Division of Health Sciences
Tomorrow
starts today could be Felicia Adeniyi’s daily mantra and it’s certainly
an expression her children have heard more than once.
As one of the first nursing students studying at the Mt Gambier campus
and now one of its first graduates, she has lived her "studying" years
with enormous passion and discipline.
"I was up at 5 am each day to pray, get the family ready and get off to
uni by 8.30 am," she said.
"I went to classes and studied until about 5 pm when I picked up the
children went home and organised meals, school lunches and then went to
bed by about 8.30 pm completely exhausted."
Originally from Namibia, Adeniyi moved with her GP husband Gabriel to
regional Australia in 2003, a move she describes as a bit of an
adventure.
"We wanted to see something new, something different and Australia
offered work opportunities and a real change of scene," Adeniyi said.
For a while they settled into life in Mt Gambier with Gabriel focused on
his role at the Mt Gambier District Hospital and Felicia dedicated to
two growing boys and work at the local branch of BankSA.
"I had always felt fulfilled by the idea of a caring role – I think I
have a natural flair for that kind of work so I’d always hoped one day
to find a way to express that," she says.
"When UniSA opened up in Mt Gambier I felt as though they had done that
just for me. There was no way I could have done my nursing degree
without the campus being there. I started my studies just three weeks
after my daughter Grace was born and she became a bit of a class mascot.
On one or two occasions, I breastfed her quietly in class no one noticed
and I didn’t have to miss the lecture."
Adeniyi said she felt an enormous responsibility to perform well because
she felt lucky to have the opportunity to study locally.
"I don’t know, it might sound funny, but I wanted to repay the privilege
by performing really well in my studies – so that the uni would be proud
of me."
With enormous support from her local friends and adopted "grandparents"
the Bastiaens – who provided a lot of childcare - Adeniyi graduated not
only with an academic excellence award under her belt in first year, but
with distinctions in every one of her clinical sciences assessments for
the entire degree.
She left Mt Gambier after graduation to return to the family’s new home
in Merridin, WA, where she has already begun her 12- month graduate year
at the Merridin Hospital.
"I have been blessed with great support from my husband, my children and
my friends, but also from the whole UniSA community in Mt Gambier."
At the end of April, 39 people graduated from degree programs in
business, social work and nursing in Mt Gambier. These are the first
students to have completed their degrees at UniSA’s Mount Gambier
campus.
Courtesy of UniSA News
