QUT student Todd Crawford’s hard-earned record at university has earned him five prestigious CareerTrackers ‘Gold Diary’ academic awards – and recognition from Australia’s Prime Minister.
Todd is in his final year of a double degree in business and engineering and his success story was featured in the new Closing the Gap: Prime Minister’s Report 2018 (p81 & 85) released last month.
The report noted that Indigenous university enrolments had more than doubled in the past decade, but that Indigenous students were still under-represented and their completion rates were lower.
It also highlighted the amazing work done by the national non-profit CareerTrackers Indigenous Internship Program, which creates internship opportunities for Indigenous university students.
CareerTrackers advisors successfully mentor a huge 94 per cent of their students to complete uni – an outstanding statistic compared to the national completion rate of 63 per cent for all Australian students and 40 per cent for all Indigenous students.
For Todd, the transition from Roma schoolboy to Brisbane university student was not without its challenges.
With a course GPA of 6.45 and straight 7s last semester, he is now an outstanding student.
But a brave and inspiring speech he gave at the Career Trackers Annual Gala Dinner two years ago outlined that this wasn’t always the case.
After a good start to university in 2011, Todd fell into a two-year abyss after being plagued with self-doubt, succumbing to a partying lifestyle and getting “very, very off course” by his own admission.
It was only when his CareerTrackers advisors literally knocked on his door and staged an intervention that he found the confidence to return to uni.
“I have learned the climb to success is hard, really hard … there aren’t any short cuts,” he told the CareerTrackers’ audience. “(But) I’ve learnt the importance of using the right people in your life as motivation.”
Today, Todd has five CareerTrackers’ ‘Gold Diary’ awards under his belt – awards which go to students who achieve a distinction (6) or high distinction (7) grade point average (GPA) – and is the organisation’s current Intern of the Year.
He has completed internships with WorleyParsons, CareerTrackers, Broadspectrum and, most recently, Macquarie Group.
“I’m currently working part-time with Macquarie and I’ve found it to be a great fit for my dual degree of engineering and finance,” he said.
Todd also currently works for QUT’s Oodgeroo Unit as a student ambassador, which enables him to help inspire Indigenous high school students to aim for uni.
In addition to Career Trackers, Todd credits his strong family and university support network with helping him keep faith in himself and his tertiary studies, including the Oodgeroo Unit, its director Professor Anita Lee Hong, and QUT Chancellor Tim Fairfax.
CareerTrackers has grown to currently have more than 1300 students across the country who are mentored by the organisation and complete paid internships with employment partners.
Media contacts:
- Mechelle McMahon, QUT media, media@qut.edu.au
- (After hours) Rose Trapnell, QUT media team leader, 0407 585 901
