By Casey Neill
Brooke Fernandez is an impressive student.
Chisholm Institute’s Lisa Moore presented Brooke as the Youth Enterprise Award nominee at the Greater Dandenong Chamber Business Awards breakfast at Punthill Apartment Hotel Dandenong on Friday 18 May.
“She’s impressed the team, she’s impressed me and she’s certainly impressed Chisholm,” she said.
Brooke then proceeded to impress the breakfast attendees.
“From a young age, drawing has always been a passion of mine and an integral part of my life,” she said.
“I have always been making the most of my ability to design and create.
“I feel that many of my talents lie within the field of communications and I am pursuing this passion.”
She’s been learning how to best combine her technical skills with her creative thinking through a Bachelor of Design, which she’ll finish in August.
Since 2014 she’s completed a certificate four and diploma of graphic design, a certificate four in screen and media, and an interior design and decoration short course.
“This broad approach to developing my technical expertise will help me to adapt to the many needs required by the creative industry,” she said.
“The design industry in Australia, like anywhere else in the world, is now part of the digital age where everything is fluid and constantly changing.”
Brooke is engaged in an internship with Chisholm Institute student services where she is producing a three-minute careers animation on employability skills.
“My internship has also led to working with Chisholm as a casual student services officer,” she said.
“I was hired because I showed great potential throughout the past seven months, and I am mainly involved in projects around communications.
“This enables me to develop my skills in a professional environment.”
Brooke was also a nominee for the award back in August 2016.
At the time, teacher Robin Griffiths revealed that Brooke had a hearing impairment.
“She told me at the end of the first class she needs to look me in the face because she lip reads,” he said.
But he’s prone to wandering as he speaks so Brooke stood up and followed him.
“She really made a difference to me in the way I treat students and being mindful of others,” he said.
“I have no doubt Brooke will make a difference in her career no matter what path she takes.
“Brooke’s going to be one of those people that’s going to be able to engage an audience and communicate a message.”
