Editorial: The next generation of graduates

Originally written for lumen magazine’s 2022 Spring edition

Featured image by Angus Northeast

Children's University is breaking down barriers to create lifelong learners

Sarah Meyer’s story reflects a founding principle of the Children’s University ethos – that adults forge their passions, dreams and interests as children. When she first crossed the Bonython Hall stage to graduate from Children’s University as a Mark Oliphant Year Six student in 2013, Sarah dreamt of a career in medicine.

Today, she’s an aspiring immunopathologist and third-year Bachelor of Sciences student majoring in microbiology at the University of Adelaide. She’s also one of the first in her family to attend university.

“As a kid, I didn’t even know about university, I had no idea what it was,” said Sarah. “I’d never even really been into Adelaide because I lived so far north that coming into town was a once-a-year thing to go shopping.”

It’s students like Sarah that Children’s University Australasia and Africa Managing Director Kiri Hagenus sought to engage when she brought the program to Adelaide nine years ago.

“If you don’t know what’s out there, what you can do for your career, and what opportunities are available to you, then how are you going to know what you want to do with your life or where your passions lie?” asked Kiri. 

“Children’s University goes out and breaks down the idea that universities aren’t for these children as university is a place of learning for every single person, regardless of their background or their circumstances,” she said. “It’s the idea that this university is your university if you want it to be.”

For Sarah, “being familiar with the University of Adelaide through Children’s University helped to close the gap and made it feel like less of a leap. I knew I wanted to do something more in my life. I knew I wanted to be in medicine, but I didn’t know what that entailed or how to get there,” she said.

Sarah is now intent on a career in research to “delve into the mechanics behind diseases”.

Children’s University helps reveal its students’ passions through a program of extracurricular educational experiences paired with regular visits to the University’s campuses. The only prerequisite for a learning activity is that it must link back to a higher education pathway. 

“If a child plays a sport, it doesn’t necessarily mean they’re going to be an elite athlete but it might uncover their passion,” explained Kiri. “There’s sports marketing, sports engineering, physiotherapy, exercise science – all types of things that mean you can be part of the sport you love and are passionate about.”

The children accrue stamps, indicating hours of participation, in their ‘Passport to Learning’, and their achievements are recognised at a formal graduation ceremony. 

“It really addresses two sides of things,” said Kiri. “Through the learning destinations you’re getting children in touch with what they’re passionate about, and then by bringing them onto campus you’re getting them familiar with the university setting and the opportunities it can present.”

While the learning experiences and campus visits work in tandem to position tertiary education as a possibility for Children’s University students, the graduation ceremonies cement it as an attainable pathway. 

Children’s University Australasia and Africa have swelled from 22 students receiving awards in its inaugural year to 5,300 graduates at 13 ceremonies across Australia, New Zealand and Mauritius in 2021.

These graduation ceremonies have been a cornerstone of Children’s University’s approach from the get-go, and with good reason. “It’s the idea of acknowledging their accomplishment and their learning,” said Kiri. “Again, it’s building that story for them, especially those children who don’t know anyone who’s ever been to university. When you see that ‘aha moment’ in a child’s eyes or their parents’ eyes, that’s what’s important, that’s what’s powerful.”

This sentiment is echoed by Sarah, who not only experienced it firsthand at her own ceremony in 2013 but also witnessed it when she returned to Bonython Hall as the Master of Ceremonies in 2021.

“There were so many students compared to when I graduated from the program,” said Sarah. “They were all so happy, you could see that they were very proud of themselves.”

It’s a full-circle moment for the ambitious microbiology student who embodies the vision Kiri and her team set out to achieve eight years ago. 

“This is exactly why we did it in the first place; this is everything we’ve fought to do now coming to fruition,” said Kiri. “Every child has aspirations, and the University has a job to support those aspirations, guide them, stand with them, and walk next to them throughout their learning journey. Children’s University is community driven, and everyone has to be involved to make this work – the more people that want to be involved, the more children we can reach.”