ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½

2025 marks Amity Lees’ final year of her undergraduate degree at UOW. As a and a student representative, Amity is planning her future beyond the classroom - one that she hopes will grow alongside UOW.

The perfect fit

Growing up in the Sutherland Shire, for Amity the trip down south to UOW came not from a lack of options, but from a search for a true fit.

“I went to Newtown High School of the Performing Arts, so I was on the path of pursuing performance. But I also really loved economics, which is quite the opposite,” Amity said.

The course that caught her eye was the Bachelor of Arts in Western Civilisation, a degree that gave her the opportunity to combine her love of economics and performance at UOW.

“The degree encompasses some economic concepts, philosophy, and performance,” Amity said.

As one of UOW’s newer degrees, the Bachelor of Arts in Western Civilisation has been tailored to serve the leaders of tomorrow by providing them a platform for robust discussion and reflection on art, literature, religion, science, philosophy, and politics.

The course gives graduating students the skills they need to meet the contemporary issues humanity faces today with insight and open-mindedness, while reflecting on what is good, right and true.

“I took a day off school in year 12 to attend a full day of lectures as a trial, and after that, I knew this was the place. I loved being around people that were engaged in conversations, asking difficult questions.”

Students come together for Orientation program festivities at UOW ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½. Photo: Paul Jones.

A new world

Arriving in 2023, Amity got to experience the best of ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½ in a post-COVID world as she began her university journey.  Amity’s first weeks were spent discovering a new city and its people, alongside the friends she made in classes and around campus. From a mission to try every cafe on campus to making the most of the city’s nightlife, Amity said that taking every opportunity to meet other students was what made her start to university life so memorable.

“O-Week was a great way to meet people in and outside of class. When you’re in first year, you’re all just trying to pay attention in class and take so many notes. But when you’re heading out at O-Week, you make more of those friendships with people who aren’t in your degree, which is really cool,” Amity said.

 For her, however, those first weeks did not come without challenges - particularly when it came to navigating UOW infrastructure.

“Most of my classes are in Building 19. I still get lost in Building 19 now, it just happens. It’s just a maze, I think that’s commonly known at UOW.”

Building 19 at UOW ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½. Photo: Aristo Rizzi.

ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½ing a purpose

Amity became a student representative in her second year and has since served on three committees, including the Academic Senate.  Driven by a desire to help lift up her peers’ ideas and opinions, Amity’s work on UOW committees has ranged from reducing the weighting of group assignments to pushing for the beloved carpooling carpark to make a return.

Amity shared that she was intimidated by the thought of having to rally for votes, particularly because she wasn’t sure what she wanted to advocate for at the start of her campaign.  She said that her route to success, however, was born from knowing how to listen to the quiet voices - as well as the loud.

“I know some people campaign quite hard core, with t-shirts or flyers. I just walked around the library and asked students what they wanted changed, what they were passionate about, and I thought okay, I actually know what students want to see changed here, and I think I’m someone who has the skills to communicate that. I got really passionate about it, so I was honoured that I did get elected.”

The push for change

With an affinity for collaboration and a keen interest in hearing the stories of those around her, Amity said she hopes to use the skills she learnt in the committees to pursue a career in policy.

“I really do love being a part of a big team working on big issues, and that’s what I do in my degree as well. I definitely want to be a part of large conversations, and I want to try and communicate with all different sorts of people from different backgrounds,” Amity said.

“Primarily, I think it’s going to be in education. I hope education can teach people to express ideas, communicate them with others, and to voice their genuine concerns, because someone else may have the same idea or opinion but be too afraid to say it.

“I really want to push education to the forefront.”

Growing together

As the University celebrates its 50^th anniversary and looks forward, Amity’s vision for the future of UOW is one that shares her love of problem-solving. She wants to see students like her excited to find the answers to big questions again and said nothing beats the lightbulb moment of finally understanding a challenging concept.

“The fact that you can just ask ChatGPT what the answer is, that’s just really sad. I think sometimes it can be useful, but I just really hope the excitement of learning and understanding processes can come back so that we can be more insightful, intelligent people.”

She said that finding something to bring back that spark is the key to loving learning. For her, that something came as the opportunity to study overseas through UOW at Oxford University in the winter session.

Amity was awarded a travel grant from the Ramsay Scholarship, giving her the chance study in the UK. With the short course covering topics such as climate change, bioethical issues, and international relations, Amity said that she hopes it will help her build on the thoughtful and conscientious perspective she is already developing through her degree at UOW.

“I’m really excited. It’s a great opportunity for me to learn, to meet people from all different parts of the world. Now, I’ve got something I’m looking forward to in July that’s another opportunity to learn and communicate with all these different people.”