STEPS - Library - Central Queensland University

Part Four: Student transformations
Memories of the first STEPS group in
Gladstone — 1989
Christine Petersen
‘1000 words! My God! How will I ever be able to write that much. That
will take me forever. What could I possibly write about? It’s a book!’ Well,
almost a book. A chapter in fact, and a short one at that.
And that’s what the STEPS program was all about — teaching mature-age
students some of the necessary academic requirements for tertiary
education, and awakening their memories to all things learned and forgotten
in school. What a task! What a challenge for the dedicated and wonderfully
talented, patient lecturers at the Gladstone campus of the then Capricornia
Institute of Advanced Education, as well as for the 12 participants of the
first program –Wendy Tomlinson, Jill McLeod, Leslie Greig, Raelene
Thams, Pat Rose, Linda Grundon, Gwen Forest, Cheryl Lee-Brown,
Nic Grommitt, Ulysses Aquilizan, Jenny Wilson and Christine Petersen.
STEPS then, as now, offered mature-age students an opportunity to bridge
the gap between school leaving and university via the upgrading of skills
and scores. Our class, the first STEPS group in Gladstone, was made up of
mostly mature women enthused by a desire to attempt higher education, to
return to the workforce or have a chance at a missed education. We had two
young men, Nic and Ulysses, as part of our group, both with a keen need to
improve their English skills for entry into nursing.
We were all within a similar age range. Most of us had kids somewhere in
the school system, and we all had enthusiasm, and a sense of humour — the
ability to laugh at ourselves and our mistakes. In fact, most of what I
remember is the hilarity in the classroom, the friendships formed, endless
discussions about life, the world, other worlds and our newly acquired
anxieties. Could we really go on and attempt university? Where did all the
information frequently lost on the computer end up? And what does it all
mean?
Education is not merely the acquisition of knowledge but the gaining of
self-confidence in the classroom, in our everyday interactions, and in our
ability to test and stretch ourselves. Four people worked diligently at
helping us achieve these things. One of those people assigned the task of
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