School student graduates with UNE Diploma

April 18, 2007

Sixteen-year-old Matthew Tunbridge, after studying Chinese through the University of New England since the age of 12, has just graduated with a Diploma in Modern Languages.

"It's really expanded my horizons more than anything I could have done," said Matthew of the UNE Chinese program he has successfully completed in addition to his schoolwork. He is now in Year 12 at St Joseph's College, Brisbane.

Matthew (pictured here) – accompanied by his mother, father, grandfather, and other members of his family – visited UNE late last month for the graduation ceremony at which he received his diploma. He was following a family tradition, as his mother and father both hold UNE degrees.

He has been learning Chinese since he was five, when he began attending a Sunday school in Cairns where the language was spoken. "My father worked in Immigration," he said, "and wanted me to learn a foreign language." His exposure to Chinese continued in this way throughout his primary school years, fostering a love of the language that carried him, from the age of 12, through a demanding university course.

"In the beginning, there were things I was asked to write about that were more for adults," he explained, "but by the time I reached the later units I was a bit more mature."

He said that, after completing his HSC studies this year, he would like to combine his career ambition of becoming a doctor with his interest in Chinese, and perhaps practise medicine in China for a time. "I'm interested in Chinese from a cultural perspective," he added.

He said that undertaking a university course while still at school takes "real dedication" – particularly in the junior high-school years. "But I would recommend it for students in Years 11 and 12," he continued. "It's a good way of getting into a language in depth."

Brennan Wales, the Senior Lecturer who coordinates UNE's Diploma in Modern Languages program, said he was "thrilled that a young person of such obvious dedication and ability" had successfully completed the program. "I'm glad the popularity of the program has reached someone like Matthew, and hope that it attracts other young students in the future," Mr Wales said.

Posted by Jim Scanlan at April 18, 2007 05:43 PM