Campbell tells the stories of graduates from eight countries and will be launched as the University welcomes a number of its international partners to Canberra as part of its 40th anniversary celebrations.
Dr Tamarisi Yabaki, a lecturer in human geography at the University of the South Pacific, completed a master’s degree and a doctorate at the University of Canberra between 1998 and 2006. For her doctorate she researched ways for rural Fijian women to develop more financial autonomy by trading agricultural produce.
Dr Yabaki’s husband and youngest daughter still live in Canberra and she visits regularly, but she returned to Fiji to use her education to improve her country and be nearer her three adult children. Dr Yabaki grew up living with her grandmother in the Fijian capital Suva, while her parents worked to fund her education. Her doctoral research focused on her mother’s home village, where she is now helping to establish a kindergarten.
"I have been fortunate to have these opportunities and with them comes a responsibility to the community," Dr Yabaki said.
"My experience at the University of Canberra made a huge difference in my life. It exposed me to a different world and I gained confidence as a professional and as a woman."
The book saw Dr Campbell visit the 11 graduates in their home countries to see the University’s impact on their lives on how the graduates have changed their homes for the better on their return.
Money raised from sales of the book will fund a scholarship for international students undertaking postgraduate study at the University of Canberra.
