Jiawei (Catherine) grew up in Fuzhou and was always interested in IT. After primary school, her family moved to Singapore where she went to high school, and her English language level greatly improved.
She was sure that she wanted to work in IT, but was unsure what that might mean for her future.
Catherine moved to Australia after high school to discover her study path and identify her preferred career options, finding UTS Insearch, the pathway to UTS.
On arrival in Australia, she met some challenges. “One of the difficulties I faced was being driven and self-motivated without parental supervision. Coming to Sydney was my first time living away from home and Sydney was unfamiliar. I had to look after myself, balance study and housework and learn to cook,” Catherine said.
“I now love cooking and can make a range of dishes including scrambled eggs with tomato which is very popular in China.”
Catherine found studying at UTS Insearch to be very rewarding.
“The teachers are so welcoming and approachable. If I had any questions, they were always willing to help me. Besides being professional in teaching me the relevant academic content, they were always informative about Australian culture and often shared it with me. I easily integrated into the academic environment,” she said.
She performed so well that she topped her class in her first semester, and went on to top her program overall, winning the Outstanding Graduate Prize for UTS Foundation Studies in April 2018.
“I felt very honoured to win the prize. It showed my hard work paid off. In addition, I feel grateful that students get recognised,” she said.
Catherine is currently studying a Bachelor of Science in IT at UTS, and plans to become a software engineer in the future.
“As a software engineer, I would like to run my own consultancy and employ a highly committed team to work on software projects,” Catherine said.
“I am interested in what is happening in technology, such as artificial intelligence and driverless cars, which will be part of the future.”