Open Day a hit in the heat

Record crowds have converged on Griffith University for the 2016 Open Day, with the Gold Coast, Nathan and South Bank campuses all thronged from early on Sunday morning.

Information sessions on science, health, business, humanities and the arts were keenly attended, with employability and future outcomes a prominent theme throughout the day.

Griffith’s technological expertise was also to the fore with thousands getting on the Technology Trail to check out the aviation simulators, virtual reality experience, financial trading room and Red Zones which were a hive of constant activity.

YasminJasmin Sekula (pictured left, with her mum) left the Nathan campus with an enhanced idea of where her future studies lie. “I’ve been figuring out what I want to do. I was interested in the justice system, I wasn’t sure about law, and today I discovered criminology. I’ve come away really excited about what I can do.”

Thomas Blumke (17) is focused on studying real estate and property development and was delighted with the advice he got at the Griffith Business School booths. “It’s been really great, really friendly,” he said.

“I’ve found what I want to do through work experience. I’ve been working part-time in the real estate industry since Year 10, and now I’m looking forward to progressing my career ambitions.”

Thomas was joined on Open Day by his mum and dad, Janine and Glenn (pictured below), who met when they were studying commerce at Griffith in the late 1980s. “We both found Griffith to be a very supportive university,” Janine said.

BlumkeWhen Janine and Glenn were students at Griffith, the world of Pokemon Go was a lifetime away. But in 2016 the Nintendo craze had hundreds on the hunt for lures around the Griffith campuses on a sun-kissed Open Day when queues for the virtual reality experience stretched towards 2pm.

On the Gold Coast campus, virtual reality took future students into a new world of health science through the Bachelor of Medical Laboratory Science. Dr Indu Singh described the new technology as the “future of technology-driven education”.

JessBartonInnovation and the future of working was the theme of a presentation in the Northern Theatre by Jessica Barton (left), an agency lead with Google Australia.

Griffith communications student, Sophie Grove, told Nova’s Ange Anderson about her involvement in the Commonwealth Games Internship Program, which she described as ‘awesome’. Students across the university can apply for the unique internship which equates to a 40-credit point course that fits into all study areas.

Borobi, the mascot for the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games 2018, also paid an Open Day visit to both the Gold Coast and Nathan campuses.

Chocolates cooked up by 3D printers were a popular part of the menu in the Red Zones while robotic displays had their audiences impressed and in awe.

RoboticsDirector of Griffith’s Office of Marketing and Communications, Dean Gould, described the day as inspiring. “Open Day showcases the best of the University – and today in perfect conditions. But mostly it is about the joy of possibility that this day represents for people searching for their perfect study choice.”

In addition, more than 10,000 people linked up with Griffith’s Facebook Live broadcasts which were beamed around the world on the social platform.Overhead.wide