St Joseph’s College Echuca and Campaspe Cohuna Careers Network welcomed tertiary institutes, local employers, support services and VTAC for a careers expo on Wednesday, July 23.
Students from across the region, including Echuca-Moama, Kyabram and Rochester, flocked to the school to explore their options close to home and further afield.
A range of universities attended, including Melbourne, La Trobe, Monash, Swinburne, Deakin, RMIT, Federation, Victoria and ACU. Bendigo TAFE and LCI Melbourne also joined.
La Trobe University domestic student recruitment adviser Kristy Kumar said the students she spoke to were especially enthusiastic about their campuses in Bendigo and Shepparton.
“Why we stand out is that most of the students are studying locally, and then they’re coming to a regional campus,” she said.
“Living at home is positive while you are studying at university because you get to save and be at home while you can.
“We have the biggest rural health school... which we really encourage our regional and local students to think about studying (at) because why not study locally, live locally and work locally?”
St Joseph’s College Year 12 student Mia McGillivray had conversations with different institutions at the expo, along with representatives from Echuca Regional Health.
She is interested in joining the rural health school at La Trobe.
“(I want to do) something to do with nursing,” Mia said.
“Maybe at La Trobe in Bendigo.
“I’ve learnt about how to apply to early entries (and) the backup options like TAFE.”
While only in Year 10, Moama Anglican Grammar School student Levi Edmunds is also planning his next steps after high school.
“I’m trying to look for engineering sort of stuff,” he said.
“I’ve been to RMIT so far, but as a backup if I don’t get into it, I was thinking of going to TAFE and studying carpentry.
“I just wanted to have a look at everything, explore my options, really.”
Organisations from the region, including Campaspe Shire and Murray River councils, Rich River Golf Club, Powercor and Personnel Group attended to speak about their career opportunities.
A VTAC information session was also held for students, explaining the admissions process, the special entry access scheme and scholarships.