Ah, I’m Gary and I’m a USQ student.

I grew up in a country town and, ah, I wanted to do a trade. My father was a carpenter. People you know were electricians, or plumbers, and things like this so eventually I got a trade as a...as an electrical fitter.

Dream job? Maybe not, but I didn’t really know a lot either. Probably wasn’t until I travelled a bit that I ah...started to realise what other opportunities were out there. Small country town Australia probably doesn’t open your eyes too much to the opportunities that are there.

Go out in the field...take shots. I’d always wanted to study, but I never knew what. I just thought I’d like to go to university, but I didn’t wanna study something that didn’t interest me. I enjoyed the job, so I just decided I’d study surveying. I moved to Toowoomba, to...to go full-time. So that was a bit of a...a bit of a shock! Bit chilly here in winter! But um...no, you just treat it like work. Turn up on time, don’t miss anything. And I think that if you have that attitude towards it I don’t think it’s that difficult.

I started with the TPP Program. The Tertiary Preparation Program, and I did the maths and the English, and I highly recommend that, I think that. ..I think that was the best thing I’ve done in that...well, one, I hadn’t studied for 25, 30 years, so getting me back in the mode to study, and it’s really helped me later on doing assignments.

My wife, to start with, is very supportive, I mean, you know, we realise that...financially there is a...major, major benefit to studying. As well as, ah, just job security. Certainly enjoying the surveying. Most of the...all of the instructors have a lot of experience in the field, so they do know what...what’s needed. From a surveying perspective, equipment is important, and all the equipment is quite new...modern, which is important in the real world, that it’s the same, so...that’s a big advantage.

One of the reasons for coming to USQ as well was that my industry is very specific in how we do our surveying, and I don’t get any experience in any other departments of surveying, so coming here definitely opens up a lot more opportunities probably in the future.