Vanessa Lam
18 December 2017: More than 500 high school students from across the ACT and regional New South Wales visited the University of Canberra last month to experience university life first-hand as part of the UC 4 Yourself Experience Days initiative.
Now in its fifth year, the UC 4 Yourself Experience Days, hosted by the University’s Widening Participation team, gives students from regional, financially disadvantaged and Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander backgrounds the chance to see what going to university is like and to experience a course or degree they may not have considered before.
Year 11 Narrandera High School student Isabella Wait said although coming from a remote town to the University was a bit overwhelming, she was excited to learn as much to get an advantage before going into University.
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Narrandera High School students experiencing University life at the UC 4 Yourself Experience day. Photo: Vanessa Lam.
“Having the opportunity to travel to Canberra has opened a lot of doors, so I really feel like this has been a helpful day,” Ms Wait said.
“It’s been a massive help in understanding what people are doing at university and seeing the different aspects of what the students go through.”
The two-day event allowed students to speak to University staff about the wide range of courses on offer.
Visitors also took part in faculty workshops including a simulated TV broadcast, emergency nursing simulation, forensics experiments and a realistic war game workshop with director of the University’s National Security Institute and former Chief of Army Peter Leahy.
The expo in the Refectory showcased interactive demonstrations by staff and students including Cody the Career Bot, the University’s resident robot Ardie and faculty stalls. Prospective students also learned about the University’s support services and programs such as study abroad programs, the Australian Indigenous Mentoring Experience initiative, the elite athlete program, and scholarships and prizes.
Students also toured the University’s on-campus accommodation facilities and explored the Bruce campus on a scavenger hunt. Bombala High School student Blake Stevenson said he was interested in studying tourism or sports management and enjoyed experiencing campus life.
“It’s nice, it’s great to see what the university has to offer, I could see myself living here,” Mr Stevenson said.
“It’s big, spacey and natural and that’s great considering we’re in a major city.”
Students came from Wagga Wagga, Narrandera, Bombala, Cowra, Boorowa, Bega, Cootamundra, Eden-Marine, Batemans Bay, Yass and Kaleen to attend the event on 28 and 29 November.
