DONNING her graduation cap and gown, Rebecca Cramp walked out of the University of Newcastle's Great Hall on Wednesday with a degree in hand, fighting back tears.
It was an emotional morning for the 30-year-old, who finally graduated with a Bachelor of Business.
It was a degree she initially embarked on when she was just 18.
"I came to university straight out of high school and I didn't really enjoy it. It probably wasn't for me at the time," she said.
She leaped into the workforce, climbing ranks in the corporate world of NSW Health until she needed a piece of paper for a promotion.
"I wanted to go a bit more senior and they said 'oh, you need a degree'," she said.
Ms Cramp came back to university seven years later, studying part time.
When the COVID pandemic hit she quit her job and returned to full-time study.
"I realised I absolutely love university and where I actually wanted to go wasn't actually what I wanted to do. Coming back full time was the best choice I ever made," she said.
Ms Cramp majored in marketing and leadership and management.
She said she felt relieved and extremely happy to be graduating after a 12-year journey.
"I've been fighting back tears all day. It's a weird mixture of I'm really proud of myself, but I'm really relieved that it's over. It's the strangest thing," she said.
Now finished with her studies, she is working for a financial planning firm in Newcastle but her long-term goal is to work in Sports.
"I'd love to work in sport, rugby league is my passion. I was lucky enough to do an internship at the Newcastle Knights through university. Who knows where I'll go or what will happen," she said.
She wanted to encourage others that it's okay if you don't go to university straight after high school.
"You're not behind if you come later. You don't have to follow everybody else. You can do things your own way and still be successful, you could still have everything you want, just on your own timeline," she said.
Bachelor of Business graduate Audrey Sparks was another of the more than 1200 students graduating this week at the Callaghan campus.
"I'm so happy and I'm so proud to be here," she said.
Ms Sparks did a double degree in marketing and event management and is excited to see what opportunities it opens up.
"I wanted [to study] something a bit broader that I could apply to lots of different things because in your early 20s your career is changing every single day," she said.
"I opted for business, majoring in things that I think can be applied so broadly to anything and any projects that I pick up throughout my life, and I can be of help to a lot of different people for a lot of different reasons."
Before she steps into the world of work, Ms Sparks is heading to the Northern Territory for two weeks with her dad to volunteer at an Indigenous arts festival.
Three graduation ceremonies were held on Wednesday for students in the Newcastle Business School, School of Education, Pathway Programs and School of Humanities, Creative Industries and Social Sciences, School of Law and Justice.
