No drama entering university despite illness

A prolonged bout of glandular fever in year 12 could have scuttled Patrice Deakes' hopes of starting university if it wasn't for Griffith's continuing education certificate programs.

"I was sick for a long time at school and missed a lot of classes", Patrice said.

"As a result, I didn't get the OP I needed to start my degree but I didn't want to spend another year repeating year 12".

"I wanted to start studying relevant subjects straight away and when a career advisor told me about Griffith's Certificate in Applied Theatre Studies, I jumped at the chance".

The opportunity to begin tertiary study part-time also appealed to Patrice.

"It was a great learning environment and the lecturers were very supportive", she said.

"That was important to me because I'd missed so much school. It enabled me to ease into tertiary study and gave me a good taste of university before embarking on a degree course".

"There was a great diversity of people in the certificate program who were doing it as part of a variety of other studies, That created an environment in which I learnt a lot about myself and my abilities".

With a passion for the creative industries, Patrice is looking forward to a career teaching drama to high school students and even trying her hand at acting.

"When I was sick in year 12, drama was about the only thing that maintained my interest", she said.

"I've always enjoyed acting - it's like taking yourself to a place where no-one else is and I look forward to sharing my passion with students in the future".