Antony Perry
6 April 2017: When Phoenix Lawton made the decision to go to university, he became the first person in his family to undertake tertiary study.
Now, five years later, he’s taking a different leap of faith.
The 22-year-old recently departed for a semester abroad at Japan’s Tokyo Gakugei University, where he will complete elective units before returning home for his final semester.
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Phoenix Lawton hopes to forge a career in sports management after completing his degree at the University of Canberra. Photo: supplied
It’s another milestone in his student journey, albeit one he thought he’d never achieve.
When he enrolled in a Bachelor of Sports Management at the University of Canberra in 2015, it was his second attempt at university. Mr Lawton is completing his degree at the Holmesglen Institute of TAFE, a partner institution of the University.
He had previously attended Deakin University in 2013 as a school-leaver, but various reasons contributed to his decision to abandon the course a year in.
“It was definitely a daunting decision to make, coming to university,” Mr Lawton said. “No one in my family has gone beyond high school, so it was a case of breaking the mould. I didn’t really know what to expect.
“I started a Bachelor of Sports Development at Deakin but realised it didn’t align with what I want to do for work in the future. I also wasn’t mature enough to be studying at the time, which led me to take a year off and work and travel.”
His decision to apply at the University of Canberra has paid dividends, with the football-loving New Zealander finding his passion and growing his knowledge of Australia’s vast and exciting sports industry.
And now in the final year of his course, Mr Lawton is looking forward to broadening his understanding of the sector on a global scale.
“I’d like to manage professional athletes for a living and I think going abroad and learning about the sports industry more widely will assist me in my future career,” he said.
Mr Lawton received funding for his semester abroad under the Australia Awards-Endeavour Mobility Grants initiative. The University was awarded more than $200,000 as part of the federal government initiative to fund students wanting to live, study and complete internships overseas in 2017.
