Living the 'Great Dream'

The Great Dream:

The Keys to Happiness.

The hope would be that most people work toward achieving the elements of the ‘great dream’ as shown in the poster to the right but not all are fortunate enough to attain it. Is Professor Heather Banham one of the lucky people that has all elements of the great dream in place and therefore happy? You can be the judge of that.

Heather Banham realised what her gift was in her early 20's and worked towards a future using this gift.

'I realised that accounting was a lot easier for me than for others so perhaps it was a natural ability.'

While it was good to realise this strength, the next challenge was how to achieve a career using this skill. Heather and her husband were already working full-time to support each other and their three sons, so the goal to achieve the ‘great dream’ initially seemed unattainable. She was determined though and investigated various options until she finally arrived at a solution with the help of the Darling Downs Institute of Advanced Education (now the University of Southern Queensland - USQ).

'USQ with its distance delivery made education possible for me. I started my Bachelor of Business (Accounting) at the Darling Downs Institute of Advanced Education and completed my studies when the institution was called University College of Southern Queensland. Participating in two residential schools was a great experience for me - being able to focus on course work and gain understanding from professors and other students.'

After finishing her studies, Heather happily practised as an accountant for some time until she started to feel one area of the ‘great dream’ was lacking, the ‘t’, trying out phase. Heather decided to challenge herself further and study some more.

'By the time I registered for the Doctoral Program I had already completed a Masters in International Business and was a designated professional accountant. I wanted to go for the next level and the Doctor of Business Administration held a real appeal because I saw it as applicable across both academia and business. I actually learned of the program through a mail out from the USQ alumni association and after recommending it to a colleague, decided I had better get started myself.'

So Heather Banham became a Professor. A Professor is usually associated with impacting lives, whether it is through research or cures and Heather did just that through her work with students at the Okanagan School of Business.

'I think I take the greatest satisfaction from building a positive culture so that my colleagues can also achieve their potential and make the maximum positive contribution to our students. I just received recognition for twenty years at Okanagan College where I have been a Professor in Accounting, Chair of the Business Administration Department, Associate Dean and now Dean at the School of Business.'

Professor Heather Banham was fortunate enough to realise at an early age consciously or not that the keys to happiness lie in one’s ability to cover all elements of the great dream.

'I think job satisfaction comes from working to our strengths and talents - I am lucky because my current job is about financial management and human resource management plus it suits my personality to help people. Engaging students in business education gives them skills for life as well as how to earn a living and ways to contribute positively to their communities.'

Now that you are aware the keys to happiness lie in achieving all elements of the great dream, maybe you can achieve happiness too, that is, if you haven’t already. Which elements are lacking in your life? If you, like Heather, need to fulfil the ‘t’ (trying out) and ‘m’ (meaning) phase of the great dream, maybe the University of Southern Queensland can assist you with further studies and guidance. Investigate your options now and set yourself on the path to living the great dream.

Professor Heather Banham