Before I enrolled at the Radio Training Institute I was at university studying Health Science. No matter how hard I tried to love studying that degree, I just couldn’t. I always loved being creative and having my nose buried in a book titled The Biophysical Foundations of Human Movement just wasn’t doing it for me.

Most of my family knew I wasn’t happy at university, my mum, who delivers advice a little differently to my Dad said to me, “do what makes you happy, stop thinking about it and just do it”. It’s funny how parents give good advice sometimes, it’s almost like they have more life experience or something. With that I deferred from uni, put away my Fundamentals of Anatomy and Physiology textbook and picked up Making Radio by Steve Ahern.

Exactly five months ago today it was the 2nd of February and this class sat together at RTI for the very first time. What we experienced and learnt together as a group and as individuals over that five months has transformed us into the ambitious radio people standing before you tonight.

I’ll never forget my first class at RTI. I was absent for the first official class so for my first official class I was actually the new kid and had managed to stuff up the class seating plan. Boy did I get a couple of dirty looks that day. Every week I loved coming into class. You couldn’t put a more mixed bag of people in one room if you tried, which made every class that little bit more entertaining. With a mixed bag of personalities comes a mixed bag of talents. Producers, copywriters, voiceovers, social media gurus, on air presenters, audio producers, news readers and an array of unique skills ready to take on the industry. More important than those talents and skills however, is the quality of the people who possess them.

Tonight I walk away from RTI with a greater understanding of the radio industry, a new set of technical skills, more knowledge and a certificate that says all of that is true. But I also walk away with eleven new friends and relationships with great people from the industry.

The Advanced course at RTI saw us complete a range of both practical and theory based assessments. As a group we also managed to get through an entire week of broadcast where our simulation station, RTIFM came to life. We learnt about teamwork, time management, and that David Caire will literally sleep at the station to get the job done. Good onya Davo!

Industry work placement weeks were another great opportunity for us to learn about ourselves, and the big picture that is the radio industry. We were exposed to every part of an operational station and what it’s like to be on the front line. Some weeks ran smoother than others, not because of the stations we’d been assigned to but because of the accommodation some students had booked for the week. While most of us were tucked up in bed after a long day at the station, looking forward to what we’d learn the next day, Adam Kaplan was wide awake, fighting cockroaches with his thongs. Every day he would complain to the manager, they didn’t believe him. “Nah nah mate, you’re lying. Crickets maybe, but not cockroaches!” they told him. Despite all of that, he made it through, and our brave little cockroach hunter is here to graduate tonight.

Before I go I wanted to tell you about our last class together. Our guest lecturer was Managing Director of ACE Radio Broadcasters Stephen Everett. Stephen told us his story, where he started and how he came to be where he is today. When asked to offer his final piece of advice before the class finished, Stephen said two words. Attitude & Passion.

This wasn’t just career advice, it was advice he encouraged us to apply to everything we do in life. Wake up every day and have a great attitude and a passion for everything you set your mind to.

Classmates, tonight is our time to look back and to reflect on what we’ve learnt and accomplished during our time at RTI but it’s also a time look forward to what we want and how we’re going to get it. I found a quote from a man named John Bartholomew that I would like to share with you all.

“If you want to succeed in the world you must make your own opportunities as you go on. The person who waits for some seventh wave to toss them on dry land will find that the seventh wave is a long time coming. You can commit no greater folly than to sit by the road side until someone comes along and invites you to ride with them to wealth or influence”.

So I say to you Darcy, Ti, Dave, Emma, Paul, Sandro, Adam, Andrew, Brittany and Sharon let’s go get it!