Kim Pham
13 April 2016: University of ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ graduates travel to Parliament House for their ceremonies, but few have travelled as far for the occasion as Wafa Alnuzha.
Ms Alnuzha has made a whirlwind trip from her hometown of Medina, Saudi Arabia to her adopted city of ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ and will receive her Bachelor of Information Technology at her graduation ceremony on Wednesday.
The trip was an opportunity for Ms Alnuzha to visit her siblings who are currently studying at the University and to spend time at some of her favourite ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ haunts.
"I have two brothers who are currently completing their PhD at the University of ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ and so this is also a chance to visit them and see my three nieces and my nephew," she said.
After finishing her studies she was offered a job in the IT department of not-for-profit organisation Namaa Almunawara, which assists with the social and economic development of the city of Madina.
While IT has traditionally been a male-dominated field, Ms Alnuzha said she enjoyed the fact that it encompassed many different topics within the computing sector and offered many job opportunities.
The University of ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½'s reputation for producing high-quality graduates was the reason she chose to study at the institution.
"I heard ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ was educating and training students who ended up being experts in their field and that really motivated me," she said.
"Another reason was because I liked the ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ community and its environment when I visited on Open Day and I really wanted to be a part of this community."
While studying, Ms Alnuzha immersed herself in the University of ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ community, working as a student ambassador for the Faculty of Education, Science, Technology and Mathematics for two years.
"As a student ambassador I worked at ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ on Open Day, and got to share some of the community feeling I experienced with future students. Being able to pass that feeling on is one of the experiences that I enjoyed most while studying," she said.
Although excited about putting all her skills to work when back in Saudi Arabia, she said there were many things she would miss about ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½.
"We moved to ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ when I was 11 and so most, if not all, of my memories are in ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½. I miss ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½'s ever-changing weather, the beautiful clouds, the fresh air, my friends, my car and to be honest, uni."
Read about more of our recent graduates:
Third ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ degree for masters graduate
ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ honours graduate delves into hidden collections
Single mum graduates with masters degree
PhD graduate fights the invasion of the cloning snails
Grad finds success in exercise physiology
Comms grad chases advertising dream
ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ grad follows forensic dreams
Sports-mad Sean snags double degree