CANDICE MITCHELL: Hi, my name is Candice and I'm a QUT graduate. I chose to study Microbiology and co-major in Forensic Science.

I've always had a passion for animals, and my QUT journey, studying infectious diseases in animals, lead me to where I am now, and that's to become a vet.

I realised early on that I wanted to do more with research, so I went down the honours path, and also further onto a postgraduate degree with PhD.

My research project focussed on koalas and infectious diseases, but it wasn't limited to koalas, we were also looking at other animals, and trying to link the disease to humans.

During my studies I collaborated with vets to try and get the best samples to see if there were any infection diseases. Then we processed them and tested them for our analysis.

What I enjoyed most about QUT was forming friendships that lasted a long time. We also had a good environment to go and study in the Botanical Gardens, and just the lab experience was amazing; it was a good experience.

In the future I see myself working with small animals, particularly dogs and cats, and just being successful in the veterinary career.