In 1977 I came with my father to a tree planting day on the new Deakin University Waurn Ponds campus. He and I planted a gum near building IB.
In 1984 I returned to that same campus to study a Bachelor of Arts in Education. I can vividly remember the staff student Faculty BBQs by the lake and sitting on the lawns outside the cafeteria listening to Shane Howard and the Goanna Band belt out ‘Solid Rock’ – they were halcyon days.
Deakin University Geelong provided me with access to tertiary studies and a world class degree in teaching. My lecturers came from near where I lived and inspired me to continue to sow into education in regional Victoria. I did so teaching music and the arts in many primary schools and early childhood centres across the region.
I came back to Deakin as a staff member in 2000 and I have remained teaching and learning at Deakin University since that time, in the School of Education. In 2013 my daughter studied teaching, and now she too, continues to teach in the region.
In 2022, I participated in a tree planting ceremony on the Waurn Ponds campus. It seemed appropriate that I plant a tree for the next generation to sit under and ponder. I hope that many more people experience access to education through Deakin. Wherever they live. In the words of Dr Seuss I say ‘Let It Grow!’.
