Talent, ambition, and a double degree from QUT have landed Sameel Deoji his big break in television news reporting before even donning his graduation cap.
Sameel received his Bachelor of Business (Management) and Bachelor of Communication (Journalism) on Sunday during QUT's mid-year graduation ceremonies, but had already started his new job with 7NEWS Townsville in June.
The full-time reporting role in North Queensland follows several years of combining his studies with part-time work at 7NEWS in Brisbane, including roles as a producer, social media producer and assistant producer, and working as a casual reporter for the Sunshine Coast.
That valuable experience led to his first Brisbane TV story being aired six months ago (pictured at top, on left).
Sameel flew back to Brisbane for his graduation ceremony, with his parents, grandma, brother and sister-in-law all attending to celebrate his achievements.
This week, the former St Pauls School captain is also returning to QUT’s Gardens Point campus to MC the QUT CareerCon Future Leaders’ Forum.
Sameel said he had mixed feelings about finishing his double degree.
“I still remember my first day walking into campus in 2022, and to think that I am graduating after four and a half years – it feels unreal,” he said.
“I am excited that I don’t need to write up any assignments anymore, but I will really miss uni life. I loved bumping into people on campus, catching up over lunch and becoming mates over time.”
Sameel said his journalism and business studies had both helped prepare him for his new media career.
He said being part of QUT’s business case competition team was his favourite experience from his business degree, as it enabled him to apply learned theory to international competitions in Los Angeles and competitions around Australia.
“Business case competitions taught me time management, which is essential when working in the deadline-driven journalism industry,” he said.
“I also had the opportunity to learn off outstanding business students from across the world and compete with them and become good friends.
“It’s always been my dream to travel while at uni, so these international competitions fulfilled this desire.
“And of course doing real news stories in journalism trained me to be a journalist. Not only for TV news, but for print, radio and social media.
“I loved how my tutors and lecturers had industry experience. They oozed passion that was infectious and made me hungry to find cracking news stories.”
Sameel is now working full-time covering those stories for North Queensland audiences and loving the variety of his job.
“Every day is truly different,” he said.
“I start work at 8am and pitch ideas to my producer and she allocates me stories. I have to find talent then hit the road to interview them with our camera operators.
“Once I choose quotes, or ‘grabs’, as it’s called in TV news, I write up my voiceover and send it off to my bosses on the Sunshine Coast to edit. Then our camera operators in Townsville will piece the story into a video before it airs at 6pm.”
Sameel said his advice to school leavers and current QUT students was to embrace campus life at every possible opportunity, even if they were studying some of their course online.
“Make every effort to come onto campus as that’s where you’ll meet people who will become your lifelong friends,” he said.
“One thing I wish I had done more in first year is embrace uni events – that’s another great way to meet people.”
Sameel studied at both of QUT’s inner-city campuses in Brisbane – Kelvin Grove campus is home to journalism and Gardens Point is home to business.
Year 12 students and other people interested in studying at QUT will be able to check out both campuses during school holiday campus tours on September 24 and 29 and December 1 and 2. Bookings will open later this month.
Information on all QUT courses, including business and journalism degrees, is available on the QUT website.
The QUT Year 12 Advice Night webinar will also be held on September 1 to provide information on how to apply for courses, the Year 12 Early Offer Scheme, adjustment schemes, upgrading pathways and scholarships.
Media contact: Mechelle McMahon, QUT Media, media@qut.edu.au
