Orientation Week, 1980. A small group of new students enrolled in Griffith’s Science degree are gathered under the Science buildings for a welcome barbecue – David Lewis (B Science ’83), Raelee Apps (B Science ’83), Sandra Colaso (B Science ’83), Peter Collins (B Science ’83, B Politics and Government ’10), Darrin Edwards (B Science ’83) and Brad Curtin (B Science ’83).
As the food and drink flow, so does the conversation – and the six quickly form a bond.
More than four decades later, Raelee remembers seeing David in a maths tutorial later that week. “Probably the only one I went to!” she says. He asked her to join a group playing ping pong down in the Hub. “David was obviously the number one player there,” says Raelee. “And me being the only female there, one of the guys said, ‘You should get up and have a go. I beat him!’”
A lot has changed since those days – but their friendship remains as strong as ever in 2026. Between grandchildren, creating music and the occasional stint of relief teaching, they still catch up regularly. And plenty more people have been drawn in along the way, including Mark Beiers (who was at Mount Gravatt Teaching College, which became part of Griffith in 1990).
“I’ve got to the stage now that I can’t even remember who the original six are because the spouses are so entrenched,” Raelee says. “We six are just part of the picture of this extended group. It’s so special.”
Their social lives revolved around university – arriving for an 8am lecture and not leaving until evening. “As a core group we did so much together for those four years,” says David. “There was no other university offering that experience. There was always someone to have a chat to in the common room and get a Tim Tam for five cents or a free cup of something.”
They remember a university life filled with fun. The group hung out in the science faculty common room, played indoor volleyball across the road and occasionally skipped lectures for a swim at the Mount Gravatt pool.
It was a very different place back then, of course. “To be honest, there were probably only about five buildings!” says Raelee. “And only four schools – just science, Australian Environmental Sciences (AES), humanities and modern languages. And we were so close to the bush. The University prided themselves on that environmental aspect.”
David remembers being drawn to the newness of Griffith. “I remember talking to an advisor about what university I should go to, and they pointed out that Griffith was staffed with people who had new and bright ideas – not people who’d just been doing the same job for years. There was a lot of innovation about the place, as well as having that environmental focus. It was just culturally different.”
They were lucky enough to be in a program with visionary lecturers such as Professor Ian Lowe AO, a renowned climate scientist. “I found him absolutely fascinating,” says Raelee. “He was amazing at talking about the impact of science on society.”
Mark recently came across a photo of Raelee and Sandra covered in mud on Stradbroke Island/Minjerribah. “Sandra was doing a project and we were collecting sponges or something out in the mud flats,” Raelee remembers. “Schools would take their Year 11 camp over there as part of the biology syllabus and get a couple of spare teacher assistants by taking some young science students with them. We did a couple of tours like that. They were fun times!”
The group all graduated with Science degrees and Graduate Diplomas in Education. And their bonds stayed strong. Mark married Sandra in 1986 and David and Raelee were married in 1984. Five of the original six have remained in education, going on to careers as teachers, education administrators and trainers. In October 2025, they returned to Griffith for the 50th anniversary celebration, taking a tour of their old haunts.
Throughout changing life stages, interstate moves and growing families, they’ve stayed friends. “We share the same values, and we’ll disagree on certain things, but in this world I think it’s important to focus on the positives because if you’re going to be negative, you’re not going to be happy,” says Mark.
Raelee agrees. “We’ve started to get very soppy about this now,” she says. “We’ve gone from it being all fun and great to now starting to understand the real value of what we’ve got – and that’s special.”
Image captions (top to bottom):
- From left: Raelee Lewis nee Apps, Darrin Edwards, Peter Collins, Sandra Beiers nee Colaso, Brad Curtin and David Lewis
Published 30 April 2026
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