Speech to KBS Graduation Ceremony, Melbourne

Delivered by Emma Bennison, Guest Speaker, 26 May, 2023

Good afternoon. I'd like to begin by acknowledging the traditional custodians of this land, the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin nation and pay my respects to Elders past, present and emerging. I also pay my respects to first nations people with us today whether in the room or online.

It is a real honour to be invited to share some personal reflections about my MBA Journey with you. Before I do though, I first want to congratulate those who are graduating today on your outstanding achievements which I look forward to hearing more about over a drink after the ceremony.

During my studies, I often reflected on how fortunate I was that KBS chose me. By this I mean that had they not partnered with the Australian Scholarships Foundation to assist outstanding not-for-profit leaders, I would have been unable to afford to study an MBA. I applied because I had been the CEO of Blind Citizens Australia, (the national representative organisation of Australians who are blind or vision impaired) for three years and was beginning to contemplate my next career move. It quickly became apparent to me that no matter how successful I had been in the three CEO roles I had held over the preceding decade, without an MBA, it was likely my career progression would stall. In part, this was because all my experience was in small not-for-profit organisations. Just as critically though, I knew that without a qualification to reassure prospective employers of my leadership credentials, my disability was likely to thwart my attempts to make the leap into senior executive roles in larger organisations.

Having recovered from the shock and excitement of receiving a scholarship, I was confronted by the reality of returning to study after a 24 year hiatus. The struggle was real, but two factors were game-changers. First, KBS's Academic Success Centre is an outstanding innovation. Not only did staff assist me to secure reasonable adjustments with the least fuss I've ever encountered at a tertiary institution, they also refreshed my memory regarding referencing and academic writing the first time I submitted an assessment. (Yes, I really had forgotten quite a lot in 24 years.) The second saving grace was that adaptive technology took a quantum leap forward between 1996 and 2020. For instance, during my undergraduate degree I was heavily reliant on volunteer readers who recorded selected chapters of textbooks on to cassettes which I then had to spend hours listening to and taking notes from. This was a time-consuming process which often left me exhausted and struggling to meet assignment deadlines. These days, though web accessibility is far from perfect, students who are blind or vision impaired have access to screen readers and braille displays, bringing us a wealth of information accessible on our schedules, without the need to rely on volunteers.

That said, I'd be lying if I told you that the past two years have been a walk in the park. My perfectionism and my constant struggle to balance studying, a demanding job and family responsibilities meant I was constantly scrambling to keep up. What's more, I almost had to withdraw at one point, due to a serious, life-threatening health scare which fortunately turned out to be a false alarm.

In spite of all this, I have no regrets whatsoever and I would study with KBS again in a heartbeat because I relish the learning and derive a real sense of achievement from it. Not only did I gain a wealth of knowledge and skills through my MBA, I was also reassured to realise that many of the concepts and approaches I had been applying intuitively as a leader actually had a theoretical basis. Most importantly though, I came away with immeasurable gratitude to so many people. I am grateful to Sonia Henderson from the Academic Success Centre, who consistently went above and beyond to make sure I had the reasonable adjustments I needed. I'm grateful to my lecturers, whose enthusiasm for their subjects and thought-provoking feedback on my assessments were a real source of motivation for me. Most importantly though, I'm grateful to my family and close friends who forgave my disappearances and distractedness, encouraged me to keep going when I threatened to quit and reassured me every trimester that it was unlikely that I'd actually failed whatever subject I was convinced I could have done better in.

I'd like to finish with a quote from the 13th century poet, Rumi, which I think captures why lifelong learning should be a priority for all of us. He said:

"Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world. Today I am wise so I am changing myself."

Through the academic and incidental learning experiences we've had, it's likely that all of us have come to know ourselves more intimately as we’ve walked this path. So who knows, maybe now we’re ready to change the world. I certainly continue to give it my best shot. I have achieved my aspiration to move into a larger organisation and am now a senior executive with Life Without Barriers, one of Australia's largest providers of community services.

Thank you for the opportunity to speak to you today and again, my sincerest congratulations to all graduands on being wise enough to change yourselves. Now you’re ready to take your best shot at changing the world.