Stay-at-home father of three, Adam Gowen, was “elated” to receive first class honours from the University of Wollongong’s Batemans Bay campus on Friday.
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“It was emotional,” the Bachelor of Arts graduate said.
“It represented the end of a long journey and much hard work. I wasn’t expecting to get first class, but I did, and that was very exciting.”
Mr Gowen, of Ulladulla, said balancing fatherhood and study was not easy, but well worth it.
“It’s a very challenging vocation, but I love each and every role, so I give my best when I can, sometimes late at night, to study,” he said.
“To show my kids that it’s possible, I think that’s the greatest thing.”
Mr Gowen wanted to the record straight about a father’s role in his children’s lives.
“I do not babysit, I am their father and I raise them,” he said.
“I spend time with them, we play and we learn and we laugh a lot.”
He credited his mother with inspiring his studies.
“My mum is a teacher, and so I value her giving me the love for learning,” he said.
A proud Wiradjuri man, Mr Gowen’s thesis explored concepts of identity.
“My thesis centered upon a spirituality of relatedness, so being and identity is caught up with spirituality and relatedness to country, rather than ownership of stuff,” he said.
“I really enjoyed the Bachelor of Arts degree, and Indigenous studies subjects.
“I was passionate about pursuing some of those ideas for me personally, so this was an opportunity for me to express individually some of the concepts that I learned in my undergraduate study.
“I found it satisfying.”
