No Distance Is Crossed Alone
On 31 July 2026 I spoke as the Student Presenter at the QUT graduation ceremony at Star Brisbane, a few minutes after receiving my PhD on the same stage. Here is the speech as delivered.
The speech
[Doff towards the Official Party]
Good afternoon, Presiding Officer, distinguished members of the Official Party, fellow graduates, ladies and gentlemen. I begin by acknowledging the Turrbal and Yugara peoples, Traditional Owners of the land on which we celebrate this afternoon, and pay my respects to Elders past and present.
A few minutes ago, I crossed this stage to receive my PhD. It took four years to research, ten years to reach — and about eight seconds to collect. That journey began in 2016, in Nanjing, China, in a bachelor program run jointly with QUT — back when QUT was just a name on my paperwork, a university I had never seen. Between then and now: two bachelor’s degrees, First Class Honours, a doctorate, and this month, I continue my journey as a postdoctoral research fellow at QUT. And everyone in this room has crossed a distance of their own. That’s what I want to talk about.
Today, many of us crossed an ocean to be here. Some of you crossed the city before sunrise. Some changed careers halfway through life to move into technology. Different starting points, different distances — but the same deadlines, the same debugging at midnight, and the same stubborn decision to try again tomorrow.
Because if ten years have taught me one thing, it is this: no distance is crossed alone. I landed seven thousand kilometres from my family and everything familiar — and the people here closed that gap: supervisors, lecturers, tutors, classmates, friends. Someone, somewhere, closed the distance for every one of you.
So, to our lecturers, supervisors and mentors: you closed the distance between what we knew and what we needed to know. Thank you for your patience and your rigour. To our families and friends — those watching the livestream from other cities and other countries, and those here at Star Brisbane this afternoon: you crossed this distance with us, through every phone call, every sacrifice, every reminder of why we started. This milestone belongs to you as much as to us.
And to my fellow graduates — congratulations. Today is proof that the journey works. New distances open this afternoon: mine continues at QUT; yours lead to game studios and security teams, to IT companies and research labs, to cities all over the world. We chose the university for the real world — so wherever the real world takes you, I hope you travel the way you studied: with curiosity, with courage — and never alone.
Congratulations, graduates. Thank you.
[Doff towards the Official Party]
On LinkedIn
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