ECU Vice-Chancellor Professor Steve Chapman with the Top 100 Students of 2023.
Edith Cowan University (ECU) is proud to announce the Top 100 Students of 2023.
At ECU, each year we acknowledge our Top 100 Students. This is a particularly significant accomplishment given that there are close to 30,000 students at ECU.
To recognise their achievements, the Top 100 Students were invited to a special celebratory event.
ECU Vice-Chancellor Professor Steve Chapman said that 2023 has been another outstanding year for students.
"Year after year, I am in awe of our students who, despite the many challenges they face, manage to achieve remarkable success," Professor Chapman said.
"I am incredibly proud of our students."
David Bell, Katie Douglas, ECU Vice-Chancellor Professor Steve Chapman and Katherine Barclay
Sound advice
Katherine Barclay is about to conclude her Bachelor of Science in Exercise Science and Rehabilitation and was picked as one of the student speakers at the Top 100 Students event.
For someone who never thought of themselves as particularly 'intelligent' and always said they wouldn't go to university, Katherine is immensely proud to be in the Top 100 Students.
"I always try to do my best for my own intrinsic satisfaction, so completing a degree was never about achieving the best results, it was about doing my best and learning the most I could."
"I am honoured to receive this award and I feel it is a really positive way to complete my studies."
Addressing the students at the Top 100 Students event, Katherine shared some valuable advice:
It's wise to ask for and accept help
"Sometimes the actual act of asking for help seems even harder than the struggle itself. The fear of feeling like a burden or owing someone a debt you cannot repay certainly stopped me asking for help sooner than I should."
"I quickly realised that the people that care about you, like to help, and what might seem like a big ask to you, is in fact only minor to them."
Have more than one passion in life
"For many years I have been passionate about exercise rehabilitation, I could happily discuss the nuances of the best exercise program for a patient recovering from heart surgery all day long."
"However, my university experience has shown me it is vital to have more than one passion in life. If you give all of yourself to one passion, you become one dimensional, you lose the ability to think differently about a topic."
Persistence is key
"To be persistent requires direction, great focus, resilience, and a lot of energy. However, persistence is not an infinite resource."
"Life after university will continue to present you with challenges and you must choose wisely the ones you wish to face with persistence to ensure you do not burn out."
Pass on your privilege
"We are incredibly privileged to have the chance to attain education at this level as many in our society will never have such an opportunity."
"We have a responsibility to use the skills and knowledge we have gained to find a way to pass on our privileges to those less fortunate and give back wherever and whenever we can."
Leading up to this moment
Katie Douglas is almost at the end of her third year studying a Bachelor of Education (Secondary) and shared her study experience as a Student Speaker.
Katie started her studies 17 years ago, torn between choosing a course that would secure a job or her favourite topics. She initially decided on nursing, then changed last minute to teaching, but it was short-lived.
"Before I knew it, I'd switched to Commerce and was completing my final practicum as a Marketing and Public Relation major."
"Fast forward 10 years from there, I had worked in corporate, not-for-profit and for local government but wherever I went I had the niggling feeling that it wasn't for me."
It was on maternity leave with her second child that Katie decided she didn't want to go back to the business world.
"I wanted to finish what I started, to become a teacher and share the passion I have for History and English, and to support teenagers to find their own place in the world."
"From the first moment I stood in front of a classroom of teenagers on my first professional placement I knew I had made the right decision. I have found what makes me happy, what gives me a sense of fulfilment, and I can't wait to start my career as a teacher."
Katie shares that being recognised as a Top 100 Student has been a good opportunity to reflect on her time at ECU.
"I am proud of myself for taking the leap and becoming a mature age student. It hasn't been easy balancing work, study and my young family, but my hard work and effort has paid off."
"There is no way I would have done so well without the support of my husband and my parents who have been there to provide positive reinforcement and help, and the brilliant ECU teaching staff!"
ECU’s Top 100 Students celebrate with the Vice-Chancellor.
Top 100 Students of 2023
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- Amy Ahearn
- Kayle Robert Baker
- Janine Kelly Ball
- Katherine Sarah Barclay
- Richard Basura
- David Owen Bell
- Liam Bennett
- Cody Bock
- Leah Brighouse
- Addyson Jane Buck
- Sam McLeod Burnett
- Magdalayna Ruby Cannon
- Taylah Cartwright
- Pei-ju Chien
- Sayward Adelaide Chitty
- Anastasia Joy Davy
- Thiseni Dhihansa Dharmapala
- Hamish Dobbs
- Katie Maree Douglas
- Zongfei Du
- Bree Benton Elliott
- Jack Henry Ellis
- Jesse Joseph Figliomeni
- Genevieve Olivia Franulovich
- Grant Fryer
- Peta Frances George
- Ismaele Giamunno
- Sheldon Ryan Gill
- Declan Roy Gray
- David Barry Gush
- Ksenia Haangala
- Christopher Halfyard
- Christopher Hallett
- Colin Herbert
- Robert Herren
- Brodie Hibberd
- Brian Holding
- Jodie Anne How
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- Mark Jamsek
- Heath Jeffrey
- Thor-Robert Jelstad
- Ellen Jenkyn
- Liam Jennings
- Laine Natalie Jolly
- Jessica Louise Jubb
- Rebecca Anne Kane
- Damanjeet Kaur
- Jaimee Brooke Klaassen
- Levke Kloenhammer
- Adam Lacco
- Sanju Lama
- Joonghwa Lee
- Ethan Thomas John Lee-Visser
- Aaryn Minh-Khai Ly
- Rebecca Macbeth
- Emmylou Madeleine Macdonald
- Cameron John Mackinnon
- Jorjia Deanna Kimberley Mason
- Samantha Jane Mckenzie
- Paul Andrew Mclaughlin
- Simon Meredith
- Cameron Ross Moore
- Benjamin Mullin
- Jonathan Nathan
- Nedene Naude
- Thi Quynh Anh Nguyen
- James Northey
- Leanne Marie Oates
- Benjamin James O'reilly
- Catherine Margaret Anne Parkhowell
- Michelle Petri
- Jenna Pitcher
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- Isabel Kate Rayney
- Joanne Reakes
- Joshua Reid
- Mikayla Grace Richards
- Tobias Ruckdeschel
- Emma Ryan
- Brett Charles Ryder
- Shehan Sangeeth Seneviratne
- Bin Shen
- Monte Shub
- Barry Smart
- Matthew Cameron Smith
- Michael John Smith
- Bonnie Jo Staude
- Zarlie Edith Stubbs
- Daniella Kurnia Surya
- Tammie Melissa Taylor
- Stacie Maree Toovey
- Jamie Alexander Urwin Duarte
- Benjamin Robert Verstandig
- Hongmei Wang
- Adam Clayton Benjamin Williams
- Lewis Williams
- Marc Wydro
- Lingling Xu
- Elli Yiannopoulos
- Xiangying You
- Renae Zanatta
