From: "Saved by Windows Internet Explorer 8" Subject: Flinders News > Blog Archive > From beautician to biotechnologist Date: Tue, 5 Jun 2012 16:03:51 +0930 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: multipart/related; type="text/html"; boundary="----=_NextPart_000_0000_01CD4334.CC7F2F20" X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.1.7600.16807 This is a multi-part message in MIME format. ------=_NextPart_000_0000_01CD4334.CC7F2F20 Content-Type: text/html; charset="utf-8" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Location: http://blogs.flinders.edu.au/flinders-news/2012/05/31/from-beautician-to-biotechnologist/ =EF=BB=BF
Vicki Edwards came to University late in = life, mostly=20 because she had never considered it as a possibility =E2=80=93 on = leaving school in the=20 early 1980s, she went to work in a hairdressing salon.
But following two decades working with electrolysis and looking for a = new=20 mental challenge, an advertisement for Flinders University=E2=80=99s Foundation=20 Studies program in the local paper caught her eye. With = encouragement from=20 her partner, Ms Edwards commenced the course=E2=80=99s night classes in = 2000 to see if=20 she could make a go of tertiary education.
Evidently, she could =E2=80=93 Ms Edwards (pictured) has just = completed her PhD,=20 earning =E2=80=9Cglowing reports=E2=80=9D from the markers, according to = her supervisor.
Ms Edwards said that in the year after completing the Foundation = course, she=20 was admitted to an honours degree course in medical=20 biotechnology, which she studied part-time for the next six years, = working=20 to support herself as she went.
After successfully completing her degree, she went back to the = workforce as a=20 research assistant at a winery, but was drawn back to study at Flinders = by the=20 offer of a postgraduate scholarship.
Although she initially had leanings towards environmental themes, she = was=20 persuaded to do undertake a research project with Dr Fiona Young, and = became=20 involved in researching the potential of extracts from marine organisms = as=20 treatments for cancer.
Ms Edwards does not see herself as special =E2=80=93 she believes = that there are=20 plenty of people whose academic potential has never blossomed because of = lack of=20 encouragement.
She said there had been no experience or even awareness of tertiary = education=20 in her family.
=E2=80=9CMy father didn=E2=80=99t even go to secondary = school,=E2=80=9D Ms Edwards said.
=E2=80=9CWe weren=E2=80=99t encouraged to study, and like everyone = else back then, I went to=20 work so that I could leave home,=E2=80=9D she said.
Ms Edwards said that she had always enjoyed maths and science at = school, and=20 that studying science at university had shown she had a capacity for = analytical=20 thinking and the necessary ability to focus.
And while she doesn=E2=80=99t see herself as a natural teacher, Ms = Edwards said she=20 had been happy to talk to last year=E2=80=99s Foundation Course students = about the=20 possibilities of studying in health sciences.
=E2=80=9CI can see myself in all of them. A lot of them are from low = socio-economic=20 backgrounds, which is exactly what I was from. So I can actually tell = them my=20 experiences and what I went through, and I can see that they appreciate = it.
=E2=80=9CTo see where I have got has encouraged a lot of them to get = into uni this=20 year.=E2=80=9D
Although she is considering the possibility of postdoctoral research, = Ms=20 Edwards is keen to find a long-term job in industry where she can apply = her=20 skills and knowledge.
Tags: beautician, Dr=20 Fiona Young, Foundation Studies, hairdressing, medical biotechnology, PhD, Vicki Edwards
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