Meet Emily – From Mount Gambier to Residential Leadership

Emily Brown is a Deakin Res student at the Waurn Ponds campus in her second year of a Bachelor of Psychological Science. She is loving life on Res after moving from Mount Gambier in South Australia, and in 2022 will be one of our Residential Leaders. 

Coming from a regional area and having never lived alone before, living facilities were a key factor in Emily's choice of where to study. It was almost, if not just as important as the decision of which university to attend. 

I decided to live on campus because I’d heard other people who had gone to Deakin say it was fantastic. We also knew the minute we checked out Deakin on open day in 2017 that it was a ‘no brainer’ and didn’t even consider other options because living on campus seemed like the best fit for me.

Both of Emily’s parents were involved in the decision making process, and her mother was a huge support. She not only came to open day with Emily, but also accompanied her to university information nights and collected research from several universities. In the end they both settled for Deakin and life on Res.  

 Affordability and convenience were also major factors in Emily’s decision to live on campus. 

I could walk to my classes and my rent covered all other expenses aside from food, which wouldn’t have been the case if I’d gone through a private landlord. I also love how beautiful the Waurn ponds campus is, the minute we finished the tour of res on open day mum and I looked at each other and knew straight away this was the perfect choice. I also loved the safety and the support available. It felt very welcoming even before I was accepted and to this day has lived up to that expectation tenfold! I don’t regret my decision at all!

Having fully embraced live on campus, Emily is moving into a student leadership role in 2022, becoming a Residential Leader for Parkes College in Waurn Ponds. 

Our Residential Leaders help new students transition to campus life, model and uphold our RESPECT values and help facilitate a vibrant on-campus experience for all Res students.