Some university romances ignite suddenly and soon burn out. In the case of Trish Smith and Norman Hall, it was more of a slow burn.
The pair met in one of their first lectures in 1983 – Trish (from Tenterfield) was enrolled in Bachelor of Financial Administration and Norman (from Newcastle) was enrolled in a Bachelor of Applied Economics – and were good friends at Earle Page College for the duration of their degrees.
Love did not blossom until after they had graduated – Trish in 1986 and Norman in 1987.
“I was the first person in my greater family to go to university; I was there to study and worked really hard,” said Trish. “Norman was the complete opposite. He also had a girlfriend.”
“I did a lot of drinking and partying and enjoyed myself,” said Norman. “I started doing martial arts at UNE and played mid-week rugby league and weekend union with a team known as F Troop.
“I had up to three part-time jobs at any one time to pay my way. I cooked pizzas, worked at the UNE library, swept floors in the shopping centre, and worked on farms baling hay. I even modelled for one of the local clothing stores in a television commercial.
“Living in college was one of the best things I did back then. I got to experience many things I would never have done. It gave me the chance to become independent and was a great learning opportunity.”
The pair kept in touch after Trish moved to Sydney to work for Price Waterhouse, and Norman moved to Sydney with the National Australia Bank after a year working in Maitland.
“It wasn’t long after we started going out that Norman asked me to marry him; we were married about a year after our engagement,” Trish said.
In the intervening years they moved to Melbourne, and there they have remained, except for a five-year stint when Trish worked in Denver, Colorado. After banking, Norman worked in IT and the couple ran their own business, eventually selling it to MYOB.
Trish, now in semi-retirement, does a little consulting in IT and business systems these days, and remembers her UNE days fondly.
“I still have very good friends from those years,” she said. “I wouldn’t be where I am today without my UNE degree. It set me up for a career that has involved extensive travel – I worked in Kiribati consulting and while we lived in the US I visited 48 states.”
Now retired, Norman began motorbiking in about 2013 and the couple enjoy touring once or twice a year on their eye-catching converted Indian Roadmaster trike. A recent whistlestop tour of UNE’s Armidale campus was a welcome detour on a 5,000-kilometre ride from Melbourne to Hervey Bay and back.
In Queensland, they caught up with another UNE friend – Norman’s best man, former flat-mate and fellow motorbike enthusiast Milio Krajancic – who was another Bachelor of Financial Administration graduate.
“He only started riding after I convinced him to and now has three motorbikes,” said Norman. “I’ve been a bad influence.”
Not that Trish is complaining. Her plush, heated seat on the trike is “just like a lounge chair in the back”.
On 21 May, the couple celebrated 37 years of marriage. They have two sons.
Image: Norman and Trish on their wedding day, with Milio (second from left) as Norman's best man.
Image: Norman and Milio still share a love of motorbikes.
