The world at her feet

By LACHLAN MOORHEAD

A NARRE Warren university student will soon be taking to the world stage.
Deakin University graduate Jessica Ciuciu has won against students from Yale, Harvard and Oxford universities to take out the ‘Highly Commended’ award at this year’s World Undergraduate Awards.
The Undergraduate Awards is the world’s largest academic awards program, specifically aimed at students who have completed their undergraduate degree.
Jessica’s achievement will see her travel to Dublin this month to accept the award and take part in a four-day Global Summit.
Jessica, who graduated from Deakin University in 2015 with a Bachelor of Early Childhood Education, explained that her lecturer encouraged her to submit one of her essays from her final year of study.
“The essay was about the importance of partnerships between teachers and families in early childhood education,” she said.
“It’s a topic that I find interesting, many amazing things can come from empowering families to recognise their significance in their children’s learning, and teachers are in a position to support this.”
Looking to the future, Jessica has her sights set on becoming a kindergarten teacher.
“Working one-on-one with children is very positive and very rewarding for both teacher and student and through my teaching rounds, I’ve found kindergartens are great at providing this environment,” she said.