![CDU student on Sydney highrise](/files/styles/hero_very_small_phone_320x228/public/2021-05/Student%20stories_Michelle.png?h=fe5fcd1e&itok=gg6kAo0T)
Student stories
![CDU nursing student at her locker in a hospital](/files/styles/mask_column_narrow_1x/public/2021-04/IMG_1077_LR.png?h=1229afd8&itok=Zpeh4GaP)
A quick step into nursing with an online degree: Meet Michelle
As a busy mum and trained dancer, Michelle never dreamed that a different career would be possible. But CDU changed all that. Waltzing through a flexible online nursing degree, she's now dancing to a different tune working as a nurse.
Read more![Future doctor Alicia is studying clinical sciences at CDU](/files/styles/mask_column_narrow_1x/public/2023-11/231128_AlishaLaunchpad-27.jpg?h=98e9bc76&itok=FgkUG3Pi)
Darwinite Alicia is joining the next generation of doctors
Instilled with an interest in health from an early age, Alicia's on the direct pathway to medicine through the Bachelor of Clinical Sciences at Charles Darwin University. She's part of the next generation of Territory doctors.
![Dr Jayson Ibanez, Philippine eagle in background](/files/styles/mask_column_narrow_1x/public/2023-11/73c99b71-2588-4b9b-a9d2-ac6e097eaa40.jpg?h=5fb929e7&itok=mwgSeenX)
Dr Jayson Ibanez is trying to save the Philippine eagle
Reading an old National Geographic magazine as a teenager sparked Dr Jayson Ibanez's love affair with the critically endangered Philippine eagle. He's spent his life and career dedicated to researching and conserving it.
![CDU Alumni Awards nominee Yvonne Williams](/files/styles/mask_column_narrow_1x/public/2023-10/Yvonne%20Launchpad%201%20-%201000x600.png?h=a955cd85&itok=iwSi70St)
Transferable skills catapaulted Yvonne's career
Yvonne always planned to go to university, but young motherhood put her plans on pause – at least for a decade or two. Starting her first degree in her late 30s didn't slow her learning down in the slightest. In fact, Yvonne turned two very different degrees into a whole new career.
![Community service champion and CDU IT graduate Yuba](/files/styles/mask_column_narrow_1x/public/2023-10/master-it-student-alumni-awards-yuba.png?h=d69eb0ff&itok=7sImIThs)
Yuba's using his IT degree to help his community
Darwinites really have Yuba’s sister to thank for inspiring her brother to study here in the Territory. The community service champion kept hearing that Darwin was a “great place to live and learn”. He's been using skills in leveraging technology from his postgraduate IT degree to boost efficiency in a cause close to his heart — volunteering.
![Rural pharmacy student Lauren](/files/styles/mask_column_narrow_1x/public/2023-10/launchpad-rural-pharmacy-student-lauren.png?h=b88d0350&itok=l1h_ZulV)
Lauren is the change she wants to see in rural pharmacy
Becoming a small-town pharmacist is a dream come true for Lauren, who has spent a lifetime involved in the health of her community. She just needed the right online program to support her goals.
![Former engineering student and successful entrepreneur Dr Mark Englund](/files/styles/mask_column_narrow_1x/public/2023-10/Mark%20Englund.jpg?h=f4b5e26b&itok=YpttOlxS)
Meet the Territory's homegrown tech entrepreneur
Successful serial entrepreneur Dr Mark Englund has had a life-long fascination with all things technical. A supportive mother and a chance encounter with an inspiring engineering academic changed the course of Mark's young life, leading to him study engineering in the Territory before taking the tech world by storm.
![Occupational therapy student Lana on Casuarina campus](/files/styles/mask_column_narrow_1x/public/2023-09/230928_LanaLaunchpad-4.jpg?h=53ca5b1e&itok=0nycZRP8)
Lana's following a fascination with the human body into a new career
After leaving the geoscience space to focus on raising her family, Lana felt that retraining was the way to get where she wanted to go professionally. Always fascinated by health and the human body, she discovered CDU's Bachelor of Health/Master of Occupational Therapy dual degree and never looked back.
![Award winning contemporary fibre artist Dr Aly de Groot](/files/styles/mask_column_narrow_1x/public/2023-09/IMG_3228%20crop.jpeg?h=b9f5b15f&itok=783lgzK6)
Dr Aly de Groot's weaving her magic to advocate and educate
A move to the Northern Territory sparked a decades-long love affair with basketry and weaving for Dr Aly de Groot. Her career in the arts industry has always centred around advocating for Indigenous fibre and textile artists and educating the wider community about art and environmental issues.
![CDU nursing alumni David Beckham](/files/styles/mask_column_narrow_1x/public/2023-09/Untitled%20design%20%2844%29.png?h=a955cd85&itok=6yU55NB_)
Nursing grad David's career "started accidentally"
While volunteering as a medic with St John Ambulance, David encountered incredible nurses who would inspire him to change careers. He enrolled in a Bachelor of Nursing at CDU before finding an unexpected knack for advocacy, working to promote and defend tens of thousands of his fellow nurses and midwives in Queensland.