 Good morning everyone. If you could be seated. My name is Richard Swain. I'm a Davey Wiradjuri man and I've been asked to emcee this event. So welcome to the first day of the rest of your life. And first up I'd like to ask Mr Paul Giroa House to do a welcome to country. I'm a Dango Wiragawari Richard. I'm Richard Swain, Wiradjuri Gibya, respecting Richard as a Wiradjuri man, in a Nurembangu on country. So now I'm around Jumburu, Burumarambangu, Maranya. Good morning everyone. You and do Paul Giroa House. My name is Paul Giroa House. I'm from Maradu, Maraibiringu, Guji Gangaon Yambri, Nurembangu. I was born here at the centre of my ancestral country at the Alcambra Hospital. God bless it. Anyone born in the Alcambra Hospital. Great to see hospital alumni here this morning with me. Yinjimata Bala Boya Niang Nurembangu Bagarigan. Respecting language, law, people and country. Murubangu Bala Winganagu Yambuwan Bango Nara Nara. First to know the nature of things. Yilin Galangbu, Gibbabangu, Wugabu, Migaibu, Dira Nielbang. Ladies and gentlemen, young men, young women, distinguished guests. Vice-Chancellor Genevieve Bell. Chancellor Julie Bishop, the Honourable Julie Bishop. Students, academics. Niari Njimali Nyambri, Cambri, Gumao, Walgulu, Walabalawa, Nurembu, Nagarigo, Wiradri, Muji Gangaon Yambu Jeyandu. My respects to Nyambri, Cambri, Walgulu, Walabalawa, Nurembangu, Nagarigo, Wiradri, Eldest, Past and Present. Niari Njimali, Muji Gangaon, Nurembangu, Nenya Yiridu. My respects to all people and First Nation people from all parts of the country. Bango Nara Nara in the world. Nyambri, Cambri, Walgulu, Walabalawa, Nurembu, Maiengaon, Banyan, Niñogaon, Nurembangu, Dara. Nyambri, Cambri, Walgulu, Walabalawa. Nurembu people, welcome you all to country. Nardu Noyagoya Malang. It's wonderful, it's fabulous. Ninenna Nainmura Burumbabirra, Waiambana, to share this welcome to country with you all here today. Nardu Wurugabigi Balabambu Gubu, Balagibangu Gubu, Gunguliala Dumbali Nair Murwai Marambu. We listen to the old people, the ancestors, the elders, and they show us the good path, the right path, the straight path. Gunguliala Billengali Nair Yama Mali Nair Wala Mali Nair. They nurture us, they guide us, they protect us. Mambu Wara Naminya Gubu, Wurugabinya Wurudaregu, Winingala Gubali Gubu. Looking to see, listening to hear, and learning to understand. Nyani Injumali Nurembangila Balanin, Walawin Galanga, Bangbu Yanengengu, Nyani Marwangyao Billigigila, Yama Belgidi Yani, Bagarigan Yanengengu. We look after country so it is healthy for all our children and our next generation. And for all our people, we teach and we learn what is right for all on country. Muro Muginya Yinjumara Muro Muro Wurumbira Nurembangu. Living a respectful way of life, cares for country. Yinjumara Wurumbira Marando Gubu, Yira Gubu, Yanda Gubu. Respect is taken, responsibility for the now, the past, the present, and the future. Our welcome to the country is always made in the spirit of peace and care for harmony and reconciliation for all people of modern Australia and our main aim, always to establish an atmosphere of mutual respect through the acknowledgement of our ancestors and the recognition of our rights to declare our special place in the pre- and post-history of the Canberra region. The name Canberra is derived from the name of our people and country right here, the Nyambiri, the Canberra. Gazetted Canberra Station on the 22nd of January, 1834, under the New South Wales colonial government, Canberra Station, here at the ANU campus. Yinjumara, Yinjumau Gijo, Yinjumaru Buu. Powerful, irraduary words on country, and they mean many good things. To go slow, be patient, be polite, be gentle, take responsibility, uphold. Yinjumara Bala Bala Bidadabinabinabinah. Yawilawil Wurumbira Nurembangu. Respect can be found in the Canberra Creek and rivers and the breeze, quietly moving through country. Yinjumara Bala Bala Wala Mwangadabu, Murrumbadandabu, Bama Yuguru Gambira. Respect can be found in the grinding stones and the carved trees, made long ago on country. Gungulila Wijingayinawangaradagandabapa, Yirinigo. Respect can be found in how our matriarch dig for yams in Mother Earth. We've cared for Mother Earth since the dawn of time and evidence of our sovereignty, our ownership, our statehood, can be seen everywhere throughout the country. Our signature is in the land, not just our DNA. And taking care of country is important to us. Yinjumara Bala Bidadabinabinabinah. Yawilawil Wurumbira Nurembangu. Respect everything living and growing. The law of the land talks about Yinjumara Bala Badawinabinabinabinah. Yinjumara Badawinabinah, giving respect and honour to all people from all parts of the country who respect you. Maragaladal Walanmayanmayangalang. Hold fast to each other and power the people. Walangunmala Maramara Gurei. Be brave, make change. Deriyawana Murawara Nawanbida. Get up, stand up and show up. It's wonderful. You're all here today to share with us the start of this year, the commencement of ANU. We talk about Yinjumara Maramara Nianyinyi Girma Maranya. Respect that shapes us and lifts up the people. Yinjumara Maramara Winnengagigalana Mayan. Respect creates people who care for each other. Goyambana Nira Nurembangu. Welcome to country Mandangul. Thank you very much. Thank you, Paul. Welcome to country is something you'll get used to if you're new to Australia. Country is, if it's nothing else, it's our soil, the water and the species that evolved here. And I heard respect. Respect is something, something lacking unfortunately in modern Australia. So most Australians can tell you they love the place, but do they love the place? Can they point to a square millimetre of this place that may love them? And respect is, respect for country. That's the main, the main thing lacking in Australia. And, you know, we're a hundred extinctions in. There's a lot of intelligent people out there, but we seem to be behaving poorly and our landscape reflects that. So thank you, Paul. So some housekeeping. We have the ambulance and some tents over here. Lots of wonderful volunteers in pink vests and all of the buildings are open for toilets. So for those of you, this is your first day and challenging times, but particularly for Australia, Australia, this needs to be the decade of healing country or it's the decade of waving goodbye to a lot of country. And it is that respect and I often hear that it's the next generation. It's the next generation going to do the right thing. Well, I believe the next generation, their duty is to hold my generation to account and we can start behaving respectfully and intelligently towards the very country we rely on to survive. So the next speaker I'll call up is our Vice-Chancellor, Genevieve Bell. She's actually the first Vice-Chancellor, the first female Vice-Chancellor and appointed in 2024. She is... She holds a PhD in cultural anthropology at Stanford University and is a renowned anthropologist, technologist and futurist. I'm very keen to have more yarns with Genevieve. She spent more than two decades in Silicon Valley helping guides, helping guide Intel's product development and social science and design research capabilities. She's best known for her work at the intersection of cultural practice and technology development and for being an important voice in the global debates around artificial intelligence and human society. Sounds like we've got our great Vice-Chancellor for the times we're in. So Genevieve Bell. I made Richard promise he wouldn't read out my biography because it always intimidates me. And it makes me wonder what it is that I'm doing here as your Vice-Chancellor and what I'm doing back in Australia. But I wanted to begin by acknowledging where we are today on the lands of the Ngunnawal and the Nambri people and to pay my respects to elders past and present and to acknowledge that we're on land that was always sacred and never ceded. And to think about the fact that it's not enough to acknowledge those things anymore. We also have to commit to making things different, making things better. I talk a lot about the fact that we have a responsibility to make the world a better place to make it more fair, more just, more sustainable. And I think a little bit to tell stories that are more hopeful and optimistic about a future we can make together. And there's no better place to do that than on day one. Day one for all of you at this place. For some of you it's your first day. For some of you I know it's a return trip and we're grateful to have you back. For me it's day 43 of being Vice-Chancellor. And I know there's some of you in the audience going, I don't even know what a Vice-Chancellor is. I wasn't entirely sure what it meant either when I said yes to the job. I certainly wasn't prepared for the wave of incredible support I've had from people and also the wave of people's opinions about how I should be a Vice-Chancellor. I imagine for some of you your parents and your friends have opinions about how you should be a student here too. I bet some of those are opinions about what you should study. I bet some of them are about how you should turn up and what you should do here. I have some solidarity with you in that. I was told as a Vice-Chancellor I couldn't wear sneakers. I was told as a Vice-Chancellor I shouldn't wear jeans. I was told as a Vice-Chancellor I should do something about my hair. I was told I should can the backpack. I was given some other gratuitous advice too. I suspect many of you have been given advice that is equally unhelpful. So I don't want to give you any advice but I do want to tell you that being in a place like this is special. That being here is a moment in your life and an opportunity that you should lean into with every fibre of your being. I know for some of you it's the first day and I remember what my first day was like here. It's a very long time ago. My first day here was in the 1970s. The first time flared jeans were a thing. And skateboards frankly were a thing too. My first time here as a child was when my mother came here as a mature age student as a summer scholar and we lived in Ursula College. So a shout out to those of you from Ursula. I remember it from the 1970s and it still smells the same. It also means that I remember what it was like to find this place both magical and utterly overwhelming. Because as a small kid and I imagine as a young adult there's something about a place this big with so many people and so much opportunity that it's hard to know precisely how you want to navigate it. Good news is you are surrounded by people you'll get to navigate it with. You will make friends here. You will find teachers and staff who shape and reshape the way you see the world. You will find places of this country by square millimetre all in love with. And you will be changed by the experience at least that's my hope for you. That's not my gratuitous advice for you but my hope that in education you have a transformative experience that this place is full of critical friends and critical conversations. I know some of those conversations will be hard and I know that we will attempt in every way we can to scaffold you through those conversations. To give you the tools to have healthy debate to give you the tools to learn new things you didn't know before. Sorry I'm admiring the bird life. It's kind of marvelous. We'll give you the tools to identify those too if you're new here. I'm thinking Crimson Rosellas but don't quote me on it. We will try and make this a place that is home for you in the time that you are here and one that when you leave you think of fondly the way I thought of this place fondly for the nearly 30 years I was gone before I came back again. No gratuitous advice. Just hopes and one small promise. I'm also on a journey with you. It may be your first day. It's my 40th. I also will find myself lost on campus. It's a big campus. We have a lot of buildings. 243 they tell me. It's a big campus. It is about 150 hectares and we have more than 9000 fabulous trees. If you see me looking lost please feel free to help I will do the same. I can guarantee you there is an app that doesn't always help you find everything that will help you find many things and yes a girl from Silicon Valley is now going to tell you to find your mobile phone open your app store of preference and download the app for campus which is helpfully called ANU OK. You will find it. It has maps. It has helpful guidance in it. It's a useful place to find out what's going on as is every other way we will tell you all the extraordinary things this campus has to offer. Not just your education but a series of clubs a series of societies and a series of moments where you will get to I hope connect and find new pathways through and I hope a year from now those of you who are new will be sitting here again and that you will help me welcome the next extraordinary cohort of people to this extraordinary place. So it's a great day. Day one for some of you, repeat day for others. In those first days it's okay for it to feel overwhelming. It's okay to think you've got it because you haven't and someone is going to call you up short on it. I've had a few of those days already and it's okay to ask for help. It's okay to look a little bit lost. It's okay to wonder when you open a cupboard what exactly is in it or you open the next email and wonder precisely what you're feeling overwhelmed is part of what being at a university is about and part of the social contract between me and all of you is that our job is to make sure that you have tools to manage that overwhelmedness and you come out the other side extraordinary and I know you all will. I know whatever happens here at the other side of all of this you will be extraordinary extraordinary citizens extraordinary human beings and extraordinary citizens of this country or of others and that feels like the most amazing gift we can give all of you and one that I hope you want to be part of. So thank you for getting here. For those of you who I called personally and I did call some of you personally thank you for taking my call and thank you for turning up here. And with all of that what I get to then do is also thank everyone who made today possible and I hope you will join me in a round of applause for our admissions office, our residencies, people who help you find your accommodation, people who helped you get here, the people who organized today because none of this happens magically or mysteriously and I know I'm hugely grateful that we get to make this moment for all of you. So my thanks to the people who made all of that possible and to my extraordinary Auslan translators too. Yay! And because I know some of you are not physically here but online you are missing campus. The ground is unexpectedly green for February the trees are green, the parrots are loud and everyone here is I think full of the enthusiasm that I want it to be for day one. The last thing I get to do in my little round up here is to welcome the keynote speaker for today. I'm incredibly excited that it's Ashley Streeter-Jones she's an alumna of this university she has a master in diplomacy from the ANU and I have met her in many places beyond this one. The last time I have a feeling it was cold and we were in snow boots and thinking we were very far from home indeed. We're incredibly lucky to have Ashley with us today. She is the founder of raise our voice Australia a social enterprise that's mobilizing young women and gender diverse people through education and community and campaigns. She was named the Victorian young Australian of the year finalist in 2024 and she's just a force of nature and I always recommend you want to start here well you should start it with forces of nature so Ashley come on Well thank you for the lovely introduction I too would like to begin by paying my respects to the Nunnable and Neambry people the traditional custodians of the land pay my respects to the elders past and present and extend those to any First Nations people here with us today Vice Chancellor Staff but most importantly students welcome and welcome back my name is Ashley Streeter-Jones I am an employee a volunteer a sister a daughter, partner, friend and founder I am certifiably terrified of the dentist still obsessed with Pokemon and a not-so-closet heavy metal fan who just never grew out of her emo phase I love my friends can quote most episodes from Bob's Burgers and absolutely detest Mayonnaise I'm usually the first person to clap and I can often be found on any dance floor even without the music I'm an advocate an activist who believes deeply in the power of the next generation and is fascinated by systems I'm deeply uncomfortable with the way that the world works and I've dedicated my time to challenging this status quo like many of you I also moved to Canberra to go to ANU enrolling in my masters of diplomacy when I moved it was my aim to look back yeah I would do that again I arrived in Canberra on the 16th of July 2016 the night before the move I lay in bed staring into the dark full of nerves and wondering if I'd made the right decision held back tears as my partner and I packed the car not taking anything that didn't fit hugged my parents and got on the road it was cold it was rainy I almost certainly cried on and off for the first hour as I got my head around moving out of home moving in with a partner for the first time moving into state starting a masters at a new university and how on earth I was going to build a life in a place where I only knew one person it was a lot of change at the same time and I'll be honest for the first few months I was desperately lonely I was so homesick that I extended my masters for another semester I told myself if I've gone to the effort of moving to Canberra I'd better make it worth my while I hope that I've done it justice fortunately I loved my time at ANU being able to connect with leaders in the field participate in practical learning through negotiation workshops diving into some of the most complex global conflicts and connect with classmates from all over the world I was in my element my masters took me to a graduate role in national security diplomacy I contributed to Australia's keeping strategy wrote briefings for cabinet the secretary and the chief of defence for us I led dialogues in Jordan and Fiji led our engagement with Tuvalu and have since applied those same skills in our COVID response gender equality policy and now in sexual violence prevention and response and that's just my paid work I enrolled in my masters to explore my interest in the way that systems make and break inequality and while university was one avenue for this it certainly didn't end there my volunteer work and the opportunities available to me in Canberra have taken me from politicians officers to the United Nations to the World Economic Forum perhaps most importantly I have met some of the best people I know have explored solutions and ways to raise the floor on inequality have run training programs which support the next generation of politicians and public policy makers started important conversations and taken opportunities I could never have dreamed of I haven't done one element of this work alone every step has been a team effort and gosh I've worked with some great people along the way many of whom I met here in Canberra and some even at ANU I've been reflecting on what I would have wanted to hear when I was where you are today which is a bit historic but doesn't actually feel so long ago really I wanted someone to tell me that everything was going to be okay but being the anxious little human I was I'm not sure I would have believed them so assuming some of you might also be feeling this mixture of nerves and excitement there are some things I've learned over the years that I would like to share the first one be audacious the best things I've done in my career to date have hands down been the cheekiest it was audacity that drove the emails I sent to politicians in 2017 asking them to let a young woman or gender diverse person take over their office for the day it was audacity which started a conversation about the absence of these young people from our decision making bodies audacity which has seen over 300 speeches written by young people by politicians in our federal parliament audacity which saw my social enterprise discussed at the World Economic Forum it takes audacity to look at something and think I can create and be part of making something better don't get me wrong audacity must always be accompanied by respect and politeness but sometimes instead of asking why you need to ask why not take the deep breath and hit send on that email the second one challenge the status quo there's nothing that makes me make this facial expression faster than someone saying that's how it's always been done but you'd be surprised how often that phrase comes up it's got to be one of the worst reasons for doing anything in this challenging it's also important to ask who does this benefit who's in the room and how can I get them there there are many ways to ask why can you tell me more about that I'd love to hear a history of how we arrived at this solution or perhaps a simple why is that ask these questions and ask them often fortunately your time at ANU is focused on learning and will guide you to ask those right questions challenge systems and be part of solutions if something doesn't feel right ask why interrogate that feeling in your gut and don't be afraid to imagine something better but importantly as you challenge as you climb bring others with you the third one take risks as someone who absolutely loves their comfort zone it causes me a great deal of angst to confess that it is true that life does not happen in your comfort zone probably like many of you just hazarding a guess I do have a significant fear of failure and as the eldest daughter an out of control guilty complex so eldest daughter is here I see you the truth is every time I apply for a job grant or opportunity I am terrified every time I create something out there I am terrified and many times when I challenge things I am terrified but very few things that are worth having come without risk one of the most challenging days in my career was the day that I actually launched my social enterprise I had many conversations with my mentor who had taken me through the various scenarios I delayed and delayed done the cost benefit analysis and worked myself into a ball of stress pressing share on that social media post was like putting a piece of myself into the world for judgment and scrutiny it was raw, it was uncomfortable and gosh I felt vulnerable the three years on we've grown to a team of 30 have graduated over 120 participants from our trainings have released two research reports and have received over 1,000 speech submissions to the raise our voice in parliament campaign which has worked with over 80 federal politicians don't get me wrong progress isn't linear and there have absolutely been times where things have gone wrong but it's been worth it growth is rarely free from risk and I wouldn't be where I am today wouldn't have worked with the World Economic Forum UN Women and have spoken alongside former Prime Minister Julia Gillard or US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken without it take that calculated risk number four keep an open mind it seems to surprise people when I share that I'm not someone who plans their career in fact almost nothing I've done over the last six years of my career has been planned and look there is benefit and planning and making strategic decisions but I've also learned that the best opportunities are the ones that you don't see coming because the reality is we don't know which rooms in which rooms our names are being spoken we don't know where this journey will take us we don't know who's seeing our work sometimes you have to put it out there and hope for the best the best opportunities I've had are the ones that have scared the life out of me that have challenged me that have pushed me far outside that comfort zone if you told me ten years ago as a bulky, determined and passionate 19 year old that I would be where I am today I would never have believed it I also couldn't have put myself on this pathway as the doors that have opened for me and the doors I've worked to open were doors I never knew existed but I wouldn't change them for the world so if it's fear alone that's holding you back maybe it's time to say yes no, when to walk away we've all heard the old adage about quitting quitting is bad quitting sits in opposition to success quitting is a moral failure from my experience quitting is not the opposite of perseverance quite the contrary sometimes the most powerful thing you can do in pursuit of success is knowing when to walk away like someone suggesting 2am fireball shots and moose heads if you don't get that yet you will pull the semesters out it's probably best at that point to just go home earlier in my career I left a project a venture that I'd co-founded and which I loved but I'd realised it wasn't the right avenue for me to make the change that I wanted to make after many months of soul searching moral reflection and difficult conversations I made the decision to leave I didn't have a clear idea of what would come next or what that pathway was but I knew what wasn't for me it wasn't an easy decision but it was one of the best decisions I've made in my career so far as an old mentor once said to me be married to the problem not the solution don't let a fear of quitting bind you to something that doesn't serve you number six enjoy camera show of hands who got flack when they said they were moving to camera okay who got flack when you tell people you live in Canberra yeah alright look same and I have to tell you the jokes wear off Canberra will always hold a very special place in my heart it was the place I moved to the first time I truly backed myself it's the place where I've consolidated my values my identity where I've had some of my biggest career wins and again which introduced me to some of the best opportunities and best people that I know in those early days after the move I spent a decent amount of time crying in the shower I had extended my masters by that semester telling myself that if I had the courage to move to Canberra I had to do it properly and over time my inner monologue changed it went from oh my goodness what am I doing to this is incredible that I'm here to back myself Canberra is a place of rainbow roundabouts beautiful weather kangaroos, hikes, wineries APS lineards politicians at Coles Monica and maybe like me you'll end up living next door to your local MLA this is the place where the biggest decisions in the country are made and many of those decision makers pass through ANU if you haven't yet please give yourself time to love Canberra and explore the unique opportunities that exist here and if you haven't got yourself a Catmandu or MacPack a black puffer jacket you'll want to get on that the last one be kind to yourself there's many kinds of learning university provides one kind making mistakes provides another both are equally valuable learning is hard putting yourself out there is uncomfortable sometimes you will say the wrong thing make a bad judgement call miss that assignment deadline or simply misjudge the situation I'd hate to count the number of hours that I've spent lamenting the things I wish I'd done or I'd said importantly please know that you are valuable and you have value outside your work and your study there's a reason that I got up here and introduced myself as a person not as a CV there is truth to the saying that it's not about how you fall down it's about how you get back up learn reflect and remember that there's power in saying you're sorry that you've messed up that you genuinely reflect on how you can do better and put that into practice next time my best friend delivers the best reminder would you ever talk to me the way you're talking to yourself and not once has my answer been yes be audacious, challenge the status quo take risks keep an open mind walk away, enjoy Canberra and be kind to yourself along the way looking back 7 years down the track I can hand on heart say that my Masters of Diplomacy was absolutely worth moving for regardless of what you're here studying at A&U I've got good news this is just the beginning the journey is yours to define and the people sitting in this space are here with you never forget as well that you have the power to be a force for good to create the change that you wish to see and make sure that no person gets left behind and it all starts today thank you thank you Genevieve and thank you Ashley I think we could give them both another round of applause the audacious and honestly audacious rings true for me I'm a river guide and I was born and bred in the snowy mountains a few years ago I rang a radio station very cranky that the New South Wales Government was going to protect feral horses within the National Park over and above our native species and I was brutally honest a voice for country and this is first gig as an emcee actually and I get to share the stage with these amazing people and six years down the track I'm an honorary associate professor and yes I get to meet people and be a part of the Fenner School and the Canberra, the Canberra bubble you'll hear that it is a good bubble it's a different bubble and it's needed it's needed more than ever that good bubble of people who are prepared to do the right thing by society and country it's needed now more than ever because we for our species in particular maybe not society but definitely our species our species have certainly had enough of our disrespect and years ago you may have ridden a horse here or walked here but most of the waterways were drinkable and now they're not they don't have to not be we don't always have to celebrate our poor behavior if I was to tell you that some country was going to dam 12 major rivers and 76 creeks we'd be and they're not even going to put in a fishway that would upset most people I've just described the snowy scheme to you we need these good bubbles we need these great people to make the changes to make the changes that place, country, the earth it needs us right now to be honest to be audacious and yeah to step out of our comfort zones like probably all of us have here today so I'd like to introduce Phoenix Phoenix O'Neill they are the president of the ANU Students Association and I'll let Phoenix explain to you what that is good morning everyone I would like to thank Paul for the welcome to country that was delivered earlier and I would also like to acknowledge that this event is taking place on Ngunnawal and Nambri lands and pay my respects to their connections to the lands and to the waters I can imagine that this is many people's first time in Ngunnawal and Nambri lands and for some it may be even the first time that you're experiencing a welcome to country during your time at the ANU I encourage each and every one of you to learn about the traditional custodians of the lands about the oldest continuing culture in the world for which we are so lucky to live on the lands of and about the enduring survival and resilience that these peoples have had in the face of 200 years of colonization this always was and always will be Aboriginal lands my name is Phoenix O'Neill and I'm the president of the ANU Students Association or ANUSA which is your student union we are the peak representative body for all students and we advocate for students at the university level organize events for students we organize protests on important issues and we provide free services for all students such as our legal service and student assistance for any academic issues that you might be having and free breakfast every day at the Brian Kenyon student space this is ANUSA's first year representing both undergraduate and postgraduate students and we are extraordinarily excited to be the student union for all students I think that this change that we are now for postgraduate and undergraduate students also represents on a larger level that we're the union for each and every student no matter who you may be and we're your union we want to be working for you so if you have something that you want something that you want to see out of the university please come to us and we'll be there I remember spending a lot of my time wondering what being a normal university student looked like you know the day to day stuff and now that I've been here for a while I think I can tell you about three things that a normal student does and much of it is similar advice to before but I think it's still really important first of all a university student does study unfortunately you'll also sometimes not study when you really should be studying a week will be full of academic advice on managing your workloads from your college I encourage you to seek that out but I also encourage you to remember this advice coming from a student university is a time when you should push yourself but not a time when you should be breaking yourself finding university hard is also normal be it finding the content difficult or the fact that many students at the moment have to balance the content going to university with jobs it is hard we all find it hard at some point but how do you deal with it being hard ask questions whether it be to your course conveners or to your fellow students who are mentally unwell feel free to ask for that extension if you have an ongoing condition find out what an education access plan is and apply for one it will make your university degree more flexible and I wish I had known that earlier many students do all four courses at once but also don't feel ashamed if you can't if you need to do three courses or if you need to drop to part time you will probably actually you'll definitely end up staying late to finish an assignment you will probably end up staying over a few assignments I still do and I also know that I'm not the only one you will learn the term copying the 5% which means when you hand in an assignment late and you lose 5% of your mark and while I won't recommend it I will say that your world won't end if you do and so you should be using time to look after yourself studies stressing you to the point of impacting your physical or mental health is unfortunately common but it shouldn't be normal if you want to help yourself in this position reach out for help your friends can help you, people at your hall can help you if you live on campus and Anusa, us or the ANU colleges can help you with your academic situations and there are several free services at the ANU that can help with your health I don't want to scare you this won't necessarily happen to you but I also do want to be the voice that will remind you that if it does happen that there's help to be had and that you can ask for it because they get involved and they have a social life if you hear somebody tell you who's already graduated about their time at university it's actually not usually about their time studying it's about their time living on campus or with their university friends their time involved in the club or their time at the club as much as studies important a huge part of the normal university experience is outside of the classroom when I moved to Canberra I made a huge amount of new friends and I had my world view diversified in your first year whether you're here from far away or you're from Canberra meeting new people and making new friends because many of these people will be your support system throughout your time here I remember when I arrived I met someone who was just over at the door next to me because my head of halls thought it would be funny to put Phoenix and Phoebe next to each other and it was and that person is still my best friend to this day and one of the most important parts of my support system so it's important that you talk to people this week during O Week I'm sometimes worried about the fact that my study is impacted by me being involved in a lot of things for example you should get involved at your residential hall or with the nurses departments which represents marginalised groups or with the club but these have been some of the most fulfilling things that I've done at the ANU and I don't regret a second of it even if it meant perhaps that an assignment didn't get the attention that it fully deserved and you should also consider getting involved with protests and you should also consider whether you're a university student if you don't go to at least one during your time we're in a critical time for students with the cost of living and housing crisis tertiary education funding being cut and the cost of university increasing while we're being underpaid for our jobs on a wider scale we're facing a climate crisis and it's a critical time for Indigenous rights and justice it's normal to worry about these things and it's normal to think about these things his students have historically been stronger than what we're here to do you will be told in your classes to think critically about the content that you're looking at and about your readings and we also want you to encourage you to think critically about the university and about the world that you live in and the third thing if you can let me be cheesy for just one second is that there is no normal I have friends who spend most of the week studying and friends who spend most of the week working I know people involved with a million different things and people who spend their free time watching movies and chilling on their couch I know people finish their degrees on time but equally as many who have changed their degrees multiple times or who are taking a bit of extra time to finish it up I have friends who excel academically friends who struggle a lot with university and most people lie somewhere in the in between of there your time at university will be the most fulfilling if you spend your time doing things that are important to you and it's normal to have absolutely no clue what that is while you're sitting here today but your first year is the time where you'll figure out what that is so please try new things try things that are outside of your comfort zone and talk to new people figure out what's important to you and prioritize that and if that changes, change what you're doing look after yourself and look after your friends use your time at the ANU not just to study but to have fun, to get involved to stand up for what you believe in to be kind to yourself and most importantly to learn thank you thank you Phoenix the river guide I can't really advise you on university so that was Phoenix's job so thank you but we view the river as the river of life so there are some calm pools then there are some rapids often you get out of your boat and you have to evaluate what's happening on that day and pick a line you've always got to pick a line and sometimes I'll send my guide down that line first and then if they stuff it up then I'm not going that line but then there's the yahoo moments and we really yahoo and so I hope you get all of that out of your next few years here I hope you get the river of life as I term it it's an incredible opportunity, incredible times and as daunting as the times are you only need average intelligence to understand what's happening to the planet and our species but we can do it with a smile and we can have fun and we can enjoy every moment of starting the journey of healing country and when you hear the welcome to countries in the future think about it their children, babies, burais women people long stories they were real people it's not a mythical piece of Australia's history it's a real piece and it's an important piece because modern Australia now needs to include itself in that journey erase that line and modern Australia needs to now step forward and accept the responsibility of custodianship and to start behaving like we are of here, we are from here and it is now our journey to be today's custodians and so thank you very much everyone and hope you had a great commencement ceremony in 2024 and our wonderful speakers thank you and I hope you all stay around to mingle